Butera: the Necropolis of Piano della Fiera

Sicily was the homeland of civilization. Here the Greeks, Arabs, and Romans found a place to live, following one another and creating fantastic cities of which today we can still admire the remains and glorious testimonies. The Necropolis of Piano Della Fiera is a site that dates back to a period between the fifth and fourth centuries BC. The archaeological site was discovered by the Romanian archaeologist Dinu Adamasteanu in the 1950s. Inside the excavations, small funerary monuments, bedrooms, and monumental enclosures full of valuable objects were brought to light. Butera, since that time, has represented a place of great tourist and historical interest.

Piana Della Fiera is the vast area where the Sicilian-Greek necropolis was found. The most famous of the tombs is known as a Dolmen cyst, obtained with an enclosure closed by a dry stone wall. The Necropolis of Piano Della Fiera, however, was subject to various debates since in the 1950s an intense and wild building speculation was initiated which canceled the necropolis leaving only small scraps of land in evidence. In addition, these have been abandoned for a long time and are therefore highly at risk.

However, the Necropolis of Butera remains one of the most fascinating in Italy. This is because the necropolis is located within the city of Butera, a very suggestive village overlooking the sea not far from Gela. Here you can see the Arab-Norman castle dating back to the 9th century, as well as the Necropolis unexpectedly immersed within the town. Butera in the Middle Ages represented a fief of great importance. The Necropolis was used until the Hellenistic age but its origins date back to the prehistoric one. Furthermore, also in Butera stands the Castello Della Falconara, one of the few manors in the province of Caltanissetta to overlook the sea. The castle takes its name from the tower on which a falcon farm was placed in ancient times. That of the Necropolis of Butera remains a fascinating archaeological site as it traces a completely human ability to bury loved ones, these small rudimentary rock rooms are a legacy that must be protected and valued.