AGRIGENTO
Agrigento is an ancient town, founded in 580 B.C. and witness of many ages and populations that have characterized its face and culture. Is called Town of Temples, for the many Doric temples located in the Valley of the Temples, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Among the beauties of Agrigento there is the Norman-Gothic Cathedral of St. Gerlando, built between the XII and XIII centuries. Inside the Cathedral there are beautiful works, including paintings, tombs and statues, the aisle has two rows of columns of medieval times and decorated in baroque style.
The Abbey of the Holy Spirit, dating back to the thirteenth century, is also called “Bataranni”, and was built by the Marquise Prefoglio who donated the building to the Benedictine nuns. This landmark building is now used as a Museum.
Ancient and Modern Agrigento
One of the most significant sites of Agrigento is the Valley of the Temples, with numerous remains of Doric temples, cemeteries, water works and fortifications. This Archaeological Park is among the largest in the world, by extension and for the richness of the finds.
The Archaeological Museum of Agrigento preserves artifacts and documents that testify to the long history of the town and the surrounding territory starting from the Bronze and Iron Ages, the classical age shrines, the remains of the Hellenistic-Roman quarter, coin collections from the fifth century.
One of the most important figures of Agrigento is Luigi Pirandello, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934. You can visit his birthplace as a museum, with pictures, personal objects, manuscripts and first editions of his works. Also a theater and a library are dedicated to Pirandello.
FAVARA
In the town of Favara, we can visit the beautiful Castle Chiaramonte, an impregnable fortress built it 1280. Today there are no longer the walls that protected it, and we can enter directly from the main portal in the central court. At the inside we can admire the fresco of St. George, and from the terraces we can enjoy a beautiful sea view.
Walking through Favara you can easily reach the Church of the Holy Rosary, built in early 1700. The façade is in Baroque style and at the inside the great ceiling is coffered. The church contains a crypt, frescoes on the walls and putty decorations. It has been declared a national monument because of its beauty.
Piazza Cavour e Chiaramonte Castle Favara
In the old town center of Favara there is the FARM Cultural Park, a space dedicated to artists who have been creating works of architecture, installations, paintings, and thousands of ideas since 2010 transporting visitors to a magical world! Among spaces for congresses, art libraries, events for both adults and children.
The Street of Writers was created to promote the artistic and cultural Sicilian heritage, in particular is a path that runs through the Valley of the Temples, a leading area of many novels and works that has given birth to excellent figures of the Italian literature. Among the most important names there are Leonardo Sciascia, Luigi Pirandello and Andrea Camilleri. Reliving these places means discovering museums, castles, natural sites, food, music and culture.
