Page 175 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

weight of traffic along the one main street, Corso Umberto I.

Castello

Via Castello • Mon 9am–1pm & 3–7pm, Tues–Fri 8.30am–1pm & 3–8pm, Sat & Sun 9am–1pm & 3–7pm • €2 •
091 814 9252

Caccamo’s castello is a many-splendoured thing, a chalk-white array of towers and
battlements dominating the town and commanding the heights above the deep San

Leonardo river valley. Built originally in the twelfth century, the castle has over 130
rooms, though only a fraction are open to the public – there’s usually a multilingual
guide on hand, able to churn out colourful background stories for a few euros. The
highlight is the grand Sala della Congiura, where the barons’ plot against William I
(“the Bad”) was hatched in 1160; it has a fine painted wooden ceiling and walls
festooned with arms. Other rooms hold more weapons, costumes, coats of arms and

reproductions of period furniture, and a terrace allows you to savour the glorious
views.

Chiesa Madre

Piazza del Duomo • Daily 7am–noon and 3.30–6pm

Behind the castle crag sits the Chiesa Madre, with reliefs around the sacristy door
attributed to Francesco Laurana, the Renaissance sculptor who left his mark all over
the region, particularly in Palermo. Look out, too, for the seventeenth-century tablet
depicting St George and the Dragon over the main portal.

Chiesa dell’Anime del Purgatorio
Piazza del Duomo • Erratic hours

To the right of the Chiesa Madre as you enter the piazza, the Chiesa dell’Anime del

Purgatorio is more compelling, specifically for its catacombs, reached down
crumbling steps. Fully clothed and collapsing bodies lie in niches in the walls, topped
by a row of white skulls, the remains of the town’s nobility and clergy who made their
last journey here between the seventeenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. If the church is
closed, ask around for the custodian, who expects a tip for letting you in (though you
can get a glimpse of the niches and skulls by peering through the grate beneath the front
entrance).

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: CACCAMO

By bus Caccamo is connected by bus with Cefalù (2 daily; 45min); Palermo (4 daily
Mon–Sat; 1hr 15min); Termini Imerese (8 daily Mon–Sat; 15min). Buses arrive and

depart from Via Porta Euracea on the western edge of the historic centre.