Cassaro

Cassaro (Zip Code 96010) is 182 Km. distant from Agrigento, 156 Km. from Caltanissetta, 75 Km. from Catania, 137 Km. from Enna, 71 Km. from Messina, 272 Km. from Palermo, 52 Km. from Ragusa, 35 Km. from Siracusa, that is the province it belongs to, 355 Km. from Trapani.

The municipality has 961 inhabitants, its surface measures 1.940 hectares and its population density counts 50 inhabitants for square kilometre. It rises over a hilly area, 560 metres above the sea-level.

The Town Hall is located in via Minzoni, tel. ++39 0931-877017 fax. ++39 0931-877188.

It is a town mainly based on agriculture and handicraft. It produces citrus fruits, peaches, olives and cereals. Its handicrafts include olive brunch and reed baskets.

The word Cassaro comes from the Arab Qasr, and means castle: it is the fortress which the village was formed around, in the 12th century.

During the many centuries it belonged to different lords: the barons Gaetani from 16th to 18th century who made it a principality in 1631; it also belonged to the Statellas from 1776. Being damaged by the earthquake in 1693, it was later rebuilt.

Amongst the nicest monuments we include the Mother Church dedicated to St. Peter (started in the 17th century and ended in 1730) and the Church of St. Anthony the Abbot (17th-18th century).

It is funny to know that people from Cassaro are mocked by the people from the nearby Ferla with this saying: I pà, ghi vini a Costa 'i Tavà, a cogghiri i fia e fiapà, which means: "Father, come to the Tavà Coast and pick the fruits of the prickly pears".