Palazzolo Acreide.
This is the story of a lost town, Akrai, the ancient Greek settlement abandoned after the Arabic invasion in 827 A.D. Its evocative ruins, found out in the 19th century, jump you in its glorious past: the Greek theatre of sky, the stone quarries of Intagliata and Intagliatella, later converted into Christian arcosolium and baldacchino burial chambers; the wonderful relief of a large banquet cut into the rock face. The new town, Palazzolo Acreide, was re -founded just down the hill from the Greek settlement by the Normans and today it’s included in the list of Unesco World Heritage sites for its late baroque monuments, reconstructed by the island’s Spanish overlords after the 1693 earthquake. In Palazzolo you still retain a feel that is undoubtedly Sicilian and time seems to stand still. So please, sit around the impressive Piazza del Popolo, dominated by the church of San Sebastiano and the Town Hall just enjoying life at a slow pace. Then take a long walk along Via Garibaldi street that leads you to Palazzo Caruso, with 27 gargoyles holding the longest baroque balcony in the world. Stop over and see Piazza Moro, where the honey-colored churches of San Paolo and Matrice, as two watch towers, guard and watch over the medieval castle rising on the top of the hill. Palazzolo Acreide turns you out to be a huge surprise. You’ll love no place more than this one.
