Palma di Montechiaro

Palma di Montechiaro is a city in the province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily.

Location and data

Palma di Montechiaro located 27 kilometers southeast of Agrigento near the coast. Here live 23,482 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2012), who mainly work in agriculture, animal husbandry, in the furniture industry and in the food industry.

The neighboring municipalities are Agrigento, Camastra, Licata and Naro.

History

The city was founded in 1638 by Prince Carlo Tomasi di Lampedusa under the name Palma. In 1861 it received the name of the nearby castle Montechiaro as additional epithet.

Structures

In the resort

The main attractions in the city were built on the orders of the Prince of Lampedusa. The main church of Santa Maria del Rosario, also called Chiesa Madre, was built in 1666 in the style of Sicilian Baroque. Also, the Benedictine monastery Maria del Rosario and the Palazzo Ducale from the 17th century.

In the surrounding area

The Castello Montechiaro located about two miles southeast of the city on a hill and was in the 14th century to protect against pirate built. In the district of Marina di Palma, five kilometers south of the city beside the beach in Palmesi, is the Torre di San Carlo, a watchtower from the 17th century. In the Zubia Grotto finds were discovered in prehistoric times.

Pictures

Monastery of Santa Maria del Rosario

Courtyard of the palazzo

Torre di San Carlo

More

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, one of the descendants of the town's founder, Carlo Tomasi di Lampedusa, described Palma di Montechiaro and its surroundings in his novel Il Gattopardo. Several scenes in the film of the same name ( German Title: The Leopard ) directed by Luchino Visconti were filmed here.