Monte Turcisi is part of the final north-eastern hills of the Monti Erei, situated at the northern edge of the Catania plain. The hill rises to 303 m a.s.l. and dominates the vast alluvial plain to the south-east and the Dittaino valley to the north-west. Despite its modest height, it has a notable panorama ranging from Mount Etna as far as the slopes of the Monti Iblei. The hill has an elongated form with an average height of 260 m and a truncated cone-shaped summit with a surface of c. 3500 m2. In the Greek period, this area was occupied by a military outpost, probably in the service of the kings of Syracuse, and only reoccupied in the second half of the 7th century A.D. by a group of hermits who founded a hermitage with a church and annexes. In addition to the remains of the hermitage, the walls of the Greek fortification surrounding the plateau on three sides are clearly visible. The steep rocky outcrop of the south slope guaranteed inaccessibility without the need for manmade structures. The fortress was entered from the western slope, which led up from the lower plateau. Halfway up, a proteichisma that was added in a subsequent period to the main fortress on the main summit provided extra controls over the route.

The first to call attention to the imposing remains on Monte Turcisi was Enrico Procelli in the 1980s. In 2016, an architectural survey aimed to document and map the structures visible on the surface as a fundamental tool for study of the site. The survey was undertaken by the Universities of Catania and Berlin in collaboration with the Superintendency of Catania. The first archaeological sondages were also opened in order to obtain general information about the stratigraphy, chronology, and construction technique.