Campobello Di Licata: Squares, Art and Traditions

Campobello di Licata lies among the fields of a fertile high plateau. Artworks around the town draw on rural origins and traditions, while squares, churches and a literary garden add further cultural touches. If you are considering a hotel stay in Campobello Di Licata, these themes offer a concrete impression of the town’s cultural character.

Piazza XX Settembre as the central square

Piazza XX Settembre is the central agora of Campobello di Licata and the setting for its most representative festivals and events. Its design also shapes the character of the square: the paving, in a modern Baroque style, is made of marble and granite and features bas-reliefs and stone mosaics. The bronze statues “Il Seminatore” and “La Donna con Quartara” evoke water and earth. At the same time, they embody folk traditions and the town’s rural origins. In this way, the piazza combines its role as an agora with a design that explicitly reflects this rural connection.

Palaces, churches and artworks

The Palazzo Municipale, also called Palazzo di Città, stands in the piazza and was built in 1650. Its façade bears a mural by Silvio Benedetto depicting six scenes from peasant life. This motif connects with the rural origins also embodied by the bronze statues in the square.

The Chiesa di San Giuseppe tells a different story of the town. It was first built around 1865, outside the town, on the ground plan of an older chapel that had been destroyed in a fire during an epidemic. The church also has a crypt dating back to its original core. At the Chiesa Gesù e Maria, the focus is on painting and furnishings: it houses a painting attributed to Domenico Provenzani, valuable frescoes and a large wooden crucifix.

The town’s art extends beyond Piazza XX Settembre. The murals “I mille bambini” on the outside walls of the Scuola Materna on Via Edison welcome visitors arriving in Campobello di Licata. On Piazza Aldo Moro, the Fontana delle fanciulle is made with worked marble, unworked stones and bronze. The bronze monument to manual labour on Piazza Tien An Men consists of “Le grandi mani” and “L'insieme degli attrezzi di lavoro”.

Literature and landscape

One literary way to experience the town is the Parco della Divina Commedia, also known as Valle delle pietre dipinte. This garden in Campobello di Licata contains 110 travertine stones depicting Dante’s journey through the three realms of the afterlife. It lies on the southern slopes of the hill on which Campobello di Licata stands.

The Parco Antico di Iachinu Filì, locally also called Iachinu Filì, has a different connection to the town: it lies about 5 km from the town centre and forms a narrow limestone ridge, about 1.5 hectares in size, running east to west along the Iacopo Filippo stream. The comparison helps distinguish two different themes: the literary garden depicting Dante’s journey, and a place defined by its ridge, orientation and position by the stream.

Festa San Giuseppe and local dishes

The Festa San Giuseppe is celebrated in Campobello di Licata on 19 March. It includes processions and a theatrical reenactment of the Flight into Egypt. The Tavole di San Giuseppe are also part of the festival traditions: worshippers set them up in gratitude for a grace received and fill them with sweets, cakes and the season’s first produce. Alongside the processions, these tables give the festival its own devotional and culinary expression. If you are planning your trip around 19 March, check the event dates in advance.

Named local dishes include Lu 'Mpurnatu and La 'Mpanata. Lu 'Mpurnatu is a baked pasta casserole made with ziti-like pasta, meat sauce, wild fennel, cauliflower, local cheeses and eggs. La 'Mpanata, by contrast, is a thin pastry baked in the oven and filled with cauliflower, spinach, onions and black olives. Both contain cauliflower; otherwise, the dishes are quite different: pasta and meat sauce are central to the casserole, while vegetables and olives make up the pastry filling.

Discover more destinations: Sant'anna, Montaperto, Ravanusa, Grotte, Contrada Fiori Sud, Borgo Bonsignore, Canicattì, Sant'angelo Muxaro

For the broader travel overview: Agrigento.