CaltanissettaMazzarino.
The town developed in the second half of the 13th c., as others did around the castle; in about 1324 the Branciforte family became lords of Mazzarino and they remained so until the abolition of the feudal system in 1812. In 1507 the Brancifortes obtained the title of Counts of Mazzarino: this was the beginning of a period of considerable urban development which stretched W of the mediaeval nucleus.

A prehistoric necropolis has been identified on the Monti Desueri, on the boundary of the territories of Mazzarino, Gela and Autera. An indigenous settlement has been discovered on Monte Bubbonia which was then Hellenized and may correspond to the ancient Maktorion; to the E are traces of the Roman city of Philosophiana. The tomb of Carlo Carafa Branciforte, lord of Mazzarino, is in the Chiesa di Santa Maria di Gesù, in Corso Vittorio Emanuele III. This 15th c. church consists of a single clear space decorated with 18th stuccos. The Convento dei Padri Minori Osservanti (Convent of the Observant Fathers Minor) was annexed to it in 1573 and in 1689 ceded to the Riformati (Reformed Fathers). The Carmelite convent in Piazza del Carmine is now the seat of the Town Hall. The single nave in the church contains other Branciforte tombs. The Chiesa dell'Immacolata contains a fine painting by Filippo Paladino of the Blessed Virgin. Palazzo Branciforte, built in the 16th c. and frequently altered, dominates Piazza Crispi. Nearby is the Chiesa Madre, Santa Maria della Neve,s begun in the 18th and completed a century later . Another fine painting by Paladini, the Madonna del Rosario, is in the Chiesa di San Domenico, adjacent to the Dominican Convent. In the higher E part of the town we come to Chiesa di Maria SS. del Rosario, built between the 18th and 19th c. on the site of a pre-existing building; a holy image of the Madonna, found in miraculous circumstances in the 12th c., is worshipped here. A copy of the Transfiguration of Raphael is in the Convento dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Convent), in Via dei Cappuccini. What remains of the Castle, a few picturesque ruins, stands high on the mountain.