Aeschylus, the father of tragedy, died in Gela in 456 BC: the Greek city founded in 688 BC by settlers from Rhodes and Crete was then a Mediterranean power, strong enough to refound Agrigento. The Timoleontic walls at Capo Soprano — fourth century BC, preserved for hundreds of metres — and the archaeological museum keep that inheritance.
The twentieth century gave it the other face: the Allied landings of July 1943 made it one of the first liberated towns, and the petrochemical plant marked its skyline and its story. Gela is a city to understand, with long beaches and a history bigger than its fame.
Near Gela
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
