Chiusa Sclafani
Let's discover Chiusa Sclafani
Hello friends, today I'm taking you to discover a small town in Sicily: Chiusa Sclafani. Chiusa Sclafani is a town with a population of 2572 inhabitants in the metropolitan city of Palermo in Sicily, located at 658 meters above sea level on a slope delimited in part by the Serra dell'Omo Morto.
Physical Geography
Territory
The territory of the city of Chiusa Sclafani extends into the watershed between the Belice River Valley and the Verdura River Valley. The orography is predominantly hilly, but in some districts, there are highly rugged and impervious terrains that do not allow for any kind of cultivation. Here you can also find Monte Triona and Monte Colomba, which separate the territory of Chiusa Sclafani from those of Bisacquino, Campofiorito, and Prizzi.
History
The town was founded in the early 1300s by Count Matteo Sclafani, who enlarged the pre-existing medieval hamlet, "Chiusa la vecchia," about two kilometers from the current town center. The history of Chiusa is linked to the succession of feudal families that owned it, from the Sclafani to the Peralta, Folch de Cardona, Gioeni, and Colonna. The hamlet of San Carlo, founded by Ido Lercari with "licentia populandi" on July 15, 1628, also belongs to the municipality of Chiusa Sclafani.
Monuments and places of interest
Religious architecture
Chiusa Sclafani is rich in works of art and history. I invite you to visit the Church of San Sebastiano, a seventeenth-century building that has a simple façade, but the interior, with a single nave, is a continuous lacework of stuccoes, medallions, inlays, and frescoes, all dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a decorative apparatus created by Vincenzo Messina (stucco artist), a follower and collaborator of Giacomo Serpotta.
Chiusa Sclafani also houses the Monastery of San Leonardo, which is an integral part of the Olivetan Fathers' convent located on the hill that dominates the town. The building consists of three large wings around a triangular Renaissance-style courtyard. Inside is the Hortus Cerasi, the cherry orchard.
The hamlet of San Carlo
The hamlet of San Carlo, belonging to the municipality of Chiusa Sclafani, was founded by Ido Lercari with "licentia populandi" on July 15, 1628. For some years now, San Carlo has been the site of an important cultural event: the Night of the Shooting Stars. This event takes place every year on the night of August 10, when many shooting stars can be seen in the sky. Furthermore, San Carlo was an important railway station until 50 years ago, a junction point for the Palermo-Corleone-Sciacca-Ribera line.
In conclusion, Chiusa Sclafani is a small Sicilian town that encloses a lot of history and art treasures, from the Church of San Sebastiano to the Monastery of San Leonardo, passing through the hamlet of San Carlo. I recommend you to visit it and be conquered by its charm.
