{"id":67621,"date":"2015-03-15T17:50:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T16:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/?p=67621"},"modified":"2026-10-12T10:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:02:41","slug":"favara-racalmuto-and-aragona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/en\/favara-racalmuto-and-aragona","title":{"rendered":"Favara, Racalmuto and Aragona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If, after visiting the most attractive sites of Agrigento<\/a> and its coastal strip, you are looking for a short getaway of about a day in the surroundings, combining art and culture, we suggest a tour of Favara<\/strong> to discover the contemporary art district “Farm Cultural Park”, of Racalmuto<\/strong> which preserves a picturesque centre inland to the north-east, as well as a detour to Aragona<\/strong> to discover its central square and the “mud volcanoes”.<\/p>\n

Favara<\/h2>\n

The small town of Favara<\/strong>, which inherited its name from the Arabs, is notably known as the “Citt\u00e0 dell’Agnello Pasquale” (town of the Easter lamb), a name linked to a local pastry: the agnello pasquale is a cake made from almond paste and pistachio.
Outside the historic centre, modern urban planning has developed in an anarchic way and the result is aesthetically unfortunate, as in many medium-sized Sicilian towns.<\/p>\n

The Feast of the Easter Lamb is organised in early May at the same time as Holy Week, offering tourists the opportunity to visit and admire the architectural heritage.
Besides 19 March, Saint Joseph’s Day is celebrated with a rich programme of festivities between late August and early September.<\/p>\n

\"favara-sicily\"<\/a>

View of Favara with the Chiesa Madre<\/p><\/div>\n

Heritage of Favara<\/h3>\n

In the centre of the town lies the vast Piazza Cavour<\/strong>, dominated by the Castello Chiaramontano<\/strong>, erected around 1270 by the Chiaramonte family, probably as a hunting residence for Frederick II.
Around the square, one also notices prestigious 18th\u201119th-century palaces, including the Palazzo Mendola<\/strong>, which serves as the municipal library and museum, with about 8,000 volumes and a collection of minerals and stuffed birds. This Mendola museum-library therefore preserves precious books, some of them old (for example from the 17th century).
At the corner of Piazza Cavour is the Rosary church (Chiesa del Santissimo Rosario<\/strong>). Inside, one can admire Baroque stuccoes, a wooden coffered ceiling (probably from the 16th century according to some sources) and a majolica floor. <\/p>\n

Not far away, less than 200 metres to the south, stands the Chiesa Madre<\/strong> (mother church), dedicated to the Madonna Assunta, rebuilt between the late 18th and the 19th century, with a fa\u00e7ade in Syracuse stone and a tall dome (about 56 m).
The interior is richly decorated: frescoes, mosaics (made by Tuscan artists according to Kalat) and an ancient wooden crucifix are mentioned.<\/p>\n

About 200 metres south-west of Piazza Cavour, one arrives at the Bentivegna courtyard, where the Farm Cultural Park<\/strong> is located, founded in 2010. This project is the work of Andrea Bartoli and his wife Florinda Saieva, who converted seven small courtyards of Arab origin into a contemporary art space, gallery, artists’ residencies, bookshop, caf\u00e9s, and other cultural structures. A multicultural atmosphere emanates from it, with its artists’ residencies who come to stay there and leave their mark. <\/p>\n\n\n