Avola

Photo © Affinità Elettive

Avola (Zip Code 96012) is 199 Km. distant from Agrigento, 187 Km. from Caltanissetta, 81 Km. from Catania, 176 Km. from Enna, 177 Km. from Messina, 329 Km. from Palermo, 63 Km. from Ragusa, 23 Km. from Siracusa, that is the province it belongs to, 372 Km. from Trapani.

Photo © Affinità Elettive 

The municipality has 32.012 inhabitants, its surface measures 7.426 hectares and its population density counts 431 inhabitants for square kilometre. It rises along the coast over a flat area, 37 metres above the sea-level.

The municipality is located in via Mazzini Giuseppe n. 18, tel. ++39 0931-583111 fax. ++39 0931-583104.

The main economical activities are fishing and farming. It produces citrus fruits, almonds, cereals and olives.

The original name of the town was Abola, the old town destroyed by the earthquake in 1693. The village was created by the Arabs in the 9th century, on the Hyblaean plateau. It  was many lords' property and in 1419 it became Aragonese dominion. Burst into flame by the Turks in 1572 and later leveled in 1693, it was rebuilt on a plain.

Photo © Affinità Elettive 

The town has a very peculiar hexagonal layout, and shows many Art-Nouveau buildings. The most important monuments are the Mother Church, the Baroque church of Our Lady of the Annunciation and the Neo-classical Garibaldi Theatre.

Among the most famous citizens we mention the scientist Giuseppe Bianca, who translated in Latin the ode Il 5 maggio by A.Manzoni and catalogued the local almond trees in 752 varieties, and the poetess Beatrice Calvo.