According to some accounts and historical testimonies, the Nisseno Freemasons played a decisive role in Garibaldi’s landing on the island during the Expedition of the Thousand.
Two particularly significant symbols can be found in Piazza Garibaldi, the heart of the city center:
- The all-seeing eye, placed on the triangular pediment of the Church of San Sebastiano, facing the center of the square;
- The number IV on the clock of the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria La Nova, written as “IIII” instead of the usual “IV.”
Although the use of “IIII” is common in many old clocks with Roman numerals, in Caltanissetta this detail was believed to have a symbolic and orientational function for lodge members. In fact, the eye on the church seems to look directly toward the bell tower, next to which opens Via Pugliese Giannone, a street that, according to local tradition, once led to the city’s Masonic lodge.
Today, it is not possible to know for certain whether that lodge still exists or if it has been completely dismantled, but some people still claim to belong to Freemasonry. Other symbols associated with Masonic tradition can be found in different places around the city, such as in the Monumental Cemetery of the Angels, where several noble tombs display distinctive emblems tied to this ancient brotherhood.