The rock settlement of “Vallone Canalotto” is the heritage of one of the most important settlements in 

Sicily, the Byzantine one, which lasted from AD 535 to 827.

In AD 491,  Sicily was ruled by the Goths, with the exception of the city of Lilibeo, given to the Vandals by 

Theodoric the Great. It was in this context that emerged the figure of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian who, 

in AD 535, sent an army against the Goths, led by his loyal assistant Belisarius to conquer the island.

Sicily thus became a Byzantine province, ruled by a strategist. And yet, its population was still facing  considerable hardship due to mismanagement and heavy taxes.

The bishop, apart from his religious duties, was in charge of the administration, since he was a landowner 

and was empowered to choose his officials and administer justice.By the 6th century AD Sicily had more than twelve bishoprics, and by the next century the Hellenizing 

process of the Sicilian church was considered as complete, despite the opposition of Gregory the Great and 

his Latinization policy.The difficulties encountered by the Byzantines, forced to face the Lombards, had created favorable 

conditions for the consolidation of the Roman church — not just its political and territorial power, but also 

its religious power.Pope Gregory the Great’s intention was that the Papacy should be independent from the Byzantine empire, becoming the guide of the Universal Church and further spreading the Christian Gospel. 

By the end of the 6th century monastic communities were widespread, showing the increasing diffusion in 

Sicily of Cenobitic monasticism.A deep division between Roman Pontiffs and the Byzantine empire had been caused by Leo III’s decree (AD 730) which forbade the veneration of icons — and limited the power of monasteries. It was in this context that the second migration wave of monastic communities from East to West started. In AD 827, Sicily was invaded by the Arabs, who defeated the Byzantines. In AD 831, Palermo was occupied and chosen as capital of the island. In AD 859, Castrogiovanni was taken too by the Arab general El Abbas.

The Arabs were open-minded, tolerant and respectful of other cults: in fact, both Christians and Jews were 

given the status of dhimmis, granting them freedom of worship and power to run their own religious  institutions. 

However, in some cases the Arabs caused persecution and destruction, as proved by the site "Hisn Al- Giran", in Enna: it is a fortress of 40 caves, pillaged in AD 841, which was a defensive cave settlement. Even before the Arab conquest of Sicily the phenomenon of cave settlements was already established, so that it was fully adopted by the new invaders. As a matter of fact,  such settlements were similar to those spread in their homeland, where troglodytism was common because of climatic and environmental 

reasons.