The name is a compliment: «vago» here means lovely. It was chosen by Girolama Xirotta, who in 1636 bought the fief of Gipponeri and obtained the king's licence to settle it; the town grew on a grid, with the houses around the courtyards they call patii.
On the night of 14–15 January 1968 the Belice earthquake brought it down, and Sergio Zavoli made of it an inquiry that is still remembered, «Il vicebrigadiere di Montevago». The town was rebuilt a little further off; of the sulphur water that rises here, and of the baths that grew from it, they tell instead a love story, that of Cinzio and Corinzia. There are 3,015 residents.
Nocellara del Belice · Arancina · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint Dominic, patron of a town rebuilt after the Belice earthquake, Sunday 8 August
Nearest airport: Trapani Birgi, 50 km away
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📅 Every year, on 8 August
Montevago celebrates Saint Dominic on 8 August; on the night between 14 and 15 January 1968 the Belice earthquake destroyed the town's mother church, an event also told by journalist Sergio Zavoli in a television investigation.
A large, green olive with firm flesh and a buttery flavour: Nocellara del Belice, sold in America as «Castelvetrano olive», has held DOP status since 1998.
Read more →Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo cheese inside a golden crust. Round and feminine in Palermo, pointed and called arancino in Catania: the quarrel is serious.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Montevago, but an easy day trip away.
