Percorsi Visivi — Museum Open Air Montevago
Percorsi Visivi (Visual Paths) is an open-air museum and virtual tour project located in Montevago, a small municipality in the Agrigento province of Sicily. Situated among the ruins and rebuilt town of Montevago — largely destroyed by the 1968 Belice Valley earthquake — the project transforms the landscape into an outdoor gallery, inviting visitors to explore public art, site-specific installations, and documentary works that engage with the town’s traumatic 20th-century history and its ongoing cultural renewal.
At a glance
- Type
- Open-air museum and public art project; virtual tour available
- Period
- Contemporary; context shaped by the 1968 Belice earthquake
- Style
- Site-specific public art and landscape-integrated cultural itinerary
- Location
- Montevago, Province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
- Coordinates
- 37.7111° N, 12.9609° E
Overview
Percorsi Visivi creates a walking cultural itinerary through Montevago that combines contemporary art installations with the layered historical fabric of a Sicilian hill town. The project uses the 360° virtual tour format to extend access to international audiences who cannot visit in person. Artworks and interpretive panels punctuate the route, linking the pre-earthquake historic fabric with the planned post-1968 reconstruction and the natural landscape of the Belice Valley.
History
Montevago and the surrounding Belice Valley were devastated by the earthquake of 15 January 1968, which killed hundreds of people and left tens of thousands homeless across western Sicily. The reconstruction process — slow, politically contested, and architecturally experimental — produced a new Montevago built away from the old site, while ruins of the original town were partially preserved as a memorial landscape. This dual topography — ruins and new town side by side — became the raw material for cultural projects like Percorsi Visivi, which uses art to process collective memory. The project reflects a wider movement in post-earthquake Belice communities to reclaim their heritage through culture.
What you see
Visitors following the Percorsi Visivi route encounter murals, sculpture, photography displays, and interpretive installations distributed across the town’s streets, piazzas, and historic remnants. The 360° virtual tour replicates this experience online, with navigable panoramic views of each stop. The surrounding landscape of the Belice Valley — vineyards, olive groves, and limestone ridges — forms a natural backdrop to the outdoor artworks. Signage in Italian and English guides visitors along the cultural path.
Cultural significance
The 1968 Belice earthquake is one of the defining tragedies of post-war Sicily, and the cultural regeneration projects of the valley — including the abandoned town of Gibellina and the Teatro Andromeda at Contessa Entellina — have gained international recognition as experiments in art-led recovery. Percorsi Visivi contributes to this tradition in Montevago, making the town a destination for visitors interested in the intersection of contemporary art, collective memory, and Sicilian landscape heritage.
Practical information
- Address
- Montevago, Province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy (37.7111° N, 12.9609° E)
- Opening hours
- Open-air route accessible at all times; check official website for guided tour and virtual tour access
- Admission
- Open-air route free; virtual tour access via official website
Getting there
Montevago is located approximately 60 km southwest of Palermo and 70 km northwest of Agrigento. The nearest major airport is Palermo Falcone–Borsellino. By car, take the A29 motorway from Palermo and then provincial roads towards Sambuca di Sicilia and Montevago. Limited public bus services connect Montevago to Sciacca and Palermo.