Castelvetrano is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Trapani

Province of Trapani

Trapani is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Trapani.It has an area of 2,460 km², and a total population of 425,121...

, Sicily, Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte

Selinunte

Selinunte is an ancient Greek archaeological site on the south coast of Sicily, southern Italy, between the valleys of the rivers Belice and Modione in the province of Trapani. The archaeological site contains five temples centered on an acropolis...

 is located within the territory of the comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

. It was the birthplace of Giovanni Gentile

Giovanni Gentile

Giovanni Gentile was an Italian neo-Hegelian Idealist philosopher, a peer of Benedetto Croce. He described himself as 'the philosopher of Fascism', and ghostwrote A Doctrine of Fascism for Benito Mussolini. He also devised his own system of philosophy, Actual Idealism.- Life and thought :Giovanni...

, the key philosopher of the Fascist

Italian Fascism

Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...

 movement in Italy.

The town is predominantly a farming town, with the cultivation of vines and olive trees being the main focus. Woodworking (mainly furniture) is also an important sector.

Main sights

The center of Castelvetrano consists of three linked squares and many monuments can be found within these areas. The main square is Piazza Garibaldi which is adorned with many fine buildings including the town's principal church, the Chiesa Madre, which in its present form dates back to the 16th century. Inside the church are stuccoes by Ferraro and Giacomo Serpotta

Giacomo Serpotta

Giacomo Serpotta was an Italian sculptor, active in a Rococo style and mainly working in stucco.Serpotta was born and died in Palermo; and may have never left Sicily. His skill and facility with stucco sculpture appears to arise without mentorship or direct exposures to the mainstream of Italian...

.

Near the church is the Municipio (town hall) and also close by is the Chiesa del Purgatorio, built in 1624–64, with its façade filled with statues.