HOUSE OF THE TIME

A particular cavity in the rock that gave shelter to people within various historical periods.

In the area of Scurati (a district belonging to the commune of Custonaci), there is a small Sicilian village that rises inside Grotta Mangiapane, named after the family, that lived there in 1819.

Grotta Mangiapane, one of the largest in Sicily, has witnessed man and his activities since the Upper Paleolithic.  This is evidenced by numerous finds recovered by scholars and researchers, including those of the well-known paleontologist and geologist, as well as the director of the museum of human paleontology of the University of Paris, Raymond Vaufrey.

The Grotta (also known as Grotta degli Uffizi) was abandoned at the end of the Second World War. Some years later, a small community of young people from Custonaci, helped by the local priest Don Rosario Vanella, decided to bring it back to life, promoting activities that have served to make the cave a place of cultural attraction for visitors.

Today it has become an open-air museum, a place for meeting and discussion and therefore the site for important and unique events such as the traditional Living Nativity of Custonaci.