RACALMUTO

Racalmuto is an inland town of the province area of Agrigento on the way to Caltanissetta.

Its economy is based mainly on agriculture and on the extraction of rock salt.
There live 10000 people.
The largest community of people from Racalmuto living abroad is in Hamilton in Canada.
The name of the town has Arab origins and it means “the village of dead” .
The area was inhabited since prehistory
The most important aristocratic families who ruled the town were the Chiaramonte who had French origins and moved to Sicily during the Norman time and the Del Carretto who started to rule the town in the 14th century.
Since the 19th century till few decades ago the local economy has been based mainly on the extraction of sulphur and of rock salt.
The present most important Sicilian rock salt mine is in Racalmuto.

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FAIRS AND RELIGIOUS FEASTS

The Madonna del Monte feast takes place in June together with a kind of horse race taking place on the steep stairway leading to the church.

The melon fair takes place in July

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MONUMENTS

The Chiaramonte castle stands in the middle of the town and it’s very well preserved.
It’s open to visitors and it is used for temporary exhibitions.
It dates from the 14th century.

The Mother Church was built in 1620 by the Del Carretto family who ruled the town at that time.
It is dedicated to the Annunziata Virgin. It’s rich of works of art.

The Maria SS. Del Monte Sanctuary dates from the 18th century and it is the seat of the statue representing the Virgin Mary which is taken around in procession during the most important local religious event of the town. This procession is mentioned by Leonardo Sciascia one of the most important Italian contemporary writers who was from Racalmuto.

The Regina Margherita Theatre stands next to the Town Hall on the Repubblica Square. It dates from the second half of the 19th century.
The building shows a classical influence.

Leonardo Sciascia Foundation.

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