The history of Motta
The town of Motta nowadays is divided into the old town, which is situated nearby the castle and the main church, and the new area situated in the North,South, and West of the castle.What is the origin of the name of Motta?
The earliest demonstrated news have been found in a document written in 1901 in which an Arabian geographer  named the place NASTASIAH with which the ancient Greeks named a particular condition of the land.
A popular legend tells that in the 6th century a monk  brought the relics of Saint Anastasia, so the village was named after her name.
In the following years, during the Arabian rule the name  was changed in MOCTA ( the Arabic word for peack).
The two toponyms were got together since the 15th century.
In 1074 in the old Arabian fortress was built the castle by the Normans.
In 1091 Ruggero il Normanno, Early of Sicily, gave the castle and the land around it to the Archbishop of Catania, Augerio.
In the first half part of the 14th it was given by the King of Aragon to the Earl Rosso Subeo to prize his fidelity. In 1341 the Earl Enrico il Rosso  inherited the castle and the territory.
Enrico may be considered the most important character in the history of Motta  ans was named " The father of the country" because he pacified the Sicilian Barons.
Towards 1413 Motta and the castle were the scenario of " a Love Story", between the Queen Bianca di Navarra, former wife of Martino1, and the Earl of Cabrera.
When the Queen left Sicily and went to Spain the Moncadas became the owners of the castle up to 1900.
During the Borbonic reign the village became a "Town".