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Licata (, ; , whence or Plintis), formerly also Alicata (), is a city and comune located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient Himera), about midway between Agrigento and Gela. It is a major seaport developed at the turn of the twentieth century, shipping sulfur, the refining of which has made Licata the largest European exporting centre, and Bitumen, and at times shipping cheese.
West of the port city there is a series of pocket beaches separated by wave-cut headlands as high as . (Amore 2002).
The first settlement was probablyAttested by chance finds of Corinthian, Ionic, and Geloan pottery and figurines, now in the museums of Palermo and Agrigento (Stillwell). founded by colonists from Gela. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Phintias
At the Battle of the Himera River (311 BC) near the town, Agothocles was beaten by the Carthaginians and the town fell into their hands.
The city itself was re-founded on the right bank of the Salso in 282 BC, by Phintias, tyrant of Agrigentum, who named it for himself (Phintias), after razing the city of Gela and resettling its population here.Diod. xxii. 2, p. 495. As late as the 1st century BC, inscriptions and coins show that the inhabitants retained the name Geloi.
Phintias was laid out on a great scale, with walls, temples and an agora. The setting took advantage of a small natural harbour, about across, in a bay on the coast that is now infilled. The site was protected by the headland now named Monte San Michele. Phintias, however, never rose to the importance of Gela.
At nearby Cape Ecnomus, in 256 BC the Roman Republic won the Battle of Cape Ecnomus in the First Punic War and freed the city from the Carthaginians. In 249 BC it afforded shelter to a ancient Rome fleet which was, however, attacked by the Carthage and many of the ships sunk.Diod. xxiv. 1, p. 508. Cicero also alludes to it as a seaport, carrying on a considerable export trade in corn.Cicero In Verrem iii. 8. 3.
Under the Romans Phintias became a large commercial emporium. But in Strabo's time it seems to have fallen into the same state of decay with the other cities on the south coast of Sicily, as he does not mention it among the few exceptions.Strabo vi. p. 272. Pliny, notices the Phintienses (or Phthinthienses as the name is written in some manuscripts) among the stipendiary towns of Sicily; and its name is found also in Ptolemy; but it is strange that both these writers reckon it among the inland towns of Sicily, though its maritime position is clearly attested both by Diodorus and Cicero. The Antonine Itinerary also gives a place called Plintis, doubtless a corruption of Phintias, which it places on the road from Agrigentum along the coast towards Syracuse, at the distance of from the former city.Itin. Ant. p. 95. This distance agrees tolerably well with that from Agrigento to Licata, though somewhat less.
In 1270 Licata (then having some 7,000 inhabitants) rebelled against Angevine rule as part of the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers. Thereafter the town came under the control of the House of Trastámara, who in 1447 granted it the title of fidelissima ("Most Faithful"). In 1553, after the city was sacked by Dragut's corsairs, it was decided to rebuild the walls, together with a large tower which was erected on the summit of Sant'Angelo hill.
Licata began to flourish once more in the 16th century, thanks in part to the presence of a community of Maltese people immigrants, and this period of prosperity continued well into the 17th century, when the first settlements appeared outside the wall, housing the growing Maltese community, and numerous buildings were constructed or rebuilt in the Baroque style. The port also enjoyed a period of prosperity, largely resulting from the export of grain.
The 1870s saw the construction of two bridges connecting to the sulphur mines inland, and five refineries (including the then largest in Europe) were built. This brought a considerable economic expansion, leading to the creation of several elegant residences in Licata.
Licata served as an Allied landing point during the 1943 Operation HUSKY Allied invasion of Sicily of World War II. Info at Google Books War damage and the decline in competitiveness in the sulphur industry caused economic decline, forcing many people to emigrate to northern Italy or abroad. As a town occupied by the Allies, it served as a model for John Hersey's novel A Bell for Adano. Info at militarystory.org
Licata has however maintained its artistic importance, and tourism has begun to flourish again in recent times. Nevertheless, the economy is heavily reliant on the fishing industry.
In June 2025, archaeological excavations have revealed domestic and craft environments from the Hellenistic-Roman period. Conducted under the direction of archaeologists Maria Concetta Parello and Alessio Toscano Raffa, the findings include "house 19," which contained an artisan workshop with terracotta molds for oil lamps alongside a domestic sacellum (shrine) with associated ritual objects. Artifacts depicting ancient Greek and Greco-Egyptian Deity were also discovered, such as a mold for masks of Medusa and cups adorned with medallions of Isis and Serapis.
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