It is thought that the origin of the toponym Fitalia dates back to the first period of the region’s Hellenization (5th Century BC) long before the domination of Rome. Indeed, the name has various etymological ties to classical Greek. When the Greeks arrived in this valley, they found a fertile terrain and called it Fytalìa, meaning "productive land", suitable for the cultivation of fruit trees. The name Fitalia also has links to the legend of the "fitalidi", a family from Athens whose surname was Fitalo.

At the time, the sea occupied part of the valley of Fitalia, right up to the confluence of the two rivers, the "Fitalia" and the "Panaghia". It is here, in a strategic position for communication and trade (a point of contact between the seafaring Greeks and the Siculi of the hinterland) that the town of Fitalia was founded.

This first settlement was also the natural boundary between the territories of two Sicilian towns, Aluntium (today San Marco D'Alunzio) and Agatyrnon (Capo D'Orlando).

When Norman troops arrived in the valley with Count Roger, village life in the area was flourishing. Looking at the present-day town of San Salvatore di Fitalia from where the two rivers converge one can see the village of SS. Salvatore to the south (later the site and name of the castle) and, in Contrada Rocca del Fitalè, the village of Fitalia to the east (this too later became home to a castle. Near the village of Fitalia, on the left slopes of the hill, lay the village of Kami or Cuma (later called Santa Maria di Cuma and today Santa Maria di Roma). In the territory of the present-day commune were the villages of San Giorgio, Fani, Kubli and Kallegra. Finally, there were numerous watchtowers, three in Contrada Rocca di Fitalè, one in Kami or Cuma, and one in Castinnuzzu (in the present-day territory of Castell'Umberto - Contrada Colamarco). Back on the left slopes of the hill there were the towers of Sant’Adriano Vecchio, Ruggeri and Callegra or Giugà or Villa. Three more towers were to be found in Vischetto or Boschetto on the edge of the Commune of Tortorici. Meanwhile, to the west, starting from Fitalia and moving towards Galati, sat the tower of Daino, also called Torre D'Amato, as well as towers in Contrada Casteddu, Contrada Kimera or Kiumera, Contrada Torre Capitano, Contrada Scrisera and finally, at the border with Galati the tower of Contrada Fani or Bufana.

Fitalia appears for the first time in written documents in one of the first diplomas issued by Count Roger, when, in 1082, he instituted the diocese of Troina.

From that moment, the lives of the people of Fitalia were closely linked to the politics of the time and re-organisation of the Sicilian Church.

In this mediaeval time, the territory was divided between two diocese, each with its own juridical organisation, that owned land and managed the territory. This also meant the separation of the population, which was divided according to surname and placed under the jurisdiction of one or the other diocese.

The people of Fitalia were subjected to continual oppressions that made them feel like "villains and vassals... who could not move to live elsewhere without the permission of the Bishop".

At the end of the 14th Century, the territory of Fitalia was merged into the Commune of San Salvatore, as legally recognised by Vinciguerra Aragona on behalf of the Spanish king.

On 28th December 1828, an Apostolic Diploma issued by Pope Pius VII ended the division of the territory and the management of temporal matters was assigned to the diocese of Patti alone. Spiritual matters, however, were assigned to two entirely independent parishes, SS. Salvatore and Santa Maria, each with its own Dean and clergy.

Much of the written information we have today about the territory's history derives from the patient research carried out by Antonello Pettignano, a fine scholar and great expert on the history of San Salvatore di Fitalia.

The history of the town of San Salvatore di Fitalia is closely connected to the cult of its patron saint, San Calogero, but there remains little to remind us of the town's greatest period. Most monuments have been lost, including the Palazzo dell'Universitas, the Badia, the Peculio Frumentario, the Convent of San Francesco with its annexed chapel of San Calogero (built in 1615 and destroyed in a landslide in the 1800s), the Monastery of San Bartolomeo dell'ordine di San Benedetto (founded, it si thought, around 1500 and destroyed around 1880), the Church of Santa Margherita (1537) and the Church of Santa Caterina D'Alessandria, the Monte di Pietà (built in 1816), the town's walls, etc.... Fortunately, some monuments still exist, bearing witness to former splendours. These include the Villa di Sant'Andrea, the Villa Barone, the "Casino" of Santa Maria di Roma, Duruso, the remains of the Torre del Capitano and its almost unchanged urban layout, Palazzo Catalano of the 1800s, Palazzo del Vescovo, Palazzo Stazzone, the Church of Santa Maria Assunta (dating back to the 1500s) and the majestic Basilica of "Salvador Mundi" (built in Byzantine times), the "hospital", named after San Calogero and built at the beginning of the 20th Century on the site of the old convent and chapel of San Calogero).

These buildings have resisted the ravages of time and the continual modifications to the town’s layout and testify to how a territory with many tiny villages was transformed to become a single town.

To learn more about our town, we recommend the following books:

• «Monografia sulla Valle dei Nebrodi formata dal torrente Fitalia»
Autore: F. Rizzo
1969 Casa editrice Forni di Bologna

• «S. Salvatore di Fitalia - Ricerche storiche dalle origini all'unità d'Italia»
Autore: A. PETTIGNANO, S. RUGGERI
1984 Edizioni Nebros