{"id":1785,"date":"2015-08-26T12:36:14","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T10:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.regalpetrahotel.it\/?page_id=1785"},"modified":"2015-08-28T18:02:13","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T16:02:13","slug":"territory","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.regalpetrahotel.it\/en\/territory\/","title":{"rendered":"Territory"},"content":{"rendered":"

RACALMUTO<\/strong><\/h2>\n

www.comune.racalmuto.ag.it<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Racalmuto<\/strong> (Racalmutu\u201d in Sicilian<\/em>) is a small town in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, with about 8.000 inhabitants. It is located fourteen miles away, about 20-minute-drive, from the city of Agrigento and the \u201cValle dei Templi\u201d. The coastline is about 30-minute-drive away.<\/p>\n

Position of Racalmuto in the province of Agrigento<\/p>\n

When the Arabian conquerors arrived in Racalmuto, they found a population nearly exterminated by the plague; hence they called the village \u201cRahal Maut\u201d, which can be translated as \u201cdead village\u201d.<\/p>\n

Racalmuto is the birthplace of the painter Pietro D\u2019Asaro, the tenors Luigi Infantino and Salvatore Puma, as well as the writer Leonardo Sciascia, who gave a literary representation of the town in his first work \u201cLe Parrocchie di Regalpetra\u201d.
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HISTORY<\/p><\/a><\/div>

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The Medieval Age<\/h3>\n

The Arabs settled in Racalmuto in small groups of colonists specialized in agriculture. The town itself rose on a fertile valley rich in water. The village was, probably, defended by a castle. The geographer Edrisi located one castle right where Racalmuto stood. In 1038 the castle was conquered by the Byzantines and in 1087 by the Normans. After the Norman domination, the Land of Racalmuto has been given to the Barresi Family. In 1229 they built the important fortress of \u201cCastelluccio\u201d to better defend the town. It was probably built on a pre-existing fortress of the Arabian era. After the war of Vesper the Aragoneses despoiled the Barresis of their properties which, a few years later, were given to the Chiaramonte family.
\nThanks to the marriage of Costanza Chiaramonte with the Marquis Antonio Del Carretto, in 1307 Racalmuto passed to the family Del Carretto. In 1355 a terrible plague decimated the population. In 1400 the town rose again thanks to the support of Matteo Del Carretto.<\/p>\n

Modern Age<\/h3>\n

The castle was restored and returned to be inhabited. In 1503, a religious event shook the life of the town: the arrival of Our Lady of the Mountain (\u201cLa Madonna del Monte\u201d), a Marian tradition that will always remain in the hearts of the local faithful.
\nUntil 1576 Racalmuto was a baronial domain, but the following year it became a shire and at the end of XVI Century it had more than 4.000 inhabitants. During that time Racalmuto enriched itself with convents, monasteries, churches, clerical colleges and even a hospital. The largest church is dedicated to \u201cMaria Annunziata\u201d. In 1600 the work of the painter Pietro D\u2019Asaro (\u201cmonocolus racalmutensis\u201d) flourished throughout Sicily. In 1700 the decline of Racalmuto was very obviously caused by harassment and exorbitant fees. In 1739 Racalmuto passed to the noble family of Gaetani and a century later to the family Requesens.
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MONUMENTS AND PLACES OF INTEREST<\/p><\/a><\/div>


\nRacalmuto has a lot of churches, like other Sicilian towns. Most of these churches date back to the XVII Century. Here are some of the most well known ones:<\/p>\n