In 1563 Butera became the first land in Sicily to be raised to a principality: the title went to the Santapau, who had been given it by king Martin after the Alagona were defeated. Before that it had been a Norman county, one of the largest on the island.
The town sits at 402 metres, but its territory runs down to the sea in the gulf of Gela, with the hamlets of Falconara and Marina di Butera: 298 square kilometres, the ninth largest comune in Sicily. Roger I took it from the Muslims in April 1089 and brought in settlers from northern Italy: it became one of the island's great Lombard lands. There are 4,937 residents.
Arancina · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint Roch, patron of a legendary castle linked to Falconara by secret tunnels, Monday 16 August
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 84 km away
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📅 Every year, on 16 August
Butera celebrates Saint Roch on 16 August: his statue is kept in the town's sanctuary, while the Arab-Norman castle overlooking the town, once held by the Alagona family and later by the Catalan prince Ugo di Santapau, is said by popular tradition to be linked to Falconara castle by underground tunnels.
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.
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The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
