There was a lake here that boiled, the Naftia, and the Sicels believed the Palici, twin gods, had been born from its sulphurous water: on its banks stood their sanctuary, where oaths were sworn and oracles asked for. Today the lake can no longer be seen, because its gases are exploited industrially.
In 453 BC Ducetius founded Paliké beside it and made it the capital of his Sicel state. Outside the town, in contrada Coste, stands the hermitage of Santa Febronia, a church cut into the rock between the sixth and seventh centuries, with Christ Pantocrator in the apse and, below, the niches where the monks' bodies were laid to drain. All around, orange groves; there are 16,540 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint Febronia, patron with a relic carried in procession to the hermitage, Friday 25 June
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 32 km away
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📅 Every year, from 20 June to 2 July, culminating on 25 June with the «Spaccata 'o pignu» on the eve
Palagonia celebrates Saint Febronia on 25 June, with festivities lasting from 20 June to 2 July; each year a procession carries the saint's relic to the hermitage dedicated to her, and on the eve a ritual called «Spaccata 'o pignu» is held in the mother church.
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo inside a golden cone-shaped crust: in Catania it is masculine and pointed, and the quarrel with Palermo over the name is serious.
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Outside Palagonia, but an easy day trip away.
