After Villa Romana del Casale we were heading towards ex Caserma della Guardia di Finanza (Customs house), but on our way we stopped at Castelo Chiaramontano.
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Castello Chiaramontano
The Chiaramonte Castle of Palma di Montechiaro is the only one built on a rocky ridge overlooking the sea. After various passages, it came in the seventeenth century to the Tomasi family, a member of which, Carlo Tomasi Caro, received the title of Duke of Palma from King Philip IV. Inside the chapel there is a statue of the Madonna which Caputo attributes to Antonello Gagini.
The castle has been through a long period of decay and only recently underwent restoration work. A legend speaks of a statue of the Madonna stolen by the nearby inhabitants of Agrigento, and brought back by the Palmese to the castle after a long and furious struggle. This is corroborated by the name given to a stream which since then has been referred to as the “battle valley”.
If you walk down the path from the castle, you will be able to see amazing view of Baia delle Sirene.
Customs house – ex Caserma della Guardia di Finanza in Punta Bianca Beach
Along the remote stretches of the Sicilian coastline, far removed from bustling ports and towns, stand the weathered remains of the old Guardia di Finanza barracks (abandoned Customs House) in Punta Bianca Beach. These partially dilapidated structures once housed dedicated customs officers who were tasked with patrolling isolated beaches to combat smuggling networks. Furthermore, one particularly striking landmark sits atop a dramatic white sedimentary rock composed of clay and lime, known locally as marl. In addition, visitors should note that swimming is officially forbidden near this specific site according to local warning signs, so checking current safety regulations beforehand is strongly advised. Despite their advanced state of disrepair and urgent need for structural consolidation, these abandoned customs houses continue to emanate a quiet, mysterious charm, which I really wanted to visit. Well yeah mainly for nice Instagramable pictures.
As we approached the old customs house, the road quickly deteriorated from smooth asphalt to rough gravel, which soon turned into a treacherous track filled with deep dips. Furthermore, upon reaching a wider plateau, we decided to park my car and continue the descent on foot, as the remaining path appeared extremely steep and riddled with severe potholes. Moreover, even a robust four-wheel-drive vehicle would have struggled with such terrain. Our small Fiat Panda was definitely not made for such a challenging route. We already learned our lesson when attempting to see Cascate Catafurco, since then we decided we only drive paved roads and this one was already gravel. However, I did see someone with motorbike going almost all the way down.
The path leading down was quite steep and unexpectedly slippery on the white marl, which is a soft, clay-rich sedimentary rock that forms bright, striated cliffs. Furthermore, I lost my footing while descending and accidentally slid all the way down on my bottom. In addition, we felt extremely fortunate because we were the only visitors present at that time. I managed to capture some wonderful photographs without any people in the background.
So we’ve seen Villa Romana del Casale, the abandoned Customs House (ex Caserma della Guardia di Finanza) and now we were heading to Agrinento to the Valley of Temples!