Palazzo Agnello di Siculiana

A Siculianain province of Agrigento, it is possible to appreciate various works of art and structures that have played an important role from the point of view of the historical and social development of the territory as in the case of the Lamb Palace.

The Agnello Palace in Siculiana

Palazzo Agnello di Siculiana is a structure that tells the rise and history of Lamb family arrived in this area towards the end of the eighteenth century. Despite having great power and a certain economic availability they never managed to obtain the investiture of the Barony of Siculiana but despite this they were important because they actually influenced thehistorical evolution of this area of ​​Sicily.

This building which has a structure a three floors with a fairly simple external facade on which a total of 6 balconies finished with different rosettes and friezes protrude, it was also important from a political point of view. In fact one of the descendants of this family namely the Baron Francesco Agnello he managed in March 1848 to be elected deputy in the parliament of Sicily which was once independent. It was from this town and from the palace that the first meetings of people who wanted to support this revolution began.

Furthermore, during the following decades the palace was an important place also in terms of the social and cultural aspect because it is headquarters of the Friends of Music Association. Many artists of the period have stayed in the palace including Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, famous for having written the novel The Leopard, but also Alberto Moravia Michelangelo Antonioni in more recent times together with Monica Vitti and many others. Among other things, this structure has also played a key role in several film from the 60s that was turn around on the Sicilian territory including the film "Seduced and Abandoned" directed by director Pietro Germi.

What to see in Siculiana

Siculiana is a small town in the province of Agrigento which has about 4000 inhabitants and develops at an altitude of 1300 meters above sea level. Among the most important architectural and artistic works in the area, undoubtedly stands out the mother church of the Santissimo Crocifisso. It is a Baroque-style architectural structure whose construction probably started around the fifteenth century and has a single nave on which an imperious dome on an octagonal drum rises.
However, the symbol of this town is the castle which was built by Federico II of Chiaramonte in the year 1310 to become a residence and to guarantee protection for the whole territory. Originally this architectural complex had an annexed church dedicated to San Lorenzo. The plant develops with two longitudinal bodies, namely the southern and the northern one. Various types of materials were used for its construction, such as plaster stones and mortar. Over the centuries this castle has passed ownership to very influential people such as King Martin I who was king of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Majorca but also other important personalities such as Giovanni Isfar, Francesco Bonanno del Bosco and the Agnello family.

How to get to Siculiana

To reach Siculiana coming from Catania, it takes 180 km via the A19 motorway and the state road 640 for a journey that takes at least 140 minutes. The journey required to reach the town coming from Agrigento is much shorter, i.e. 19 km which can be covered in 23 minutes by crossing the state road 115.