Pirandello’s Birthplace (Agrigento): Tickets, Grave & the Pine Tree

In short: The Casa Natale di Luigi Pirandello in the Contrada Caos near Agrigento is the birthplace of the 1934 Nobel laureate in literature — and the place where his ashes lie beneath a raw limestone block. Admission 6 euros, covering both the house and the grave, open daily 9am–7:30pm with no closing day. One expectation worth correcting in advance: the famous pine tree is a replanting from 2001 — the original died in a whirlwind in 1997.

Quick Facts

• Type: birthplace and gravesite of Luigi Pirandello, regional museum
• Address: SS 115, Contrada Caos, Villaseta — between Agrigento (about 4 km) and Porto Empedocle
• Managed by: Regione Siciliana / Assessorato dei Beni Culturali; ticketing via CoopCulture
• Admission: 6 euros / reduced 3 euros — house and grave included
• Opening hours: daily 9am–7:30pm, last admission 7pm, no closing day
• Note: the grave closes one hour before sunset — earlier than the house
• Exception: on 25 February (the city’s patron saint’s day) only until 1:30pm
• Without a car: TUA line 1 from Agrigento station via Griffo and the Valle dei Templi
• No combined ticket with the Valley of the Temples or the Museo Griffo
• Information: +39 0922 511826

Why it’s worth the visit

Pirandello called himself figlio del Caos throughout his life, a son of Chaos. That’s a play on words — the local name Caos actually derives from the Sicilian Cavusu, not the Greek Chaos — but a play on words the man needed, the one who brought the modern question of identity onto the stage.

That he was born here at all was chance: his mother, Caterina Ricci Gramitto, had fled to the countryside in 1867 to escape a cholera epidemic. The house, a rural building from the late 18th century, belonged to her family. Luigi was born here on 28 June 1867.

And he lies here too. His will called for a raw stone in the countryside around Girgenti — in 1961 his ashes were sealed into a limestone block from the Rupe Atenea, reworked by the sculptor Marino Mazzacurati. The block stands at the end of a dirt track above the sea. That’s the real reason to come: birth and grave in one place, a Nobel Prize in between.

Who it suits

Criterion	Well suited	Limitations
Literature enthusiasts	birthplace and grave in one location, first editions with handwritten dedications	—
Those seeking the famous pine tree	—	today’s tree is a replanting from 2001
Combining with the Valley of the Temples	TUA line 1 serves both	no combined ticket — two separate tickets
Without a rental car	TUA line 1 from the station; seasonally the Temple Tour Bus	not walkable from Agrigento
Late-day visitors	the house is open until 7:30pm	the grave closes an hour before sunset
Visitors with mobility issues	the house is listed as accessible	the path to the grave is a dirt track — condition undocumented
Spontaneous visitors	no closing day	admission is capped, advance purchase recommended

The pine tree — the story that’s told wrong almost everywhere

Nearly every guidebook shows the pino solitario, the lone pine above the sea beneath which Pirandello’s ashes lie. Anyone who comes today sees a tree — but not that one.

The original pine died on a November night in 1997, destroyed by a tromba d’aria, a whirlwind. The crown was lost and the tree died off. On 28 June 2001 — Pirandello’s birthday — a new pine of the same species was planted a few steps from the rozza pietra. At the time it stood around 60 centimetres tall, was hand-watered for two years, and was measured at about 3.5 metres in 2017.

So two widely repeated claims are wrong: the storm was in 1997, not 2017. And the pine hasn’t disappeared — it’s simply not the same tree anymore. In fairness: there’s a second version of the exact sequence of events, which speaks of a lightning strike and a charred trunk. We couldn’t resolve which is correct, or whether both happened. Nor how tall the tree stands today — the most recent documented figure dates from 2017.

What you’ll see

The house is modest in scale, and that’s part of its appeal.

• Upper floor: personal belongings, photographs, awards, reviews, letters and manuscripts; first editions with handwritten dedications; posters from his best-known plays.
• The Greek vase in which Pirandello’s ashes were transferred from the Verano cemetery in Rome to Agrigento. It’s on display in the house today — the journey from Rome back to Caos, in a single object.
• Ground floor: temporary exhibitions on Pirandello.
• The grave at the end of the dirt track — included in the ticket.

On the building’s history: a rural building from the late 18th century belonging to the Ricci-Gramitto family. After the Pirandello family’s financial collapse, it passed to other owners; in 1943, an explosion at a nearby ammunition depot damaged the house. In 1949 it was declared a national monument, and in 1952 it was acquired and restored by the Regione Siciliana — hence its present appearance. Since 1987 it has formed a unit with the Biblioteca Luigi Pirandello, which, however, sits separately in Agrigento itself (Mon–Fri 8:30am–1:30pm, Wed and Thu additionally 3pm–6pm).

Whether the 1934 Nobel medal itself is on display we could not confirm — sources speak generally of “awards”. Don’t count on it.

Tickets, prices and opening hours

Admission costs 6 euros, reduced 3 euros. The most important point: the house and the grave are covered by the same ticket — you don’t need to pay twice.

There is no combined ticket with the Valley of the Temples or the Museo Griffo — the sites are priced individually. Tickets are available online, at the house’s own ticket desk, and at the ticket desks for the Tempio di Giunone and the Museo Griffo. Admission is capped, and advance purchase is recommended.

As a museum run by the Assessorato, the Sicilian regional tariff rules apply:

Group	Rule	Note
First Sunday of the month	free	Sicily’s own regional rule
10 March	free	Giornata dei Beni Culturali Siciliani
Under 18	free	—
EU citizens 18–25	50 percent	i.e. 3 euros; FAI members also reduced
Over 65	full price	Sicily has no senior discount
Teachers, journalists	free	including teachers on temporary contracts
Disability + 1 companion	free	—

Opening hours: daily from 9am to 7:30pm, last admission 30 minutes before closing, no closing day. On 25 February, the day of Agrigento’s patron saint, open only until 1:30pm.

The trap is with the grave: it’s accessible from 9am until one hour before sunset — considerably shorter than the house. In summer this is uncritical, but in winter the grave can close as early as 4pm while the house stays open until 7:30pm. Anyone who wants to see both — which is the whole point of coming — should plan for early afternoon in winter.

A curious detail on the side: the house doesn’t appear at all on the website of the Parco archeologico Valle dei Templi — neither under tickets nor under opening hours. Prices and hours here therefore rely on the ticket concessionaire CoopCulture, not on the operator itself. That’s not a dealbreaker, but it explains why so many conflicting figures circulate online. One private Agrigento portal still quotes 4 euros and closing at 7pm to this day — both outdated.

Getting there

The house lies on the SS 115 in the Contrada Caos near Villaseta, on a plateau above the sea between Agrigento (around 4 kilometres) and Porto Empedocle. It’s not walkable from the centre of Agrigento.

Without a car it works well: TUA line 1 connects Agrigento station via the Museo Griffo and the Valle dei Templi to the Casa natale — serving exactly the three destinations you’d combine anyway. Seasonally there’s also the Temple Tour Bus, a hop-on-hop-off service that covers, among other stops, Villaseta, the birthplace, Porto Empedocle and the Scala dei Turchi. We could not verify its current seasonal timetable — the most recent official document dates from 2022.

By car, via the SS 115 towards Porto Empedocle or Villaseta. Generally: bus & train in Sicily and car rental in Sicily.

Accessibility: the ticket provider lists the house as accessible. This doesn’t automatically extend to the path to the grave — it runs along a dirt track whose condition no source describes. There is no official information on photography or a recommended visit duration.

Best time to visit and common mistakes

Possible year-round, with the grave as a seasonal limitation. The most common mistakes:

• Expecting the original pine tree. It died in 1997 — today’s tree dates from 2001.
• Arriving too late in winter. The grave closes an hour before sunset, the house not until 7:30pm.
• Expecting 4 euros. That figure appears on a private portal dated 2019. It’s 6.
• Hoping for a combined ticket with the Valley of the Temples. There isn’t one.
• Setting off on foot from Agrigento. Around 4 kilometres along the SS 115 — take line 1 instead.

For a seasonal overview, see Best Time to Visit Sicily.

Nearby

• Valley of the Temples — TUA line 1 serves both; the classic combined day.
• Museo Archeologico Griffo — the finds relating to the valley, also on line 1.
• Scala dei Turchi — the white rock staircase, in the same direction along the coast.
• Porto Empedocle — Pirandello’s port town, a few kilometres further; also the setting for Camilleri’s Vigàta.
• Agrigento — the old town and the Biblioteca Luigi Pirandello.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & update

Prices, opening hours, discounts and ticketing details based on CoopCulture as the house’s ticket concessionaire (the house itself is not listed on the website of the Parco archeologico Valle dei Templi); information on building history, the collection and the transfer of the ashes based on museum documentation and regional sources; the pine tree’s chronology (whirlwind November 1997, replanting 28 June 2001, height 3.5 m in 2017) based on Sicilian press coverage; bus line 1 based on the operator TUA Agrigento. As of 17 July 2026. Deliberately left open, because contradictory or undocumented: the exact cause of the pine’s loss (whirlwind or lightning), the tree’s current condition, whether the Nobel medal is on display, the accessibility of the path to the grave, photography rules, a recommended visit duration, and the current season of the Temple Tour Bus. Admission and opening hours are time-dependent and should be checked before your visit.

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