The cathedral of Castronovo, before it was a church, was a castle: count Roger built it in 1091, Manfredi Chiaramonte enlarged it in 1375, and only in 1388 was it opened for worship. Two of the towers remain: one serves as the bell tower, the other as the apse.
The town lies in the Sicani mountains, and once it stood higher up: on the plateau of the Kassar, the fortified city of the ninth century that the Arabs called Qasr nubu, «new castle», from which the name comes. When the stronghold was destroyed people came down and settled around two springs — the Rabat and the Rakal-biat — where the fountains and the washhouse still are. There are 3,175 residents.
Sfincione · Arancina · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint Vitalis, patron of a hill where the royal chapel of the Norman castle once stood, Tuesday 9 March
Nearest airport: Palermo Falcone-Borsellino, 72 km away
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📅 Every year, on 9 March
Castronovo di Sicilia celebrates Saint Vitalis on 9 March; the church of San Vitale Abate was built in the 13th century over the remains of the royal chapel of the old Chiaramonte castle, commissioned by the Great Count Roger after the 1077 liberation.
Tall, soft bread dough, tomato, onion, anchovies, oregano and caciocavallo: sfincione is Palermo's focaccia, cut into squares.
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 Castronovo di Sicilia, but an easy day trip away.
