AgrigentoFavara.
The name of the town is of Arabic origin (Fawwarà = water source); the town developed towards the 13th c. around the castle built in the second hallf of that century by Federico II Chiaromonte. Strategically situated at the centre of a network of routes of communication, and favoured by its abundance of water, Favara flourished under the Chiaromonte family, who were its lords for about a century. At the end of the 14th c. the town passed to the Parapertusas, then to the De Marinis and finally to the Aragona Pignatelli e Cortes family.

Just before the entrance to the town, in the middle of a ramp of stairs, is the little Chiesa della Madonna dell'Itria (14th c.), which until1950 was known as San Filippo fuori le mura (St Philip's with out the Walls). The Chiesa del Carmine, with its scenografic architecture (the façade is 19th c.) looks out over Piazza Garibaldi, which is at the end of the main street, Corso Vittorio Emanuele. The Chiesa Madre, Our Lady of the Assumption, built in the 18th c. and a1tered many times in the 19th c., stands in Piazza dei Vespri. It is centrally planned and its internal decoration (1830) is not of high quality. It contains a valuable 16th c. wooden crucifix. The Castle, built by Federico II Chiaromonte in the 13th c., is of considerable interest. It is quadrangular and massively compact in the lower part; the second order is lightened and graced by delicate mullioned windows with two lights. A fine ogival entrance portal, with a richly decorated lintel opens into an inner court from which one can reach the first floor. The adjacent chapel also has a fine portal. A Roman villa has been discovered near the town. Dating to the 1st c. AD, it has mosaic baths. At Contrada Stefano there is a Bronze Age necropolis with some 260 arcosolium burial niches.