Centuripe, Sicily : A Unique Village That Looks Like A Person
Italy is a country full of truly unique villages in the world. You can find places that are known for their rich history, while others are known just for their particular beauty. In Sicily there is a place that is peculiar and fascinating that is known for its shape. The name of this town is Centuripe.
It is a village that gets its beauty from being perched on five cliffs that are joined together, which gives life to a picturesque man-shape. Known as the “balcony of Sicily”, this town has stunning views across to Mount Etna. Centuripe has avoided mass tourism, since It has been on my to-do-list, I will be the visiting tourist to explore this place.
About Centuripe
Centuripe is a charming town within the Sicilian back country where you can still get a glimpse of the Sicilian past. Due to its location, this type of isolation has maintained the authenticity of the residents and Sicilian life. Located in the province of Enna at 2,402 feet (732 meters), It almost seems like it was forgotten by the madness of modern society. As you stroll along the streets you will witness the remains of what was once a glorious past first in the Greek and then Roman times.
Once one of the most important Sicilian cities during the in the Siceliota epoch (7th century BC) and moreover in the Roman era (3rd – 1st centuries BC), today very few ruins remain of its glorious past. Additionally, during WWII in 1943, the town suffered some damage during the liberation of Sicily by the 38th Infantry Brigade from the Irish allies. It was the key position in the German defense line across Sicily, which gave the Axis an almost impregnable position. Today Centuripe is mostly of an economy based on agriculture.
Explore Centuripe
I’ll be honest, when I arrived here I did not have a plan to what I was going to see and do. I recommend you park in the outer parts of the town. I parked here. I mostly came here to take some drone photography of the town and to explore more inland besides the coast of the island. As I mentioned before, this town has escaped tourism. Walking around with a backpack and camera and taking photos, really made me stand out. I definitely felt the eyes upon me. I had to be the only tourist that day or tourist are not that common.
After seeing a few things within the town I was ready to leave and head back home. Out of the blue, one of my Instagram followers saw one of my stories, which I posted while visiting, and wanted to meet up. He wanted to show me more things about the area. Thanks to Giacomo, I got to see another side of Centuripe that mostly the locals know about. Let me share with you some points of interests.
Panoramica sull’Etna
Once I parked, I walked towards he panoramic view point that overlooks the valley towards Mount Etna. This volcano overshadows anything within sight and its marvelous to look at. From here you can see the neighboring towns and scenic view the balcony of Sicily has to offer.
Unfortunately it was a little cloudy when I happen to be visiting, but the view was still great. From here when the volcano is erupting you get a front row seat of all the action. You can also witness some of the red hot lava coming out.
Church of the Immaculate Conception
As I continued exploring the town I found my self heading towards the center. Here you you will find the Chiesa Madre, Mother Church, the most important one of the town. This Roman Catholic façade is dedicated to the Marian devotion of the Immaculate Conception (Immacolata Concezione).
First built in the first decades of the 17th-century and consecrated in 1728. The Church has both a bell-tower and a clock. The interior design has the form of a Latin cross, with a central nave separated from the flanking aisles by ten pillars. The altars are dedicated to the patron saints of Centuripe, Santa Rosalia and San Prospero. The nave is carved out out wooden pulpit with gilded details
Monte Calvario
As I kept exploring the limbs of the man-shaped town, I happen to come across a little chapel, known as Monte Calvary. The origins of this dates back to 1927 through the interest of Father Vincenzo Sfilio. It was built by the master builder Giovanni Battista Senfet with the material help of all the centuripino people, which they climbed the building material by hand on the impenetrable path. Inside the church there is a painting of the Addolorata and the SS. Crucifix. From here you can see a panoramic view of the town from a different angle and also enjoy the landscape below.
Speaking with the locals, every year on the third of May the church is open to the faithful on the occasion of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in the past celebrated it was a more solemn way. To actually get up here is a little tricky. As you are coming up to it you take a set of stairs between two buildings that put you in someone house. It might feel a little weird, but just be mindful and continue the path.
Archeological Museum
This Regional Archaeological Museum of Centuripe exhibits the largest collection of Roman archaeological finds in internal Sicily, and is located in the municipality of Centuripe near the temple of the Augustales and other archaeological areas.
Next to it you will also find the Chiesa Santissimo Crocefisso, Church of the Holy Crucifix. There is also a set of stairs that take you through the stations of the cross.
Agustales
Near the Archeological Museum there is an articulated architectural complex that takes its name “Augustales” from the inscription found there. It braces a dedication by the Augustus Quadrumvir Lucio Calpurnio Aftoneto to the Genius Augustus. It is believed that one of the rooms highlighted could have supported a college of priests who had the task of officiating rites in honor of the late Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus. To support this hypothesis there is a precious marble portrait of Augustus, discovered near a modern pillar that upholds the road above.
Visible is the foundations of the five pillars which form the base of the ancient building. Almost certainly, this complex constitutes to all intents and purposes a part of the city’s forum in Roman times. Excavations in the 1950s made it possible to identify three chronological phases and discover other inscriptions and sculptural groups, partly exhibited in the Archaeological Museum.
Castello di Corradino : Roman Mausoleum
At edge what I would consider the right foot you will find a remnants of a castle which particularly attests to the importance of Centuripe in the Imperial Roman era. Getting there through a long tree-lined avenue and the splendid panorama makes it a wonderful brisk walk. As you look out from this extensive balcony you can admire, in fact, the majestic Etna and the neighboring villages, the green hills with the Mediterranean scrub and the plain of Catania, full of citrus groves. Corradino Castle is a Roman funerary building from the imperial age.
It was the archaeologist Guido Libertini in his monograph on Centuripe of 1926 who was the first to identify the intended use. More like a tower, the building has a square plan preceded by a pronaos. Its denomination of Castello is improper since it is a mausoleum, one of the most important funerary monuments of the Middle Empire in Sicily. In the thirteenth century it was used by Corrado Capece as a fortress in the defense of the Swabians in Sicily.
Carcaci Ghost Town
As you get to know Sicily you will encounter a lot of surprises. After living in Nevada for two years, ghost towns can be found all over. I never thought I would encounter one in Sicily. About 10 kilometers from Centuripe you can come across an ancient village, Carcaci. This was a former duchy that was once ran by one of the noblest Sicilian aristocratic families. When I visited it, there was has a sensation of making a real journey through time. These types of places are unknown to most. That’s why I wanted share this with you.
Borgo Carcaci was once one of the most coveted fiefdoms of Sicilian aristocratic families. What made it so important was its proximity to the “regia trazzera” that led from Adrano to San Filippo di Agira and to Palermo. Also importantly is the fact that there is a great abundance of water, provided by the Simeto and Troina rivers, which promotes the fertility of the soil and generous crops. In 700 it became the duchy of the illustrious Paternò-Castello family, under which it experienced a period of flourishing activity. In 1818 feudalism was abandoned and the Duchy of Carcaci became a municipality and was aggregated to Centuripe. Today, unfortunately, it is practically in a state of neglect, but this has not deprived it of its charm. This could be a fun place for photography with someone.
NOTE: There are a lot of peacocks running around.
Ponte Dei Saraceni
The Ponte dei Saraceni is one of the most beautiful and historically interesting buildings of the Sicilian Middle Ages. The bridge has lasted for about a thousand years on the major river of Sicily, “the Simeto”, characterized by a varied geological structure that provides the alternation of waterfalls, gorges and lava flows. The river falls for a good stretch in the so-called “Gorges” creating a natural water play of great suggestion. The district is called “Salto del Pecoraio” thanks to an ancient legend about a shepherd in love who jumped to the other side to join his beloved.
Built in the Roman masonry, of which there are the bases of the major arch, then with the Islamic occupation, the Arabs probably did it to restore the bridge activity following a collapse due perhaps to a flood of the Simeto. Thus they replaced the canons of their architecture with Roman art, taking care of the chromatic effects, with the alternation of light and dark stones in the arched arches. The structure that emerges from it, with an acute arch, typical of all Islamic architecture, will thus acquire slenderness and lightness. The bridge, in Norman times, was part of an important road that connected the city of Troina, the first capital of the kingdom of Roger I of Altavilla, with Catania.
Riparo Cassataro
I have to say, I was not expecting to arrive to something like this during this trip. This magnificent prehistoric testimony, unknown to most, is hidden inside a small shelter of huge sandstone blocks, among olive trees and prickly pears near the Simeto river. Here in 1976 some cave paintings were discovered, the only ones known in eastern Sicily. Riparo Cassatoro was discovered in 1976 and was used as a place of worship, it can also be seen from the circular cups dug into the floor and which are linked to religious rites, as attested in other locations.
There are figures of people, with arms in various positions that represent a kind of magical dance around a deity. One even seems to have a drum in hand. A series of paintings is black and is from the Neolithic period (hardly visible except with infrared photography). The other, on the other hand, is attributable to the Bronze Age and is reddish in color, obtained from minerals present in the area, ground with rudimentary tools.
Conclusion
Talk about a good day trip. I recommend this to put in your to-do-list of places to see. A place where tourism has not yet taken over. Additionally, Its always good to meet someone locally to help you enjoy the richness of the place they call home. Without Giacomo I would not have known about the other interesting points of interest nearby.
Have you ever been shown around by a local? Leave comments and questions about this post underneath. I’ll reply as soon as possible.
