The patron saint of Salaparuta is Saint Joseph, celebrated on 19 March.
In 1537 the barony and land of Sala were given by the childless Gerbino Paruta to his sister Fiammetta, who married Giuseppe Alliata, baron of Villafranca: the fief and castle then passed to their son Francesco Alliata, first prince of Villafranca, who in 1625 obtained from the King of Spain Philip IV the title of Duke of Salaparuta. Set on a hill 385 metres above sea level, in the valley of the Belice river, the historic town was struck on the night between 14 and 15 January 1968 by the violent Belice earthquake, which destroyed the town: today only ruins remain, bearing witness to the life of the town before that date, including the old mother church of Santa Caterina Vergine e Martire, built between 1610 and 1762, of which the lower part of the perimeter walls survives with the bases of the nave pillars, and the 18th-century former Capuchin convent, today partly restored.
