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Realmonte

Description

Realmonte (from the Latin "mons regalis", meaning "king's mountain") is a suggestive tourist location in the province of Agrigento, located in a hilly area of Sicily's southern coast. It was inhabited since ancient times, as prehistoric remains founded in several sites of the area testify. Coins and pottery, found on Monte Rossello, point out the presence of a Hellenistic city (V-III century b.C.). Finally, a sumptuous Roman Villa, dating back to the I century AD, reveals that this side of the Sicilian coast was appreciated by Roman nobility due to its mild climate.
The town was founded in the XVI century and belonged to the Dukes of Castrofilippo until the XIX century; Giovanni Monreale, in 1675, obtained the "licentia populandi": from that period a progressive population of the village, from neighboring cities, started.
Attractions:
- Realmonte Roman Villa, rustic villa of the I century AD, founded in the XX century. The whole building is situated around an "impluvium" and many rooms are decorated with valuable mosaics. The presence of a thermal bath testifies the economic power of the owners.
- Costabianca Theater, at the foot of the bay of Capo Rossello, is a typical Greek theater in Segesta style;
- the XVIII century Church of San Domenico;
- the Costabianca, one of the most impressive coastlines of the region, characterized by white stratified marl, on which the corrosive action of the weather created some wrinkles, called "calanchi";
- the Scala dei Turchi (Turkish Staircase), an alive cliff of white marl, whose slopes, sloping towards the sea, have the form of a long staircase. The name refers to the Saracen invasions that stormed the Sicilian coasts in the XVI century;
- the salt mine, where a beautiful Salt Cathedral has been realized: statues and ornaments were carved into the salt rock;
- the towers of Monterosso and Monte Rossello, part of the coastal defensive system, developed by Charles V;
- the suggestive caves and natural grottoes.

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