Pirandello House, Agrigento

It is located in the Caos district, 4 kilometers from Agrigento and can be reached by taking the state road 115 towards Porto Empedocle.

 

The Birthplace is a rural building from the late eighteenth century, situated in a countryside district near Agrigento, called “Caos”, a plateau overlooking the sea, dotted with olive and oak trees.

The Ricci Gramitto family, maternal ancestors of the writer, came into possession of the Villa in 1817. The Pirandello family had taken refuge there to escape the severe cholera epidemic that swept Sicily in 1867. Damaged in 1944 by the explosion of the nearby American troops’ ammunition depot, it was declared a national monument in 1949. Three years later, the Sicilian Region purchased it and started restoration and maintenance work on the House and the connecting lane to the pine tree. The rooms with views over the countryside host a vast collection of photographs, reviews and honors, first editions of books with autographed dedications, original paintings dedicated to Luigi Pirandello, and posters of his most famous plays performed in theaters worldwide. From time to time, the House also hosts temporary exhibitions dedicated to the Master. Since 1987, the birthplace has been united with the Luigi Pirandello Library as a single institution.