The first to inhabit the surrounding area were the Sicans, who settled in various villages starting from the 19th century BC, but today's city was probably founded in the tenth century during the Islamic period in Sicily. The name was taken up in part by turning it into Qal'at al-nisa '("Castello delle donne"), from which the name "Nissa" derives and then "Caltanissetta".

Transformed into a feud by the Normans, after various vicissitudes it passed in 1405 under the dominion of the Moncada of Paternò, who were owners of the county of Caltanissetta until 1812; of the family still survive the seventeenth-century Palazzo Moncada, in Baroque style.

Under the Bourbons, in 1816 Caltanissetta became the Capital of the Province. After a first refusal, only in 1848 did the city join the Sicilian uprisings, becoming part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. This is the period of the economic boom, thanks to the mining activity of the area.

In fact, starting from the nineteenth century, it underwent considerable industrial development thanks to the presence of vast sulfur deposits, which made it an important mining center; The importance it played in the sulfur sector earned it the nickname "world capital of sulfur", and in 1862 there was the first mining institution in Italy. The solfare is an important moment in history (also due to tragic events such as child labor, white deaths and immigration!) And, in fact, after the closure of the next Sicilian mining, some mines became industrial museums, "mining parks". The park of Gessolungo is active in Caltanisetta. The name of the establishment is linked to the fact that the sulfate, born in the upper Miocene, is made up of plaster and clays associated with sulfur minerals and rock salt crystals. In 1834, there were 88 plants in the territory of Caltanissetta.

The oldest mining academy in Italy is here! The Mining Museum is an invaluable cross section of Italian social and industrial history.

In the thirties he experienced a period of cultural ferment, despite fascist censorship, so much so that Leonardo Sciascia called it a "little Athens". In the second post-war period the extractive sector entered into crisis, and with it the whole economy of the territory, which today is mainly based on the tertiary sector.