Discovering Licata and its surroundings
Culture, monuments, sea and nature in Sicily, near Agrigento

Licata is a true frame on the Mediterranean and the historical and scenic cradle in which Relais Villa Giuliana amazes its visitors.
The historic centre of the city is a concrete image of the coexistence of styles and influences, telling of the different dominations that have followed one another here. Romans and Byzantines, Arabs and Spaniards: each people has left Licata traces of its passage in the form of culture and architecture.
The city leaves traces of its most ancient history in the precious finds of the Badia Archaeological Museum, while its deepest roots, between work at sea and in the fields, can be explored by walking through the Marina district or taking part in the grand festival of Sant’Angelo.

Licata was founded on the Salso Imera river, which marks the border between Val di Mazara and Val di Noto. The river divides into two branches, forming a kind of natural defence that has encouraged, since ancient times, the creation of a port here for the transport of grain and the construction of large structures to defend the settlement and its territory.
The sulphur mines in the area made Licata a commercial town capable of producing wealth, and affluent Sicilian families at the end of the last century sought residence here. This economic wellbeing also had effects on architecture and art, as shown by the many Liberty-style palaces created by the talent of architect Ernesto Basile. Licata is an artistic point of reference for those wishing to enjoy the Liberty style in its most fascinating expressions, in dialogue with the landscape; Relais Villa Giuliana itself fully represents a historic and artistic example of this style, an indelible testimony to that golden age when Liberty villas rose amid the enchantment of wonderfully coloured vegetation.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Licata became a centre for every kind of productive activity, from pasta factories to ice factories, while just a few decades later General Patton’s Americans landed on its coast.