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Cammarata is the umpteenth small village in Italy which gained high popularity for selling houses for a very low price. But, before deciding to move to this town for living, it is better you get more details about it. Follow this travel guide, where I explained many things about Cammarata that you must absolutely know.

Where is Cammarata?

Cammarata is a municipality in the province of Agrigento, in Sicily. The town is only 50 km away from the city that contains the wonderful Valley of the Temples. It is placed about 700 meters above the sea level, on the highest zone of the Sicani mounts and on the North East slopes of Cammarata mount. To reach the village, you must land to Palermo or Catania airports. It is better you land to Palermo airport, because the distance between the two towns is shorter. From Palermo, you must take a car in order to reach Cammarata through the highway 121 (SS121) and the highway 189 (SS189). Don’t ride the other highways, because you’ll take too much time to arrive in Cammarata. Through the paths indicated here, you’ll only take an hour and a half to reach this picturesque village.

Official symbol of Cammarata

The official symbol of the comune of Cammarata is a young naked woman, with black long hair, who seems to breastfeed two snakes. A snake is coiled in the right arm, while another one is kept by the woman in a hand. In the low part of the image, there is a Latin quote: N CETERUM DANTES NIHIL INDE SPERANTES, which means: they rest, they expecting nothing in return. The official flag of the comune of Cammarata contains the above mentioned image depicted on a white cloth with azur brims. The name of the village, instead, comes from the Latin word cameratus, which means arched, in turn by the Greek kamara, which means arched room.

Cammarata Sicily tourism

Traditionally, Cammarata has never been a tourist attraction in Sicily. That is a very small village with about 6,000 inhabitants located in the heart of my beloved Sicily. The town is in a favorable position to visit Agrigento and the other stunning places of my island, such as Palermo, Marsala, Cefalù and San Vito Lo Capo beach (if you have the patience to drive for a couple of hours and more…).

Cammarata is the typical silent and quiet village where nothing of important ever seems to happen. In the Sicilian jargon, Sicilians call villages like this “Paisazzu”, ruined hamlet or ghost town in English.

Cammarata is tucked amid the mountains, with small houses perched and piled on high hills. Their look is very scenic by night, but by day, you’ll see a very ancient town with very ancient houses. They have all of the charm of the old Sicily, maybe also the one of your Sicilian ancestors who left this island to find a better future abroad.

And you? Do you want to really to make the reverse path, namely: move to Sicily? Before thinking about that, continue to better know the village.

 Cammarata weather

Cammarata weather is hot in summer and cold in winter with high level of humidity in both of the seasons. Unfortunately, climate change is turning the Mediterranean weather of Sicily into an equatorial climate. In winter, temperature is among 10 degrees, by day, and 1, 2 degrees, by night. Consider that in this zone, you are amid the mountains; hence, the climate is fresher and colder than in the sea villages. Indeed, in winter, in the village you can also enjoy snow, which, fortunately or unfortunately, is always rare in Sicily.

Cammarata things to do

As said, Cammarata is a very quiet village and if you live there, there are not too many things to do, aside the usual daily tasks, which, due to the inconveniences of Sicily’s bureaucracy, can be very hard to deal, sometimes. If you choose to visit Cammarara for vacation, instead, there are a few interesting things you can see. Among these things, you can admire the medieval castle. Outfitted with an evocative tower, the castle was built in the 1200 and was the ancient mansion of the Lords of Cammarata. You can also visit several churches. The most important is the mother church. With three marbled naves, he church contains stunning artworks. The main church of Cammarata is in the upper zone of the village. Another scenic church which deserves to be visited is in the lower side of Cammarata. That is Annunziata Church. This was built in the 1521 with a picturesque entrance preceded by a pointed arch in the main façade and two round side arches separated by a column.

Another must see attraction is the Nature Reserve of Cammarata, placed amid the Sicani Mounts and in a territory including the nearby villages of San Giovanni Gemini and S. Stefano Quisquina. The reserve consists of natural woods and other beautiful trees planted by the local rangers (see the image). Filled with coniferous and deciduous trees, the landscape is like the one of the Italian Alps, especially when the reserve is snowy. The reserve is outfitted with refreshment points, such as barbecue, tables and water fountains. The nature reserve has also many pathways to be explored and stunning nature landscapes. You should also visit the nearby hermitage of Quisquina, along with the annexed grotto of Saint Rosalia and the solitary and evocative convent.

Cammarata free homes for sale

Here we are in the hottest part of this travel guide on Cammarata, namely the one about the free homes for sale. The village ended up in the spotlight for the initiative of the Comune to sell ruined and uninhabited homes for a symbolic price of 1 euro. The initiative aimed to repopulate the town that suffered a severe depopulation of young families over the past decades. Imagine a desert, rather a ghostown, with nobody walking along the streets, without life, without hope and no economical development. Well, it is the sad fate of many Sicilian small villages like Cammarata. In the past years, the mayor offered even bonuses (money) to families who had children in the village. That was the desperate scream of a dying community and the invitation to buy free homes served just to reverse this sad course. In reality, foreigners must take the commitment to restore the ruined homes and to pay an initial deposit of 5,000 euros.

This procedure involved other Sicily’s villages such as Sambuca and Gangi. The request to buy free homes in Cammarata must arrive through a public auction, where the start price is 1 euro, but the further prices of the deposit and the renovation costs are higher. The renovation is mandatory. The public auction is always announced by the municipality. To see news about new auction you can see the official website of Cammarata. If you want to buy Cammarata properties from private sellers or real estate agencies, I warn you that due to the high popularity, the prices of the houses of the village skyrocketed. I hear about one million of euros for renovated and picturesque villas in Cammarata.

Is life safe in Cammarata?

Cammarata is in the province of Agrigento and this province suffered the same tragedies of the entire Sicily, also the crimes of the Mafia. According to the latest report by DIA, the Investigative Department against the Sicilian Mafia, the territory of Agrigento has a widespread uncomfortable condition, with several industries monopolized by the Mafia. In this province, it is also operational the so called Stidda, a criminal organization born by the separation from Cosa Nostra. The Stidda influences the following villages of the province: Palma di Montechiaro, Porto Empedocle, Naro, Favara, Canicattì, Campobello di Licata, Camastra and Bivona. As you can see, Cammarata is not on this list.

Maybe the mafia avoided Cammarata because the village is poor in comparison to the others.

The village also organizes annual Festivals against the Mafia. It is hence a safe place, but if you want to find a job, you must remember that, there, you are in Sicily and it is hard to find a job in my island. Indeed, the initiative to give free homes for sale aimed to attract foreign entrepreneurs who want to invest in Sicily creating hotels, B&B, cottages on the mountains and restaurants. If you want to be an entrepreneur, maybe you’ll give a great help to the economical development of my wonderful and unfortunate Sicily.

Photocredits in order of appearance:

Elledecor.com

Newsicilia.it

Comune.cammarata.ag.it

Eventiesagresiciliane.it

Parks.it

Casea1euro.it

It.wikipedia.org

Rosalba Mancuso

Rosalba Mancuso is a freelance journalist born in Sicily. Passionate about her loved island and with extensive writing experience, Rosalba worked as a contributor for the main Sicily’s newspapers and as a bilingual Italian – English writer. Thanks to her skills, she also founded four websites in English. On Sicilyonweb, Rosalba tells every corner of her beloved Sicily. Furthermore, she writes this blog thanks to your help. Rosalba, in fact, earns a small commission, with no cost for you, when you book your travel or buy products through the affiliate widgets or links you find in her posts.