Around this Siracusan town stretches the agricultural infrastructure dedicated to the famous Pachino IGP cherry tomato. Long before it became a focal point for Sicilian produce, the settlement was founded in 1760 by the Starrabba nobility on the Scibini hill, expanding around a surviving 1494 watchtower.
The town's name allegedly fuses the Latin words Bacchus and vinum, a nod to early winemaking. Now around 22,000 strong, Pachino holds a distinct place in World War II history as a 1943 landing site for the British 8th Army. A quick detour to the Scibini tower provides a clear look at 15th-century coastal defenses.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: The Virgin Mary Assumed into Heaven, patroness of a town born in the 18th century, Sunday 15 August
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 83 km away
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📅 Every year, on 15 August
Pachino celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on 15 August; the mother church of the Holy Crucifix, from 1790, was commissioned by Marquis Vincenzo Starrabba, whose family founded the town after obtaining a royal grant in 1758.
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.
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 Pachino, but an easy day trip away.
