Cinisi: Coast, Memorial Sites and Church Art

Cinisi between Coast and Remembrance

Cinisi combines extensive mountain and hill country with a fertile plain stretching to the southern Tyrrhenian coast. The municipality therefore brings together diverse landscapes and themes: along the coast lies the sandy Spiaggia di Magaggiari, while inland there are historic paths, rural traditions and traces of local history. Cinisi thus offers points of interest for cultural pursuits, landscape experiences and a seaside stay when planning your trip.

Memorial Sites and Literary Traces

An important memorial site is the Casa Memoria Felicia e Peppino Impastato. It was established in spring 2005 to spread the truth and demand justice in response to Mafia violence. The memorial route I cento passi is associated with this site. It uses commemorative stones to symbolically trace the hundred steps between Peppino Impastato's house, now Casa Memoria, and the former Casa Badalamenti. The former Casa Badalamenti houses the Biblioteca Comunale di Cinisi Francesco Paolo Abbate.

The name Giovanni Meli is also part of the area's cultural history. The Sicilian poet Giovanni Meli stayed for five years at the Casa di Giovanni Meli in Cinisi. The rural and religious traditions of Cinisi also included a strongly pronounced veneration of Santo Isidoro, the patron saint of farmers and shepherds.

Churches, Art and Historic Testimonies

The Chiesa Madre is dedicated to Santa Fara and has a main-altar antependium made of coral, lapis lazuli and onyx from the Trapani school of the 18th century. Its 18th-century crypts form a necropolis that contained 15,000 human remains. Visits to the crypts can be arranged on request through the InfoPoint at the Palazzo dei Benedettini.

Other sacred testimonies complement this picture: the Chiesa delle Anime Sante preserves two large paintings attributed to the school of Zoppo di Gangi. The Chiesa del SS. Sacramento was built in 1767 by the confraternity of the same name and has crypts. The town hall of Cinisi also houses Giacomo Randazzo's movable nativity scene, which is linked to UNESCO cultural heritage in the R.E.I.

Landscape, Coast and Local Specialties

Piano Margi can be reached via an old Regia trazzera that runs from Cinisi through the Furi Valley. An old, unique watering trough for livestock with two basins has been preserved there; it belonged to an archaeological military site dating from the time of the First Punic War. A Mannara can be found between Piano Margi and Piano Tavole. Fresh ricotta is made there and can be tasted warm on site; Caciocavallo and Sicilian Pecorino are also produced there.

The Spiaggia di Magaggiari stretches for around 2 kilometers along Cinisi's sandy coast. Surfing is listed as a local activity at this beach. The Tonnara dell'Orsa includes a 16th-century watchtower; the site is associated with a historic tuna fishery. Depending on your interests, Cinisi therefore allows you to combine coastal landscapes, regional products, sacred art and historic sites.

For the higher-level travel overview: Palermo.