Montalbano Elicona

Located at an altitude of 900 m in the heart of the Nebrodi, it offers excellent opportunities for excursions into nature (Malabotta forest, Argimosco rocks). When you arrive, you are struck by the bulk of the castle that overlooks the town. Erected by Frederick II of Swabia on a previous Arab fort. Located on the westernmost hill of the country. It is surrounded by medieval alleys that, full of charm, tangle in ups and downs. Inside there is a large courtyard, in the center of which there is a chapel with traces of frescoes.

Montalbano Elicona
The Castle dominates and characterizes the irregular and tortuous medieval urban map, which winds up and down the alleys adapting to the shape of the rocky promontory. The small houses built in sandstone are filled with authentic history.

The most beautiful village in Italy
The recognition was given during the Rai program. Just under 2,500 inhabitants, Montalbano Elicona in the historic center preserves a 13th century castle which dates back to the Swabian period.

Magic and Enchantment
Magical and enchanting… here’s how to describe this wonderful village. The emotion you feel when visiting the historic center, with its alleys, the medieval castle, the feudal houses. The silence… the view… the inhabitants. To visit without haste, many small details to look at and photograph. The pedestrian-only part of the historic center is very beautiful.

The plan of the Castle
It is possible to distinguish two buildings: the oldest is made up of a rectangle, protected by two imposing towers with a square plan the southern one and a pentagonal one the northern one. It is the keep, of this first fortified nucleus there are two entrances: one to the west, which leads directly onto the courtyard, the other to the east, which is surmounted by a pointed arch. The second nucleus, located lower than the first, is represented by an enclosure, which, in the geometric shape of a quadrangle.

The first order of the quadrangular enclosure is distinguished by a series of large slits or bolts more than two meters high and seven or eight cm wide. stone carving; a second order consisting of 18 windows and two portals.

Aragonese festivals
The Aragonese Festivities take place every year in August. Fascinating and evocative, the Aragonese festivals recreate the medieval atmosphere of the 14th century in the village of Montalbano.

The historical procession accompanied by musicians, falconers and flag-wavers starts from the castle and then arrives in the square, where a show is given, at the end of which the procession withdraws to the village. Unmissable are the games with fire, the acrobatics of street artists, and the Race of the Towers … all in medieval clothes.

About 200 men, women and children parade in medieval costumes, recalling the entry of Frederick II of Aragon in Montalbano.

The Megaliths of Argimusco
Mysterious rock formations that appear in all their grandeur, have been interpreted by some as a simple work of nature, by others as the work of the Neolithic men of Sicily in very ancient times. Thus the suggestive silhouettes of the praying Virgin, of the male face and of the Eagle are now considered as bizarre freaks of nature, now as the work of a mysterious civilization that left other similar examples not only in Italy but throughout the world. Curiously, however, the most notable megaliths of this “Italian Stonehenge” have precise orientations to the equinoxes and solstices.

Wood of Malabotta
a true natural paradise within which you can admire various manifestations of nature. The flora is characterized by turkey oaks, hazelnuts, beeches, oaks and pines among which foxes, wild boars, weasels and martens roam undisturbed. The undergrowth is made up of hawthorn, wild rose and thorny sparzio. The fauna boasts numerous kestrels, peregrine falcons, buzzards, golden eagles and sparrow hawks. In these wonderful places, the small stream, Torrente Licopedi di Roccella, flows quietly and slowly.