Petralia Soprana: A Journey Through Time in Sicily’s Majestic Madonie Mountains
Petralia Soprana is in the Madonie district, which is the highest and one of the most titled in the province of Palermo in Sicily. Pizzo Corvo is 1,657 meters above sea level.
In its personal palmares of awards, we find the Borgo dei Borghi 2018 award and registration in the famous and exclusive circuit of the most beautiful villages in Italy. These awards put him without a doubt in the group of the most beautiful villages in Sicily.
History
The Arabs, who called it Betraliah, and the Normans, who called it Petra Heliae, both gave it a new name after they took it over from Sican Petra. To these two conquering currents, the look of a country called a “author’s mountain” is mostly linked by its three belvederes, which show a view of Sicily where Etna and the sea are the main characters.
Petralia Soprana was “sculpted” by the hands of many artists, stone craftsmen, blacksmiths, carpenters, and decorators. They all helped create the voluptuous beauty that shines through the portals, balconies, gates, front doors of houses, and the facades of buildings.
Petralia Soprana: What to See
Parts of these buildings look out over the original Piazza Loreto, where you can see the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto, which was rebuilt in the late Baroque style and has a symmetrical facade and thin majolica spiers.
Inside, the show continues in front of the marble altarpiece, which was designed by Giandomenico Gagini to look beautiful with four scenes from the Christian parable.
She is in good company with wooden statues of the saints Cosma and Damiano and a pair of statues by Filippo Quattrocchi da Gangi.
When you walk into Piazza San Michele, the first thing that catches your eye is a circular fountain. However, you pass right by it to get to Piazza del Popolo, which is dominated by the Town Hall, which used to be a Carmelite convent, Palazzo Pottino, and the Church of the Collegio, which is a strange example of a picturesque monastic Baroque.
Piazza Frate Umile was named after Fra Umile Pintorno da Petralia, an artist who worked for a long time and made 33 wooden crucifixes that can be found in southern Italy and around the world. The Oratorio delle Anime Purganti is in the small Piazza Ruggero VII, which has a facade that looks a little bit like a bell tower.
The Fontana dei Quattro Cannoli, which was once the only water source in the village and is now made of marble and baroque style, stands in the square with the same name.
Piazza Duomo holds the big surprise, which is the Mother Church, which is dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul and has bell towers on both sides, one from the Norman era and the other from the eighteenth century. The 18-kilogram Bell of the Union is kept safe in one of the towers.
Beyond the entrance, which is made up of Catalan Gothic panels, the three naves follow their own paths, which are held up by a dozen pillars that show the Apostles.
Here, you can see how realistic Friar Umile’s first crucifix, a life-size Christ from 1623, is. It has many details that make it stand out, like an open mouth where you can see the tongue and teeth, bowels that can be seen when looking at the wound on the side, and an eyebrow that has been pierced by one of the crown’s thorns. These are, in short, all essential details to show how the Redeemer suffered on the Cross.
If you want to learn some interesting facts about the artist’s life, you can go to the Convent of the Reformed Friars Minor, where Friar Umile spent the first part of his journey as a novice. Villa Sgadari, which is not far away, is one of the most interesting Baroque homes in the Madonie and makes people want to visit it.
In the Madonie area, the Church of the Savior is one of a kind. This is because of its odd shape, which may be a holdover from when the Normans turned an old mosque into a Christian temple.
Only one of the village’s six entrances, the Porta Seriv, still stands. Near it is the Church of San Teodoro, which has a bell tower made from one of the old turrets of the walls.
Last, the baptismal font in the Church of the Trinity, which dates back to the 1800s, is worth seeing.
Parco delle Madonie – The park in Madonie
Petralia Soprana is a precious stone set in the amazing Madonie Park, which has the Scopalacqua Waterfall and the Madonie Adventure Park. The Gagini route, which has sculptures by the Palermo sculptors Gagini, goes through Gangi, Geraci Siculo, Petralia Soprana, and Petralia Sottana.
Antonio Albanese liked the historic center of Petralia so much that he shot some scenes for his 1999 movie “Hunger and Thirst” there.
The Salt Mine
The Civic Museum of Memory and the Present and the Salgemma Mine, where salt sculptures are shown at Raffo, which also hosts the Salt Festival every two years, are both great places to look around.
Unmissable events
There is a long list of events that never go away in Sicily, even in a charming village in the Madonie. They include the Carnilivarata, the two processions of the Risen Jesus and of Our Lady of Sorrows during U’ncuontru on Easter Sunday, the Grain Festival in the summer, and the Baronial Wedding on August 15th, which is a historical reenactment dressed in clothes from the eighteenth century. In the same month of August, the exciting Ballo della Cordella and the Lentil Festival both happen.
Getting to Petralia Soprana
From Palermo, take the A19 highway, then at the Irosa junction, take the SS 290 or at the Tremonzelli junction, take the SS 120. The closest train stations are in Cefalù and Termini Imerese, which are well connected by local buses. Catania Fontanarossa and Palermo’s “Falcone e Borsellino” are the best airports to use.
