The town is located on the slope of a 533 m hill, Monte Caltafaraci, locally known as the Muntaggneḍḍa (little mountain in Sicilian).

The first signs of human habitation of the area can be dated to the late copper age (2400-1990 a.C.), with monochrome red pottery in the Malpasso style found in a cave in contrada Ticchiara.

An excavation of a later burial site (1900-1450 a.C.) from contrada Grazia Vicina has yielded gray achromatic ceramic with connection to the Conca d'Oro style (late copper age in the Palermo region) and to archaic forms of the Castelluccio style (early Bronze Age in central-southern Sicily).

A settlement flourished in contrada Saraceno and many traces of their domination can still be found in the denomination of local geographical places.

The name of the town itself originates from the Arabian fawwāra (Arabic: ﻓﻮﺍﺭة), meaning "Gurgling pool of water".