The Masters of Time and the Clock Museum
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🎧 STAGE 7 – THE MASTERS OF TIME: THE SCIBETTA DYNASTY AND THE CLOCK MUSEUM
On this stage we take you into the fascinating world of the artisans of time: the Scibettas, five generations of master watchmakers who have made Bisacquino famous throughout Sicily and beyond.
It all began in the 18th century with Rosario Scibetta, a native of Agrigento, who opened an ironworking store. From a simple gunsmith, the family evolved: son Calogero made the first tower clocks, and grandson Vincenzo transformed the store into a forge of mechanical ingenuity.
Vincenzo Scibetta, referred to as the “genius of the time,” built complex machines such as treadle lathes, metal-casting furnaces and milling machines: tools that made it possible to make tower clocks that were widespread throughout Sicily.
Famous is the clock installed in 1892 on the Mother Church of Bisacquino, equipped with a refined chime capable not only of striking the hours, but also of signaling the entrance to school, the peasant awakening and the two hours at night thanks to a mechanism nicknamed “the wheel of Archimedes.”
Over time, the Scibetta workshop produces clocks for churches and town halls from Palermo to Porto Empedocle, from Piana degli Albanesi to Gratteri. The Scibetta brothers also invented a “Universal Geographic Clock” capable of synchronizing with world time zones, which was patented and awarded nationally.
Among the more curious anecdotes, director Luchino Visconti commissioned Paolo Scibetta to make a particularly noisy watch for a scene in the film The Leopard-a scene later cut by censors.
Today, thanks to the Palermo Superintendency, the old workshop has become the Clock Museum (open by appointment), a precious treasure chest that holds instruments, clocks and family memories.
A place where the ticking of gears blends with the sound of bells, and where Bisacquino’s mechanical genius is celebrated. A journey through art, ingenuity and memory: here, time does not flow-it is built.
