Lentini, Ancient Greek settlement in southeastern Sicily, Italy.
Lentini is a town in the Free Municipal Consortium of Syracuse, in the Province of Syracuse, southeastern Sicily, located roughly 35 kilometers northwest of Syracuse near the southern edge of the Catania Plain. The settlement spreads over gently rolling terrain between the artificial lake and farmland, with older quarters clustered on low hills and newer districts reaching toward the plains.
Greek settlers from Naxos founded the colony of Leontinoi in 729 BC on fertile ground between two hills. The settlement fell permanently under Syracuse control in 346 BC and remained there until Roman rule absorbed both territories.
The festival of Saints Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus occurs each May, featuring white-clad runners called Nuri carrying flowers through streets.
The municipality covers mostly farmland producing cereals, olives, and the red Tarocco blood oranges grown in the plains around the lake. Summer months can bring very hot weather, so visits in spring or autumn offer more moderate temperatures for walking through the area.
The artificial lake north of town extends roughly five kilometers long and three kilometers wide, created in the 1970s after extensive restoration work on former marshland. Today the water body supports many fish species and serves as a reservoir for the surrounding agricultural plains.
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