As the sun dips below the horizon, bathing the Madonie mountains in a soft, orange glow, the village of Gangi looks even more charming. The first settlement here was founded around 1200 BC by the Cretans and called Engyon. After its destruction, a new village was built on Mount Marone: the Romans knew it as Engium, which later became Gangi.

Throughout its history, Gangi showed strength and resilience while witnessing a multitude of cultural shifts, from the arrival of the Cretans led by Minos in search of Daedalus, through the Saracen invasion in 850 AD, which saw the construction of the fortress of Contrada Regiovanni, to the Norman liberation in 1067 AD.