CALTANISETTA, a town and episcopal see of Sicily, the capital of a province of the same name, 6o m. S.E. of Palermo direct and 83 m. by rail, situated 1,930 ft. above sea-level. Pop. , (town) ; 44,067 (commune) . The town is of Saracenic origin, and some ruins of the old castle (called Pietra rossa) still exist. The cathedral and the church of the former Jesuit college are interesting baroque buildings. There is a famous procession on Holy Thursday. It is the centre of the Sicilian sulphur industry and the seat of a royal school of mines. It is connected by a short branch with the main line from Palermoto Catania ; and a railway to Caltagirone and Syracuse is in construc tion. Two miles east is the Norman abbey of S. Spirito.