DISCOVER SICILY CASTELBUONO AND CEFALÙ!
This Sunday the stages of our journey to discover Sicily led us to Castelbuono and Cefalù, a town in Western Sicily.
Immersed in a forest of oaks and ash trees, the town of Castelbuono rises on the slopes of the Milocca hill, within the Madonie park. The first settlements date back to the Neolithic period, but it is in the Middle Ages that the country begins to develop.
Since a day cannot start well without a good breakfast, our first stop was the Fiasconaro pastry shop, founded in 1953 and now famous all over the world.
Here we tasted their Easter doves, prepared with strictly Sicilian ingredients that are combined together to create products that are a real delight for the palate!
The recipes range from the most traditional, such as colomba with manna cream (natural sweetener extracted from the ash trees that surround the city) to more particular ones, such as the brand new Modica chocolate and apricot combination.
From here we moved to the Ventimiglia castle, commissioned in 1316 by Francesco I. It is thanks to this family that the town began to expand in the Middle Ages, becoming a real inhabited center. The castle, as we see it today, is the result of numerous renovations over time.
Despite this, the various styles that influenced the Sicilian architecture of the time are recognizable in its structure: the cube shape refers to the Arab style, the corner towers to the Norman style and the only circular tower to the style of Swabian military constructions.
This Sunday was the FAI (Italian Environment Fund) day in Spring. Not only was the visit of the castle a free offer, but, once inside, we were welcomed by FAI volunteers who took us around the castle and told us its story.
Real Cicero… but in medieval clothes!
The castle also housed the personal exhibition of the very young photographer from Agrigento Calogero Cammalleri, entitled “Lipadusa, stories of life and the sea”.
After visiting the castle, we returned to the central square to visit the new mother church, dating back to 1600, but also rebuilt following the earthquake of 1820.
And at the exit we found a surprise: a Ferrari rally right in the square in front of the church!
The visit continued with a walk through the pretty streets of the historic center that highlight an aesthetically well-finished and culturally very active town.
The second stop on our trip was Cefalù, another town in the province of Palermo which, especially in summer, attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world thanks to its magnificent beaches.
The tour of the city could only begin with a visit to the Cathedral that rises, imposing, in the central square of the town. Legend has it that it was built following a vow made by Roger II, who would have escaped a horrible storm by landing right on the beaches of Cefalù. In reality, however, it seems that it was built for political and military reasons, as can be seen from the very structure of the building which is very reminiscent of a fortress
Inside the Cathedral, you can see different styles and techniques, and witnesses of the various vicissitudes that have affected the construction of the building which was never definitively completed.
After visiting the Duomo, we walked through the characteristic alleys of the city center, small …
Unfortunately we only had time to visit the medieval wash house before it started raining. The structure exploits the waters of the “Cefalino” river, as the plaque placed on one of the pillars of the entrance says. Legend has it that the river was born from the tears of a nymph who repented of having punished with death the betrayal of her beloved. The water, which was once used by women to wash clothes, pours from twenty-two jugs of water into the stone basins below, and then reaches the sea through a small cave.
Even though the weather was not on our side until the end, we managed to complete our tour by visiting all the most characteristic places in the city.
Thanks to everyone who joined us: fantastic group, as always!
We hope that you have enjoyed yourself and that you will want to be with us also in the next trip around Sicily!
