Caccamo

The village of Caccamo is built 500 metres above sea level on a rocky ridge in the province of Palermo, in Sicily. With around 8000 inhabitants, the small town is a little gem accessible from Termini Imerese, in a strategic position dominating the valley of the Leonardo river.

The feudal castle is the symbol of the village, which history revolves entirely around the legends linked to this poetic and extremely evocative place. One of these tells the story of a castle lord’s daughter who fell in love with a soldier. When the two boys were discovered, the father had the boy executed and locked the daughter up in a convent, where she died of her punishment. It is said that since then, the girl’s spirit during every full moon night she wanders around the castle with a pomegranate, inviting with a nursery rhyme, whoever meets her to eat all the kernels (strictly without touching the fruit or dropping them on the ground) with the promise of finding a treasure as compensation.

What is part of the story, but not a legend, is the event called ‘La Castellana di Caccamo’, in which a long procession parades to commemorate the nobles who have succeeded one another over the course of no less than eight hundred years. A parade of lords in period costumes followed by ladies, knights, soldiers, trumpeters and colourful pages. During the event, by tradition, a local girl is awarded the title of ‘Castellana’ and symbolically handed the keys to the castle.

We recommendo to go for a walk along the main street, on which the steps on the right (going up) will lead you to the Church of San Benedetto alla Badia. The surrounding area offers tourists the opportunity to wander and stroll through the small alleys: one of them is even only 63 centimetres wide!

Food

The small village of Caccamo is a popular destination also for the gastronomic aspect, especially for its sausage, produced in the oldest butcher’s shop (1918) called the Antica Macelleria Canzone. Among the types there are also variants with pistachios, walnuts and honey from the Sicilian black bee produced by beekeeper Carlo Amodeo in Termini Imerese. Every year in October, Caccamo celebrates the sausage with a special festival.

If you like greenery and nature, three kilometres from the centre you can visit Lake Rosamarina, one of the largest artificial lakes in the region, which is a great resource for recreation and relaxation if you like hiking, canoeing, fishing or camping.