isabel

Has anyone been to either of these mountain towns in central Sicily - Geraci Siculo or Polizzi Generosa? I read about them in the book, the Stone Boudoir and they sound very interesting. They get very little mention in my Sicily Guidebook, and I can't find much on the internet about them. I'm wondering if they would be worth the trouble to visit.

Eloise

The Touring Club of Italy Sicily guidebook does not mention Geraci Siculo at all and has little to say about Polizzi Generosa: "Its twisting lanes, its lack of space, and the tiny squares all contrast with the immense scope of the view of the valley that separates it from the massif of the Madonie." It has a 16th-century Flemish-school triptych in the Chiesa Madre, a museum devoted to the Madonie mountains (with reproductions of some of the natural settings). Its elevation is 920 metres and its population 4318. But if you're near by on the first Sunday of September, by all means go to the "famous Festa dello Sfoglio, a typical cake with cheese and cinnamon."

And do, above all, remember to wear your money belt...

isabel

Thanks Eloise. The description in the "Stone Boudoir" makes the two towns seem very nice, and I think it would be interesting to get away from the very touristy destinations (which of course make up most of our itinerary). But you do have to wonder if all the guide books either completely ignore or barely mention a place, if it worth the effort to drive a few hours out of the way to see it.

cmt

I've neer been to them, but I think I read about them in a cookbook someone gave ne, or maybe it was in a cooking magazine article. It was by a funny looking actor whose long name I can't remember who has written several cookbooks, especially foucsing on the recipoes of his grandfather, who was from one of those towns.

If you'd like to go to some small hilltowns in the Nebrodi Mts. instead of in the Madonie Mts. I might be able to help a litte (LITTLE) with that. The Nebrodi Mts. are very beautiful--somewhat more scenic and much greener than the Madonie Mts.--and there are several unspoiled hilltowns of interest. They all have a predominantly Norman look, but when you scratch beneath the surface you can see evidence of Byzantine culture in the interiro architecture of some churches that look pure Norman on the outside, and there are also some ruins from the time of Arab domination. There's also an odd little museum of religious hisory In San Salvatore di Fitalian that has articfacts of local religious folk customs, like wax sculptures of sick body parts that people were praying to have healed, and an interesting museum of folk culture in Tortorici. (The Nebrodi towns are in the eastern half of the island, which was more Greek dominated, but I did not see any remaining visble evidence of the ancient Greeks.) There's a thread here somewhere where a few of us were chatting about our visits to this area. Maybe if the search function is working, we can find it by entering Tortorici, which I know we discussed.

cmt

What a terrible search function. I searched for terms that I know appeard in that thread, but it didn't turn up. I know we specificially talked about Tortorici, because the other person posting had roots there and had been there a lot and was amazed that I'd heard of it. My roots are from a smaller town right near Tortorici--San Salvatore di Fitalia--which was also in that thread, but I've mentioned that town in many Fodors threads. We went off on some huge tangent about this area. The thread may have started out being about small Italian towns or about Sicily, but I just don't remember. I know I also commented on several other specific Nebrodi hilltowns in that thread. This must be one of the many mnay threads that is lost and not indexed so is not searchable.

cmt

What a terrible search function. I searched for terms that I know appeared in that thread, but it didn't turn up. I'm positive that we specifically talked about Tortorici, because the other person posting had roots there and had been there a lot and was amazed that I'd heard of it. My roots are from a smaller town right near Tortorici--San Salvatore di Fitalia--which was also in that thread, but I've mentioned that town in many Fodors threads. We went off on some huge tangent about this area. The thread may have started out being about small Italian towns or about Sicily, but I just don't remember. I know I also commented on several other specific Nebrodi hilltowns in that thread. This must be one of the many mnay threads that is lost and not indexed so is not searchable.

P.S. Other search terms I tired: hazelnet (because I probably mentioned it's an area of hazelnut groves) and Vedetta (because I stayed at an agriturismo, La Vedetta dei Nebrodi). I can't remember the names of the other small towns I mentioned and that's why I want to find the thread. It's possible I mentioned the towns of Galati Mamertino, Frazzanò, Longi, and San Marco. Galati Mamertino has a great view from way up high. Frazzanò had an interesting partly restored structure that still had architectural and decorative elements from Arab, Byzantine and Norman periods all combined. The there are the famous horses of San Fratello....

cmt

I found the thread, no thanks to the search function (found it by clicking on the name Oisa, who had posted a thread asking about Nebrodi and Madonie hilltowns). It's not as detailed as I thought, and I hadn't mentioned all these towns that I listed above in the previous post. Here's the thread: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34483311