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00 Sciacca
Stemma di Sciacca

Sicily · Agrigento

Sciacca

A terraced fishing harbor on Sicily's southwestern coast, built on a spa town of the fifth century BC and a ceramics center since the fourteenth.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
1 h 39 min from Palermo
Population
38,967

Known for

  • CERAMICA

    One of five Città della Ceramica of Sicily, with continuous majolica production since the fifteenth century and exports across the island.

  • CARNIVAL

    One of the oldest and most attended Italian carnivals, traced to the Roman Saturnalia, with float parades through the centro storico for ten days.

  • STUFE DI SAN CALOGERO

    Steam caves on Monte Kronio in continuous spa use since the Greeks of Selinunte founded Thermae here in the fifth century BC.

  • DOP ZONES

    The commune lies inside the Arancia di Ribera, Val di Mazara and Vastedda della valle del Belìce DOP production zones.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J15°
  • F16°
  • M16°
  • A19°
  • M24°
  • J30°
  • J33°
  • A33°
  • S29°
  • O24°
  • N20°
  • D16°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Sciacca sits on terraces above its harbor on the southwestern coast of Sicily, between Selinunte and Agrigento. The mountain that rises 386 meters behind the town still vents steam into rock chambers where the sulfurous springs draw the same spa use that began in antiquity. The Arabs renamed the town Xacca, water; the present name comes from that.

Sciacca is the second-largest commune in the Agrigento province after the capital, with about 39,000 inhabitants, and one of the great fishing harbors of southern Sicily. The town's layout still carries its origins: a medieval core divided between fishermen's and artisans' quarters, terraced on the cliff, with the harbor below and the mountain and its steam caves behind. Two industries have grown out of that position, one drawing on the clay and craft tradition of the province, the other filling the calendar each year with a Carnival whose roots reach back to Roman festival. What the springs began as a cure, the town turned into an identity: water gave Sciacca its name, its baths, and eventually the industries that keep it going.

The Sunday letter

Sciacca is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Sciacca comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Sciacca in our articles

How to get there

From Catania (CTA), about 3h 23m by car.

By car from the centre of Palermo 1h 39m.

Sciacca, photo 1
Sciacca, photo 2

What to see

  • Palazzo Steripinto

    1501 palazzo with a diamond-pointed ashlar façade, one of the finest examples of Gothic-Renaissance Plateresque art in Sicily.

  • Stufe di San Calogero

    Natural steam caves on Monte Kronio with temperatures of 40-45 degrees, reached through rock chambers that still vent into the cave walls.

  • Castello Incantato

    Open-air museum on the outskirts with hundreds of stone heads carved into the rock by the artist Filippo Bentivegna in the early twentieth century.

  • Centro storico

    Medieval town divided into the original quarters of fishermen and artisans, terraced on the cliff above the harbor.

  • Duomo di Maria Santissima del Soccorso

    Romanesque cathedral founded in the twelfth century by the Normans, with later Baroque interiors and a statue of the patroness.

  • Porto di Sciacca

    Historic fishing port between Selinunte and Agrigento, one of the largest fishing fleets in southern Sicily.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Sciacca fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

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We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Living here

  • Population 38,967
  • Remotei
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest airport Catania, 3 h 23 min drive
  • Regional capital Palermo, 1 h 39 min drive

Thermal baths in town: Stabilimento Termale, Terme di Sciacca.

Common questions

What is Sciacca known for?
Sciacca is a terraced fishing harbor on Sicily's southwestern coast, built on a spa town of the fifth century BC and a ceramics center since the fourteenth.
Where is Sciacca?
Sciacca is a comune in the province of Agrigento, in Sicily, at 60 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Sciacca?
Catania (CTA), about 3h 23m by car.
How long is the drive from Palermo to Sciacca?
About 1h 39m by car.
When is the best time to visit Sciacca?
Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
Which other towns are like Sciacca?
Giarre, Riposto and Lipari.
How many people live in Sciacca?
38,967 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 60 m
  • Population: 38,967
  • Surface area: 191.67 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.

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