It's impossible to miss the town's 15th-century church, a lumbering stone construction more evocative of a defensive fortress or jail than sacred place of worship with its arrow slits and 20cm- to 2.5m-thick walls. The church was built on the site of a 4th-century chapel dedicated to San Vito, patron saint of the maritime town.
Its signature tower was added in 1600 by Florentine architect Camillo Camilliani (1574–1603), best known for the many watchtowers and coastal fortifications he designed to protect Sicily's vulnerable shores in the late 16th century.