Alessandria della Rocca

Alessandria della Rocca is a small inland hill town in the Agrigento area, set at 533 metres above sea level on the slopes of Pizzo La Menta and Culma in the Sicani Mountains. Its character is closely tied to its mountain setting and to a compact historic centre arranged around the local crossroads known as “li quattru cantuneri,” a simple urban detail that still helps define the shape of village life.

The present settlement was founded in 1570 by Don Carlo Blasco Barresi, and the Barresi family remained connected with these lands from the mid-16th century into the late 18th century. Its name history is not entirely straightforward: one source records the former name Alessandria della Pietra and a change to Alessandria della Rocca in 1862, while other traditions link the name differently.

Today, Alessandria della Rocca is best understood as a traditional Sicilian borgo whose identity rests on religious devotion, local memory and a surrounding territory marked by much older traces of settlement. Its distinctiveness lies in the meeting of Barresi-era origins, mountain village structure and a strong communal devotion to Madonna della Rocca.