Calascibetta

Calascibetta (Zip Code 94010) is 111 Km. distant from Agrigento, 39 Km. from Caltanissetta, 94 Km. from Catania, 6 Km. from Enna, which is the province it belongs to, 190 Km. from Messina, 155 Km. from Palermo, 147 Km. from Ragusa, 174 Km. from Siracusa, 254 Km. from Trapani.

The municipality counts 5.039 inhabitants, its surface measures 8.817 hectares, and its population density counts 57 inhabitants per square kilometre.

It rises over an internal hilly area, 619 meters above the sea-level.

The Town Hall is located in via Conte Ruggero n. 12, tel. ++39 0935-569111 fax. ++39 0935-569125. E-mail address is: comunebarr@k2net.it.

A charming center with a Middle Age structure, Calascibetta offers a rich production of wheat, grapes, olives, and legumes.

Cattle breeding and sheep farms are notoriously well set off, and the deriving products are exhibited during the annual Cattle Fair, held in the months of August and September.

The name Calascibetta derives from the Arab term Qalat-sciabat, that means "the castle on the summit" due to town's particular geographical position.

The first suburb rose in 1602 by will of Count Ruggero D'Altavilla, who had a fortified castle erected, that he used as a military base to besiege the nearby town of Enna. In 1535, the town became State property, and was so until the abolition of feudality.

The most relevant monument is the Chiesa Madre (Mother Church) dedicated to S. Pietro and to S. Maria Assunta, erected in 1340 beholding an admirable baptismal font with relieves, of the XVI century, and a holy-water vessel dated back to 1500.

Also outstanding are the Church of S. Pietro dated back to 1700, the Church of S. Antonio Abate of the XVII century, and the Church of the Carmine, preserving a marvelous group of marbles by Gagini (1478-1536).

Calascibetta's most notorious citizen was the mathematician Agatino Daidone (1662-1724), inventor of a singular hydrostatic scale called "idrolibra".