Enna is 111 Km. distant from Agrigento, 41 Km. from Caltanissetta, 97 Km. from Catania, 193 Km. from Messina, 161 Km. from Palermo, 145 Km. from Ragusa, 172 Km. from Siracusa, 260 Km. from Trapani.

The municipality counts 28.427 inhabitants, its surface measures 35.718 hectares, and its population density counts 80 inhabitants per square kilometre. It rises over an internal hilly area, 1098 meters above the sea-level.

Enna is not only Sicily's highest major city, but at an elevation of 931 meters, it is the highest provincial capital in Italy (higher than Potenza and Aosta). Historically, it is unique in being the only important city of ancient Sicily that was not founded by foreign invaders; it was established by one of Sicily's three indigenous peoples, the Siculi, from whom the name "Sicily" itself derives. This makes Enna one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities on the island. Although scholars are not certain exactly when Enna was founded, most agree that a major settlement existed there as early as 1200 BC. Enna is also the capital of the only one of Sicily's nine provinces that has no coastline.

When the Greeks arrived a bit before 700 BC, contemporary sources described Enna as a native stronghold inhabited by the Siculi. The name "Enna" supposedly derives from the Sicani term "Henna." Enna's early history sheds a rare light on the obscure origins of the three indigenous Sicilian peoples: The Elami, the Sicani and the Siculi. Since Enna was an established native center, the early Greeks were able to record the precious little history that exists regarding these peoples, in an epoch before extensive contact and conquest by the Greeks and other outsiders influenced their culture.

Enna was first occupied by the Romans in 258 BC during the first Punic War. In the Second Punic War in 214 BC when Roman forces were besieging Syracuse which had allied itself with Carthage, the Roman Consul Pinarius, fearing that the people of Enna were on the verge of rebelling against their Roman rulers, massacred a large part of Enna's population, including almost all of the city's leading citizens, and sacked the city. Roman rule of Enna, and Sicily in general, was oppressive and exploitative. The island was transformed into a giant wheat farm whose sole purpose was to feed Rome and her citizens.

Under Byzantine Greek domination, Enna became known as "Castro Yannis" a corruption of the Roman name, which meant "John's Camp" in Greek. The Byzantines were only concerned with holding Enna for its strategic value; they cared little for the city's economic development or the welfare of its people.

Compared to Palermo and Siracusa, Enna's monuments and sights are not overwhelming. However, they are worth a look, especially if your visit there is combined with visits to other nearby places such as Piazza Armerina, Caltagirone and Morgantina. All can be visited briefly in one long day or covered thoroughly in two days. Enna is the crossroads of Sicily. The ancient Greeks called it the "umbellicum (navel) of Sicily."

Enna's main attraction is the Lombard Castle, built by Frederick II in the early part of the 13th century. Many historians, however, agree that the castle was erected upon the ruins of an earlier fortification, possibly Arab or Byzantine. That older fortress could have been built on the remnants of an even earlier structure dating to the Roman period.