Montevago is a quiet inland hill town in the province of Agrigento, set on a plateau above the Belice Valley near the Belice River. Its landscape is one of low cultivated hills, vineyards, green countryside and springs, while its townscape is unusually modern for Sicily: after the January 1968 earthquake, the settlement was rebuilt nearby with wide streets, large squares and contemporary architecture.
Its identity reaches further back than that rupture. The name is linked to the Arabic *Mazil-Sindi*, meaning “Casale di Sindi”, and in 1392 the place was known as Misilindino before developing through later feudal phases. In 1642, Don Rutilio Scirotta obtained from King Philip IV of Spain the title of first prince and the *licentia populandi*, a key step in the town’s formal growth.
Today Montevago is defined by the contrast between memory and reconstruction: an Arab-rooted Belice Valley town whose modern layout stands beside the traces of a community almost completely destroyed in 1968.
Patron Saint:
St. Dominic (San Domenico) – 8 August
Nearest Airport:
Trapani (Birgi) – (91 km, 01:28)
Neighboring Cities:
Castelvetrano, Menfi, Partanna, Salaparuta, Santa Margherita di Belice
