The name is from the Arabic قَلْعَة أَبِي شَامَة qalʿat ʾabī šāma (pronounced [ˈqalʕat ˈʔabiː ˈʃaːma]), a phrase reported in 1154 by the Hammudite geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi.

), located in the central part of the Iblei Mountains, between the relief of Contessa district and the Anapo river and is surrounded by the historic sites of ancient Akrai, Casmene and the Necropolis of Pantalica.

Anche la colonizzazione più antica di Camarina si deve attribuire ai Siracusani, circa centotrentacinque anni dopo che si fondò Siracusa; ne furono nominati ecisti Dascone e Menecolo.The first proto-urban settlement of the place most likely dates back to the Byzantine period, on the same site where the inhabited center currently stands.

With the reconstruction of the inhabited center, moved from the previous site, the contemporary Buscemi was born with examples of religious and civil Baroque architecture.

In 1777 the French painter and architect Jean Houel visited the country, who left a precise description in his Voyage:I have been to Buscemi and I only found caves carved into the rock, but there are no ancient buildings, everything has been destroyed.