Get ready for an emotional journey in Agrigento, where Pirandello was born. Here you’ll get in touch with his extraordinary literary sensitivity.
Pirandello's birthplace is located in a district called "the Caos," an area halfway between Agrigento and Porto Empedocle, in the southern part of Sicily. It is set on a hill facing the Mediterranean sea, in a natural setting full of olive trees and centuries-old oaks. Here you will instantly feel to go back in time.
We recommend you to drop by this place so important in Pirandello's life. You will find yourself enveloped in the atmospheres in which the author recounted the malaise of the petty-bourgeois class of his time.
Over the years he established himself as an internationally renowned playwright. In 1934 his talent was rewarded with the Nobel Prize for Literature.
"Do you know what it means to love humanity? It means only this: to be happy with ourselves. When one is happy with oneself, one is loving humanity."
Guided tour to Pirandello’s house museum
The thousand faces in the poetics of Luigi Pirandello
While in Agrigento for your city tour - besides the beautiful Valley of the Temples - we strongly recommend you to dedicate some time to this magical place. It will be a good chance to dive into the universe of this brilliant writer. You won’t regret it!
Guided tour assistants will show you how to best enjoy the museum experience: you’ll find interactive and multimedia tours, audioguides in various languages. And if you need it, you can book an in-person tour guide for your group.So let’s have a look to the not to be missed things to do and see during your visit.
1. The centuries-old pine and the “rough stone” with his ashes
On the hill in front of Pirandello’s house is the forecourt of the funerary monument containing his ashes. You can reach it by a picturesque scenic path that faces the sea.
His last will reads out: «Please burn me. And may my newly burned body be scattered or walled up in some rough stone in the countryside of Girgenti, where I was born.»
Andrea Camilleri - the renowned author of the Commissario Montalbano's novels - is also personally linked to this will: he personally helped moving the ashes from Rome to Agrigento.
This evocative corner was chosen as his burial place, at the foot of the centuries-old pine tree where Luigi used to chat with friends or reflect in solitude. Today only part of that tree remains – it was uprooted by a storm in 1997 - but the atmosphere within this place is still intact.
Drop in and you will experience the same feelings as the young Pirandello.
2. The multimedia route and the free app
In 2021 the house-museum experience was completely revamped. Now visitors can refer to many multimedia accesses with audio-visual content about Pirandello's life and works.
It’s a brand new way to embark on an emotional journey through the wonders of the writer’s poetics.
A free Android and IoS app is also available to follow the tour with in-depth content, 3D augmented reality images, and audio podcasts.
The entire visiting experience is divided into conceptual levels that recall the main themes of Pirandello's poetics: masks, madness, the three strings, humour and relativism.
3. The room of cinema and theatre
Room 2 on the ground floor has a quite interesting outfitting: it offers visitors a complete immersion in a cinematic and theatrical environment.
Here we find projections of videos, famous quotes and audio fragments from Pirandello's greatest works, performed by the great Sicilian actor Leo Gullotta.
Inside this room everyone feels enveloped in a surreal atmosphere, while music and lights complete the scenic impact.
Selfie time is guaranteed: light effects and curious perspectives will give you hints for your perfect picture!
4. Handwritten manuscripts and original paintings
The house-museum also displays a selection of original documents that chronologically follow the writer's life.
The available audioguides provide in-depth content for everyone willing to deepen into each specific text and manuscript.
Moreover the house collection hosts a series of authentic paintings made by some members of the Pirandello’s family, including his sister Lina and son Stefano.
They depict scenes of life and landscapes typical of Sicily at the time, so dear to the writer.
Pirandello's legacy
Visiting Pirandello's house-museum in Agrigento is a first step in getting closer to the life and works of one of the greatest representatives of Italian literature. Works such as Il Fu Mattia Pascal, Il Berretto a Sonagli and Uno, nessuno e centomila are excellent examples to better understand our identity and our living in the world.
Luigi Pirandello is waiting for you here, in his home in Agrigento. He’ll show you his life as a Sicilian who conquered the world through the power of his own words.
