Menfi

Menfi (Zip Code 92013) is 104 Km. distant from Agrigento, the province it belongs to, 174 Km. from Caltanissetta, 296 Km. from Catania, 215 Km. from Enna, 368 Km. from Messina, 109 Km. from Palermo, 240 Km. from Ragusa, 324 Km. from Siracusa, 79 Km. from Trapani.

The municipality counts 13.176 inhabitants, its surface measures 11.321 hectares, and its population density is of 116 inhabitants per square kilometre. It rises on a flat area, 119 meters above the sea-level.

The Town Hall is located in via mazzini, tel. ++39 925 70111 fax. ++39 925 70218. E-mail address is: comune@comune.menfi.ag.it.

A big agricultural center, Menfi boasts the cultivation of various agriculture products, such as citrus plantations, fruit, cereals, and vegetables.

Cattle breeding and sheep farms are quite developed. Local handicraft produces typical objects made of the woven leaves of the palma nana (a type of palm), and of wood. Charming are the hand embroidered laces.

The original name was "Menfri", and in 1658 it was changed into "Menfi" by the founder of the first urban center, Diego Tagliavia Aragona prince of Castelvetrano.

The suburb was rebuilt over the ancient Arab farmhouse called Burgimilluso. In 1968, the town experienced many damages caused by the earthquake that devastated the Valle del Belice.

The principal monuments to remember are the Chiesa Madre, XVIII century, partially destroyed by the earthquake, and the Chiesa di Gesù e Maria, dated 1700, and its astonishing high-reliefs. Relevant is also the XVII century Palazzo Pignatelli, that preserves a fragment of the ancient Castello Svevo.

A famous musician from Menfi was Antonio Palminteri (1846-1915), who held the chair of Counterpoint and Harmony at the Conservatorio di Milano, and composed two operas, "Arrigo II" and "Amazìlia".