Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
absolutely sure, it is thought that this was the Siculi capital of Hybla. There's no ticket of-
fice or main entrance, but there's a car park at the end of the long, winding road down
from Ferla.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Palazzolo Acreide
POP 9085 / ELEV 670M
Few people make it up to Palazzolo Acreide, but those who do find a charming, laid-back
town with a wealth of baroque architecture and some of the area's finest (and least publi-
cised) ancient ruins. The original medieval town was abandoned after the 1693 earth-
quake, after which a new Palazzolo was built in the shadow of the Greek settlement of
Akrai.
Sights & Activities
NEIGHBOURHOOD
Historic Centre
The town's central focus is
Piazza del Popolo
, which is a striking square dominated by the or-
nate bulk of the
Chiesa di San Sebastiano
and
Palazzo Municipale
, Palazzolo's impressive town
hall. From here you can take a short walk north that will bring you to
Piazza Moro
as well as
two other exquisite baroque churches, the
Chiesa Madre
and
Chiesa di San Paolo
.
These two churches, the first on the square's northern flank and the second on the
southern side, form a theatrical ensemble of columns, gargoyles and fleurs-de-lis. At the
top of Via Annunziata (the main road leading right out of Piazza Moro) is the fourth of the
town's baroque treasures, the
Chiesa dell'Annunziata
, with a richly adorned portal of twirling
columns.
Casa-Museo di Antonino Uccello
( 093 188 14 99;
www.antoninouccello.it
;
Via Machiavelli 19; 9am-1pm & 2.30-7pm)
Off Piazza
del Popolo is the former home of the poet and scholar Antonino Uccello (1922-79), a mu-
seum since 1984. Uccello devoted himself to preserving what he feared was disappearing
from Sicilian life, so this is the place to go if you want to see what 18th-century farmers
would have worn or how they ground olives to make oil.
MUSEUM
