Roccapalumba is waiting for you to visit its wonders on earth and in space!
For all astronomy and travel enthusiasts, it is impossible not to add a visit to Roccapalumba to your list.
Located between Palermo and Agrigento, it is located at the foot of an imposing rock, La Rocca, which is home to wild pigeons, the characteristic Columba livia. Already with these birds begins the cultural journey that Roccapalumba is able to offer its guests: the presence of the columba livia suggests that in ancient times the cult dedicated to Demeter, to whom they were sacred. This hypothesis is also reinforced by the presence of the ruins of the ancient church of Santa Maria Caluci, in the fissure of the Rocca. This church probably replaced the more archaic cult. Towards the end of the XNUMXs a new church was erected: the church dedicated to the Madonna della Luce, located at the base of the Rocca.
Roccapalumba is the city of stars
Internationally renowned amateur astronomers, astronomers and scientists, such as astrophysicist Margherita Hack, did not fail to attend and consider as one of the Roccapalumba landmarks for its Center for Astronomical Studies and for the Planetary.
But that's not all: in recent years, the whole country has engaged in astronomical popularisation. In addition to the Planetarium present in the city, in the nearby village of Regalgioffoli in the Pizzo Suaro district, there is a astronomical observatory. His telescope was even included in the Network of Popular Observatories of Italy.
Also in Regalgioffoli, in the former elementary school of the village, an astronomical center was inaugurated which preserves a helioplanetograph, an old mechanical relative of today's planetarium. This ancient instrument is able to reproduce the real motion of the planets, the Sun and the Moon with respect to the constellations of our galaxy, it reproduces day and night, the succession of the seasons, eclipses, lunar phases and even the procession of the equinoxes .
If you want to spend an evening under the stars observing the sky and let yourself be carried away in a great dream, you cannot miss Roccapalumba.
The prickly pear is the true fruit of love
Roccapalumba is ready to welcome you at any time of the year, but during the autumn, and in particular October, it reserves many more surprises!
La città it is one of the most famous prickly pear production centers, which plantations add to the suggestive colors of the native landscape of the area.
The gastronomic culture around the prickly pear has made this fruit the protagonist not only as a course after a meal, but also as a special ingredient for first courses, second courses, jams, desserts and liqueurs. Noteworthy is the annual festival which takes place in the first ten days of October: the Opuntia ficus-indicaof great national importance.
What to visit in Roccapalumba
roccapalumba was admitted in Bella Sicilia Tourist Circuit thanks to the many points of historical and cultural interest. Some to mention are: the Territory Museum, 3D Origami exhibition, Museum on the Civilization of the Railwayman in Sicily and archaeological Museum which is under construction. Continue the list with the aforementioned Shrine of Our Lady of Light, Fiaccati hydraulic mill (still in operation today), the village and Regalgioffoli, with its green panoramas.
Il Good Friday is exhibited in Church of Saints Peter and Paul la Status, depicting the deposition of Christ.
The activities and the institutional events, that can be performed in Roccapalumbaboth cultural and artistic. Mark in your calendar the Solemnity of the Most Holy Crucifix, the Feast of St. Joseph, Holy Week, theSican October, with a record duration of one month, within which we find the Ficodindia Festival and Almonds and above all Christmas in the Land of the Stars.
If Roccapalumba has managed to fascinate you, don't miss the next articles to discover Sicily!
© Image by S. cirrincione, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
