The village is a late arrival: it was founded in the eighteenth century by the Diana, dukes of Cefalà since 1684. The baths that carry its name had been there for seven hundred years already: a hammam fed by a spring at 38 degrees, reworked in Norman times, the only Islamic bath house left in Sicily.
Above the houses, on top of Pizzo Chiarastella, the donjon of the Norman castle still stands: in 1329 it was one of the Chiaramonte strongholds, then a band of Catalan raiders shut themselves inside it, and the people of Palermo came up to get them. Today the baths and the springs lie inside a reserve of 136 hectares, shared with Villafrati. There are 1,007 residents.
Bagni di Cefalà Diana
Sfincione · Arancina · Pasta alla Norma
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Nearest airport: Palermo Falcone-Borsellino, 44 km away
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📅 Every year, on 17 August
On 17 August Cefalà Diana celebrates Saint Francis of Paola; the town is known above all for the Bagni, a pointed-vault thermal complex dating from the late Norman period.
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 Cefalà Diana, but an easy day trip away.
