A small village in the hills of northern Sicily, Scillato is the kind of place travellers pass through without noticing. That is a mistake. From this quiet base the Madonie Mountains rise to the south, their slopes covered in oak and chestnut forests. The coastal resorts of Cefalù and Campofelice lie a short drive north. Ancient Greek temples at Himera and Roman villas at Solunto are within easy reach. Local trattorias serve pasta with wild fennel and sardines, and the bakery in the piazza produces sesame-covered bread still warm from the wood oven. Scillato does not try to impress. It simply welcomes.
About 40 km from the northern coast of Sicily is a small inland town Scillato. It is situated directly next to the highway, after which you can get to the capital Palermo in the north or to the town of Enna in the south. Scillato is a good starting point for interesting trips to nearby sunken villages, where local people still keep their traditional customs and lifestyle and over the past few decades have not changed much. These picturesque villages can be reached by winding roads, so be careful when driving. The population of Scillato itself is less than a thousand, giving it a peaceful, unhurried atmosphere that contrasts sharply with the bustling coastal resorts.
Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Carlo Columba
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Scillato’s Unique Accommodation and Setting
Visitors of Scillato can admire the typical Sicilian Baglio house from the 19th century. Its owner is an old aristocratic Sicilian family since its inception. It is surrounded by extensive parks full of rare trees and centuries-old trees. This house is nowadays used as a hostel for tourists and there is even a swimming pool with cloak-room. The house stands on the edge of a protected natural park, the Parco delle Madonie, and is situated near a large golf course. Do not look for the sea in Scillato (not all of the places in Sicily offer swimming in the sea), but if you have a car, you can go to the beach town of Cefalù, which is located approximately 40 km away. Cefalù preserved its picturesque and medieval atmosphere. Above the town rises the interesting reef La Rocca resembling a fortress, which was once overlooked by the temple of Diana. Cefalù’s dominant feature is the cathedral of 1131, which was originally a royal tomb and the main temple of the kingdom of Sicily. The coast is lined with beautiful sandy beaches.
Day Trips and Hiking in the Madonie Mountains
Scillato sits at the northern gateway to the Madonie Regional Natural Park, one of Sicily’s largest and most biodiverse protected areas. For hikers, this is a paradise of marked trails that wind through beech and holm oak forests, past limestone pinnacles, and up to summit meadows. A superb half-day hike starts at Piano Pomo and ascends to the summit of Pizzo Carbonara, at 1,979 metres the highest peak in the park. The trail is well marked and takes about three hours each way; the summit rewards you with views that stretch from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the smoking summit of Mount Etna on clear days. Another excellent day trip from Scillato is Cefalù, a coastal town just thirty minutes away by car. Cefalù’s Norman cathedral, its golden mosaics of Christ Pantocrator gleaming in the apse, is one of the finest examples of Arab-Norman architecture in Sicily. After visiting the cathedral, hike the Rocca di Cefalù, the massive limestone promontory that looms over the town. The 15-minute climb to the top passes the ruins of a Hellenistic temple and a medieval castle, and the panoramic view of the turquoise Tyrrhenian coast is breathtaking.
Best Local Restaurants and Food Experiences
Sicilian cuisine reaches its rustic heights in the Madonie region, and Scillato offers several authentic spots. Trattoria da Nino, a family-run establishment on the main road through town, serves homemade busiate al pesto trapanese, a spiral pasta with fresh basil, tomato, almonds, and pecorino. The owners grow their own cherry tomatoes and olives in the hills behind the restaurant. Pasta con le sarde, with fresh sardines, wild fennel, pine nuts, and saffron, is another staple. Reservations are recommended on weekends, and the menu is almost always handwritten in Italian. For a truly local experience, visit the weekly market in Scillato on Saturday mornings. Farmers from the surrounding hamlets bring ricotta fresca still warm from the morning milking, wheels of pecorino aged in cave cellars, wild mushrooms foraged from the Madonie forests, and the region’s famous black pigs cured into prosciutto and salami. The almond pastries known as paste di mandorla, chewy and intensely almond-flavoured, are sold by a baker who has been making them in the same wood-fired oven for forty years.
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