Caltanissetta

Despite the modern aspect that distinguishes Caltanissetta from the other centers of the interior, this provincial capital is immersed in the same indolent torpor that characterizes many towns in the Sicilian hinterland. The seventeenth-century Palazzo Mancada , located near Corso Umberto I , is a grandiose Baroque aristocratic residence that belonged to one of the most important feudal dynasties in Sicily and characterized, along the sides, by a row of impressive shelves in the shape of monstrous anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures.

At the eastern end of the city stands the Pietrarossa Castle , reachable on foot from the center of Caltanissetta. Miraculously poised on a rocky outcrop, the castle, of Arab-Norman origins, seems to be about to collapse at any moment, and one gets the impression that, if this happened, no one would notice.

What see

The two most noteworthy attractions, which those traveling to Enna might find worthy of a stop, are located in the suburbs, about 3 km north of the center. Strangely moved here from the center of Caltanissetta, the Archaeological Museum houses some of the oldest finds in Sicily, including vases and sculpted figures from the Bronze Age . Near the museum stands a restored 12th century abbey, the Badia di Santo Spirito . The abbey was founded by Count Roger in 1153 and, which is rare in Sicily, is in pure Norman style. Outside, the essential structure is enlivened only by three tiny apses at the back, while the interior, more interesting, boasts a 15th-century fresco above the central apse and a 12th-century Romanesque baptismal font.