Town Hall from Art Nouveau style, rises majestically in Progresso square. Its design was entrusted in 1904 to architect Ernesto Basile, the greatest exponent of Sicilian Art Nouveau, who conceived the building with the elevation of a bell tower at the corner of the two façades.
On the top of this tower, inside a rigid wrought iron cage, are placed the bells that with their chimes mark the life of people.
The prospectus, realized entirely in the 1930s, is set on two orders. The lower part is embossed with the opening of arched doors and windows similar to the Florentine Renaissance palaces. The upper part, on the other hand, has a flat surface, divided by pilasters and windows with flowering gables, typical of Art Nouveau style.
The interior develops around a small open-air atrium, while an elegant marble staircase allows access to the upper floor. In the corridor are walled two medallions, coming from the Great Gate of the city, representing Antifemo from Rhodes and Entimo from Crete, mythical founders of ancient Gela.
On the ceiling of the Council Hall is depicted the eagle, coat of arms of Licata, while in the walls are placed: a triptych from Antonelliana school of the first half of the fifteenth century, depicting “Our Lady with the Child and the SS. Caterina from Alessandria, Giovanni Battista, Alberto and Marta” and a painting of the nineteenth century of Antonino Licata from Licata, representing the landing of Giovanni from Procida in Sicily during the Sicilian Vespers of 1282.
In the room of the Mayor are guarded the banner decorated with the coat of arms of the city and two silver clubs representing the Senate of Licata and that are still used for special occasions and especially for the feast of the Patron Saint.
During the Anglo-American landing in Licata, on July 10, 1943, the American major Frank Toscani took up residence at the Town Hall to govern and he gave to the city a bell. This gesture inspired the American journalist John Hersey to write a novel titled “A Bell For Adano” which in 1945 won the Pulitzer Prize.
