Sicily · Agrigento
Cammarata
A Sicani town at 700 meters on the northeast slope of the peak that gives the comune its name and shape.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Cammarata is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- By car
- 1 h 28 min from Palermo
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 5,841
- J11°
- F12°
- M13°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S26°
- O21°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The town sits at 700 meters on the northeastern flank of the mountain, and the name comes from the Greek kàmara, vaulted room, after the limestone caves that perforate the slopes. That geology sits under a settlement built up the incline in stepped lanes, so the town and the peak above it read as one continuous rise rather than two separate things.
King Roger I laid siege in 1087 and gave the conquered town to his relative Lucy of Hauteville, who took the title Lucia di Cammarata. The Chiesa Madre, rebuilt in the seventeenth century on twelfth-century foundations, holds a Madonna della Catena by Pietro D'Asaro and a sixteenth-century organ, and the mountain itself carries a regional nature reserve of downy oak and holm oak forest, golden eagles, and ridge trails to the summit.
Cammarata is paired physically with San Giovanni Gemini next door. The two towns share the mountain as a watershed, a saint, and a working economy of grain, oil and sheep, which means the peak is not scenery at the edge of town but the shared resource that organizes both places, their water, their pasture, and their names.
How to get there
From Catania (CTA), about 2 h 21 min by car.
By car from the center of Palermo 1 h 28 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Palermo?
Coming by train into Palermo Centrale? Cammarata is about 1 h 25 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa Madre di San Nicolò di Bari
Seventeenth-century mother church on twelfth-century foundations, with a Madonna della Catena by Pietro D'Asaro and a sixteenth-century organ.
Monte Cammarata
Downy oak and holm oak cover the slopes below the summit, with ridge trails running up through the reserve and views over the Sicani range.
Ruderi del Castello
Remains of the medieval fortification on the rock above the centro storico, taken by Roger I in 1087.
Centro storico
Stepped lanes climbing the slope, with stone houses, narrow piazzas, and the working economy still tied to grain and sheep.
Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
Convent church on the edge of the historic center, founded in the fourteenth century and rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake.
Living here
Could you live here?
Cammarata meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 5,841 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Agrigento, a city of 55,252, is 47 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 5,841, down 8.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Agrigento, 47 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Mussomeli, 18 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €400 to €600 per m² to buy, €1.60 to €2.40 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Palermo airport (PMO), 2 h 2 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Palermo, 1 h 28 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Tunisia and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 209 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 49% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Agrigento province ranks 95th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Mussomeli, 18 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Caltanissetta, 37 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Caltanissetta, 37 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 61 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Homes
The comune has published a one-euro homes scheme on its own page. Ask the comune which homes are still available, and budget for restoration on top.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.91% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sicily spends about €1,820 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €524 a year for water, on the Sicily average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 13% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
MONTE CAMMARATA
1,578-meter peak, the highest in the Sicani Mountains, a regional reserve with oak forest, golden eagles, and ridge trails.
LUCY OF HAUTEVILLE
Roger I laid siege in 1087 and gave the town to his relative Lucia di Cammarata, who took the Norman title from the conquered lands.
GRAIN AND SHEEP
The working hill economy of the inland Sicani: wheat, durum, hard cheese and lamb, with two pastoral fairs each year.
Common questions
- What is Cammarata known for?
- Cammarata is a Sicani town at 700 meters on the northeast slope of the peak that gives the comune its name and shape.
- Where is Cammarata?
- Cammarata is a comune in the province of Agrigento, in Sicily.
- What is the nearest airport to Cammarata?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Palermo (PMO), about 2 h 2 min by car.
- Can you get to Cammarata without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Palermo to Cammarata?
- About 1 h 28 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Cammarata?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Cammarata?
- Agira, Caltagirone and Calascibetta.
- How many people live in Cammarata?
- 5,841 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Cammarata a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Cammarata is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Agrigento, is 47 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Mussomeli, 18 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 700 m
- Population: 5,841
- Surface area: 192.46 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Cammarata appears in
Similar
Towns like Cammarata
Agira
Province: Enna
both inland in Sicily · both between 3,000 and 10,000 people
Caltagirone
Province: Catania
both inland in Sicily · both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Calascibetta
Province: Enna
both inland in Sicily · both between 3,000 and 10,000 people
Salemi
Province: Trapani
both inland in Sicily · both between 3,000 and 10,000 people
Tagliacozzo
Province: L'Aquila
both between 3,000 and 10,000 people · both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Palazzolo Acreide
Province: Siracusa
both between 3,000 and 10,000 people · both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
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