Bisacquino is a small historic town in the inland Palermo area, set among hills near Monte Triona and surrounded by countryside marked by springs and woodland. Its oldest streets still reflect an Islamic urban imprint, with a compact pattern of winding lanes, courtyards and arches that gives the town a strongly layered character.
The settlement was founded by the Arabs around 840 and appears through history under names such as Bisaqua, Busak and Busachinum. After the Norman period, its territory was ceded by William II of Sicily to the Archbishopric of Monreale, which held it until 1812; in the 16th century, under Spanish rule, Bisacquino developed further and was recorded as a “Nobilis Universitas.”
Today, the town’s identity rests on this combination of Arab origin, inland Sicilian landscape and long feudal and religious history. More than a simple hill village, Bisacquino is distinctive for the way its early urban form and later historical layers remain visible in the fabric of everyday life.
Patron Saint:
Maria SS. del Balzo – 15 August
Nearest Airport:
Palermo (Falcone-Borsellino) – (85 km, 01:42)
