Palma di Montechiaro stands on a hill on the shoreline not far from Agrigento, the capital of the province, in a territory inhabited since antiquity.
The foundation act of the city by Carlo Caro Tomasi is considered to date to 1637. The first Tomasi residence in Palma was the Ducal Palace which was transformed into a Benedictine Monastery in 1659; it is an excellent example of Sicilian Baroque, as is the adjacent Church of Maria Santissima del Rosario. A second Ducal Palace was built in its place between 1653 and 1659: the exterior is simple and compact with two wide façades, one facing the sea and the other the east which are linked by a corner balcony on the piano nobile.
At the top of a wide staircase is the Chiesa Madre built in 1666, another example of Sicilian Baroque with annexes: oratorio del Santissimo Sacramento and the Oratorio del Santissimo Rosario.
The ruins of the Church of Santa Maria della Luce, built in the 1700s by Duke Giulio "The Saint” Tomasi, are situated on a hill at the entrance to the town.
Chiaramontano Castle, built in 1353, is located on a rocky spur rising sheer over the sea halfway between Punta Bianca and the mouth of the Palma river.
Sicilia Film Commission
Via Emanuele Notarbartolo 9 — 90141 Palermo
Phone: +39 091 7078008; +39 091 7078264; +39 091 7078133; +39 091 7078145
Email: filmcommission@regione.sicilia.it
