Canicatti

Canicattì is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 90 km southeast of Palermo and about 25 km east of Agrigento.

The archaeological remains in the city and in the neighbourhood testify the presence of a settlement before the Roman age.

The name of Canicattì is of Arabic origin, stemming from Handaq-attin, meaning "clay ditch". During the conqest of Sicily by the Normans, the local Muslim lord was besieged and defeated by baron Salvatore Palmeri (1087), a follower of Roger I of Sicily: the latter, as reward, offered him a sword and the lordship over the fief. Under the Palmieri rule the Arab fortress was enlarged, becoming a true castle with a tower.