AgrigentoPalma di Montechiaro.
The town takes its name from the hill overlooking its present site (where the Chiaromontine Castle stands) and from the palm-tree, the symbol of glory, which appears on the coat of arms of the De Caro family, who owned the fief in the 15th c. The present-day city was founded in 1637 by Carlo Tomasi and DeCaroin the fief of Montechiaro, which belonged to the writer Tomasi di Lampedusa family until 1812.

The baroque Chiesa Madre, with its twin bell-towers, by the architect Angelo Italia, stands majestically at the top of a wide stairway in the scenographic Piazza Santa Rosalia. It contains paintings by the local artist Domenico Provenzani, and the sarcophagus of the astronomer Giovanni Battista Odierna (1579-1660). Opposite the Villa Comunale stands the imposing 17th c. Ducal Palace of the Princes of Lampedusa. The baroque Chiesa del SS. Rosario, with its 19th c. façade, and the Benedictine Monastery beside it look on to Piazza Domenico Provenzani. On the slopes of the little mountain called Calvario, about 1 km from the town, there is the Grotta Zubbia, with Neolithic and Copper Age items. A road that crosses State Road SS 115 takes us after about 2 km to the Castello di Montechiaro, probably built by Federico III Chiaromonte in the 14th c., and later modified. In the chapel, there is a statuette of the Virgin Mary by Antonello Gagini. Proceeding towards the sea we can observe the 16th c. Torre di Gaffe, close to a bathing beach, and not far away the Torre di San Nicola, also 16th c.