Page 414 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

With twice as many inhabitants as Enna, the provincial capital of CALTANISSETTA
(35km to the southwest) is easily the largest town in the interior, though little else
about it is remarkable. Moreover, its sprawling modern suburbs give way suddenly to
rolling empty fields beyond – the town is very much the last gasp before the almost
ghostly rural expanses of Sicily’s western interior.

The largely traffic-choked centre breathes a sigh of relief around the prettily restored
Piazza Garibaldi, with its splashing fountain, handsome Duomo and the wedding-

cake confection that is the church of San Sebastiano. The churches may well be locked
but they form a pleasing ensemble, while the nearby sandstone and salmon-pink
Sant’Agata, at the other end of Corso Umberto I, is equally easy on the eye. You can
also take a spin around the imposing walls of the seventeenth-century Palazzo

Moncada two blocks to the north of Piazza Garibaldi, an aristocratic mansion
belonging to one of Sicily’s great feudal dynasties. Down behind the Duomo (follow
Via Pugliese Giannone and Via San Domenico) it’s less than ten minutes’ walk to one
of the island’s stranger castle ruins, the Castello di Pietrarossa, improbably balanced
on an outcrop of rock. It’s off-limits and looks like it should have fallen down years
ago, though it’s finally getting some belated attention as restoration work continues on

the adjacent church and monastery.

Museo Archeologico

Via di Santo Spirito • Tues–Sun 9am–1pm & 3.30–7pm; closed last Sun of month • €4 • 0934 567 062 • Take a
bus from the train station (direction Villaggio Santa Barbara), and ask to get off near the museum; the stop is about
300m from the museum; if driving, follow the brown “Museo Archeologico” signs from town, though it’s easy to get
lost

Located 3km north of the centre, the Museo Archeologico is a vast circular bunker
straight out of the Thunderbirds school of architecture, and contains some of Sicily’s
earliest finds (from the Bronze Age to the fourth century BC), including treasures like
an unusual votive clay model of a temple. It’s all beautifully presented, with clear