SHARRYLAND
Where is
What it is and where it is
The Platani River, one of the most importantrivers on the southern side of Sicily, has its source in the heart of the island and, after nearly a hundred kilometers of winding descent in a sun-drenched area, flows into the sea between Agrigento and Sciacca, near the archaeological site of Eraclea Minoa. In the middle valley, perched on a hill, the village of Sant'Angelo Muxaro is sighted. The road that reaches it offers landscapes of beauty as ancient as the events that make these places unique in the archaeological landscape of the island.
Why it is special
Halfway up the hairpin bends that ascend toward the village, a path breaks off that soon becomes impassable: a steel parapet heartens just enough to penetrate the rocky ridge along which there are numerous tombs, some of which, with a tholos structure typical of the Mycenaean culture, can truly be said to be monumental. One thus treads in the footsteps of the archaeologist Paolo Orsi, who between the 19th and 20th centuries brought to light extraordinary evidence of the Sicanians, a people who until then had remained confined to legend.
Not to be missed
The most important of the tombs has a large circular vaulted chamber and an adjoining burial chamber with a raised burial bed; for this reason it is called the "Prince's Tomb." The archaeological finds, pottery and goldsmithing unique in the whole island, refer the necropolis to the 7th-6th centuries B.C., when this was the site of the mythical capital of the Sicans. The place is evocative, the view of the valley is beautiful and special for that slight thrill required for exploration.
A bit of history
The village was founded in 1506 by the Aragona-Pignatelli family, and because of this it has a regular layout, with large blocks that are divided inside into numerous alleys and courtyards. The hill on which it stands, however, was home to the most important center of the Sican people, who dominated the island during the Iron Age, around the year 1,000 BC. This would be the famous Fortress of Kamikos, the impregnable citadel that the legendary Daedalus, creator of the labyrinth of Crete, allegedly built for the Sican king Kokalos.
Curiosities
In the village you can visit the MuSam, Archaeological Museum of Sant'Angelo Muxaro, which brings together much of the artifacts found there. A display case contains copies of some rare works of Sican goldsmithing: the most striking is a gold patera, a cup intended for ritual libations, embossed with a sequence of long-horned bulls; the original is kept at the British Museum in London, a gift from the British ambassador to Naples, Sir William Hamilton, who in 1772 bought it from the bishop of Agrigento.
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