SHARRYLAND
Petralia Soprana, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy
Beauty queen in the heart of the Madonie Mountains
Where is
What it is and where it is
Petralia Soprana is the highest village in the Madonie Mountains. Its territory stretches between 600 and 1657 meters above sea level. In a nutshell, the village sits on the crest of a rise and is unrivaled: all around it is the panorama of the Madonie Mountains, and the small town seems to be its centerpiece. With its stone houses and streets it seems to merge with the rocks it clings to, but that is only appearance, as the elaborate facades of the many churches that populate the village's streets patiently explain.
Why it is special
The strong connection with the surrounding nature and the altitude make Petralia Soprana very susceptible to the changing seasons. The surprising thing is that whatever season has enveloped the village, it will look like a very elegant custom-made party dress. Winter snow, and spring colors, summer yellow fields and autumn rains are just as many pretexts for streets and buildings to show themselves in a new light. If colors, atmospheres, scents and temperatures change, the charm of this small, majestic village remains unchanged.
Don't miss
The rock of the mountain and the stones of the buildings hardly allow us to imagine what they hide, especially when we talk about the village's churches. Many, in fact, welcome visitors beyond their solid stone exteriors, in a resplendent embrace of snow-white surfaces and gilded stucco, children of the Sicilian Baroque that has left its traces here as well.
A bit of history
Petralia Soprana seems to coincide with the ancient Sican city of Petra. It came under the rule of Rome after the events of the Punic Wars and became the main supplier of grain to the Eternal City. After the collapse of the Empire there were several peoples who extended their influence over the city: the Vandals, Byzantines, Islamists and Normans. It was the latter, in 1062, who created the layout of the fortified town that we can still sense today, with a castle, towers and ramparts.
Curiosities
Some structures that we admire today were not always so. Such is the case with the church of Santa Maria di Loreto. Its structure is so imposing that, when one reaches the village from the road that reaches all the way under its apse, it seems to have every intention of intimidating, if not discouraging, the traveler. Rather odd for a church, and in fact it is the legacy of the function of the first structure built on this rock outcrop: a defensive fortification. Nothing could be further removed, in short, from the majestic church it has become over time.
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