What is Sciacca known for?

One of five Città della Ceramica of Sicily, with continuous majolica production since the fifteenth century and exports across the island. One of the oldest and most attended Italian carnivals, traced to the Roman Saturnalia, with float parades through the centro storico for ten days. Steam caves on Monte Kronio in continuous spa use since the Greeks of Selinunte founded Thermae here in the fifth century BC.

Sciacca is a comune in the province of Agrigento, Sicily region of Italy, about 97 kilometers from Palermo.

Sicily · Agrigento

Sciacca

A terraced fishing harbor on Sicily's southwestern coast, Selinunte's thermal spa in the fifth century BC and a ceramics city since the fourteenth.

97 km / 60 mi

Nearest hub (Palermo)

38,967

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Sciacca sits on terraces above its harbor on the southwestern coast of Sicily, between Selinunte and Agrigento. The Greeks of Selinunte founded Thermae here in the fifth century BC as a spa for the sulfurous springs of Monte Kronio, which rises 386 meters behind the town and still vents steam into rock chambers called the Stufe di San Calogero, where temperatures reach 40 degrees inside the cave walls. The Arabs renamed the town Xacca, water; the present name comes from that. Sciacca is the second-largest commune in the Agrigento province after the capital, with about 39,000 inhabitants, and one of the great fishing harbors of southern Sicily. Two industries define the modern town. The first is ceramic: the territory is one of the five Città della Ceramica of Sicily, with continuous majolica production since the fifteenth century. The second is its Carnival, one of the oldest and most attended in Italy, with origins traced to the Roman Saturnalia. Palazzo Steripinto, built in 1501, is the town's diamond-pointed Plateresque landmark.

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Gallery

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Known for

Palazzo Steripinto
1501 palazzo with a diamond-pointed ashlar façade, one of the finest examples of Gothic-Renaissance Plateresque art in Sicily.
Stufe di San Calogero
Natural steam caves on Monte Kronio with temperatures of 40-45 degrees, used as a thermal spa continuously since Greek times.
Castello Incantato
Open-air museum on the outskirts with hundreds of stone heads carved into the rock by the artist Filippo Bentivegna in the early twentieth century.
Centro storico
Medieval town divided into the original quarters of fishermen and artisans, terraced on the cliff above the harbor.
Duomo di Maria Santissima del Soccorso
Romanesque cathedral founded in the twelfth century by the Normans, with later Baroque interiors and a statue of the patroness.
Porto di Sciacca
Historic fishing port between Selinunte and Agrigento, one of the largest fishing fleets in southern Sicily.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October are the months Sciacca is at full pace. The harbor stays open, the beaches west and east of town fill, and the centro storico stays usable into October. July and August push past thirty-five degrees and the centro storico empties between two and six. Carnival from late January through mid-February is the other peak: ten days of floats, masks and crowds, the oldest carnival tradition in Italy after Venice. April, May and September into early November are the best balance of weather and light. November through January is quiet on the seafront. The fish auction at the port runs year-round at six in the morning.