Comitini

Comitini is a very small inland town in the Province of Agrigento, set on elevated ground at about 346 metres above sea level between Aragona and Grotte. Its territory is hilly and agricultural, and its name is linked in the sources to a nearby hill, recorded in one form as Cumatino. Compact and community-focused, it has the character of a historic Sicilian hill settlement whose identity is closely tied to land, faith and work.

The town’s roots reach back to antiquity: in Roman times it was known as Comiciana, along the ancient route between Agrigentum and Panormus. The modern settlement was formally founded in 1627 under the Bellacera family, before passing in 1673 to Michele Gravina, the first prince of the town. This feudal background still helps explain Comitini’s noble and religious imprint, while its strongest modern transformation came in the 19th century, when sulphur extraction made it a major mining centre.

Recognised in 2018 as the smallest city in Italy, Comitini stands out for the contrast between its tiny scale and its unusually dense memory: more than 70 sulphur mines, links to Luigi Pirandello and Salvatore Quasimodo, and a history that gives this small inland town a distinct place in Sicilian cultural life.