PalermoCarini.
This is the territory where the ancient Hyccara stood until its destruction by the Athenian Nicias in 415 BC; rebuilt in 370 BC at San Nicola, Hyccara prospered and spread steadily under the Romans. Devastated by the Muslims in 900, it was rebuilt in its present site towards the end of the l0th c.; it subsequently became a fief of the Chiaromontes, the Moncadas and the La Grua Talamancas. In a good strategic position, on a rocky outcrop, stands the Castle, whose history is linked with the tale of the murder of the Baroness of Carini, Laura Lanza, by her father, as narrated in a poem in Sicilian dialect. If for no other reason many a curious visitor is attracted to the scene of the tragedy. The massive building has circular and square towers. lts present aspect dates from the l6th c. (a fortified building probably existed here even in Arab times). Inside, there is an ample courtyard surrounded by numerous rooms; a stairway leads to the upper floor.

The Chiesa Madre was built towards the end of the l5th c. and completed at the end of the l8th. It has a loggia on one side, a façade with pilaster-strips, and two lateral campaniles, the right-hand one incomplete. Adjoining the Chiesa Madre is the Oratorio del Sacramento, decorated with stuccos of the Serpotta school. In the baroque Santuario di Santa Maria degli Angeli, also known as Chiesa dei Cappuccini, there is a painting by Giuseppe Salemo of St Francis at prayer. A Christian catacomb has been discovered in the nearby ward of Villagrazia, and various prehistoric items have been found in a cave, the Grotta del Maccagnone.