The patron saint of Castrofilippo is Saint Anthony the Abbot, whose feast is held every year on 17 January, and to whom the town's sanctuary is dedicated: the church bearing his name was built at the edge of the Cannatone district, and later rebuilt in the early 20th century.
The town was founded in 1584 by Stefano Monreale, a member of a family of French origin, a poet and the inventor of a new method of coal extraction, who obtained the licence to «congregate people» and dedicated the settlement, as its very name «castra rex Philippi» suggests, to the king of Spain Philip II. On his death he was succeeded by his son Maurizio, married to Margherita Montaperto, who founded the church of Maria Santissima del Rosario, completed in 1634, and obtained the title of Duke of Castrofilippo thanks to a donation from local landowners. A little north of the town, on Monte Castellaccio, stand the remains of a fortification of probable Byzantine origin, perhaps reused by the Arabs during their rule of the area.
