I places of Inspector Montalbano they are the most sought after destinations by fans and by the many tourists who venture into the discovery of a magical and evocative land. There Sicily of Andrea Camilleri it thrives on intense pages of poetry and childhood memories. The writer talks about his Sicily in an infinite range of stories and anecdotes. The places of the Inspector Montalbano are those of the splendid southern Sicily. Places of rugged and wild nature and beaches of fine sand that marry ranges of rocky areas. The witty reader knows that the names of places are the fruit of the imagination, but he also knows very well that these places really exist and can be identified. A tour to discover the places of Montalbano.
The places of Inspector Montalbano: Vigata
«Vigàta is actually Porto Empedocle. Now, Porto Empedocle is a place of eighteen thousand inhabitants that cannot sustain an excessive number of crimes, even if Chicago were at the time of prohibition: it is not that they are holy, but they are not at these levels either. So, we might as well put a fantasy name: Licata is nearby, and so I thought: Vigàta. But Vigàta is nowhere near Licata. It is an ideal place, I would like to clarify this once and for all. " Thus Camilleri speaks of the Vigata dei libri, a city that finds its real location with the municipality of Porto Empedocle in the province of Agrigento. In the TV series, however, Vigata corresponds to several locations, most of them in the province of Ragusa such as the Vigata Commissioner (Municipality of Scicli). The splendid square with the staircase leading to the church in the heart of Vigata actually corresponds to Ibla, the oldest district of Ragusa.
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Town Hall Square, Scicli
main course
Ragusa Ibla, Ible Gardens
driveway
Porto Empedocle
view of the port
Montalbano's first investigation
“Montalbano finished the cassata ice cream, paid at the cash desk, left, took the car he had left nearby and set off towards the Scala dei Turchi. Following the instructions of the cammareri, at a certain point he turned left, made a few meters of aspalata downhill and stopped. The road did not continue, it was necessary to walk on the rina. He took off his shoes and the quasette which he left in the car, closed it, rolled up the hem of his trousers and walked to the bank of the sea. The water was cool, but not cold. After passing a promontory, the Scala dei Turchi suddenly appeared to him. "
Salvo Montalbano's house: Marinella
The magnificent house of Monltabano in Marinella is located on the long beach of the fishing village of Punta Secca, a fraction of Santa Croce Camerina, near Marina di Ragusa. The house is a b & b where you can stay and be enchanted by breathtaking views. The Saracen tower, "motionless memory of perilous times" and horizons illuminated by golden sunsets and shining sunrises.
The road from Montelusa to Vigata
«To get from Montelusa to Vigata there was macari an abandoned strauzza that the inspector liked very much. He grabbed it […], stopped the car, skidded, crashed towards a scrub in the center of which stood a gigantic Saracen olive tree, the crooked and twisted ones that crawl on the earth like snakes before rising to the sky. He sat down on a branch, drank a cigarette, began to think about the events of the morning. " The voice of the violin, Andrea Camilleri. Here we are in Agrigento and precisely at the Temple of Concordia.
La Mannara in the episode The shape of the water and The Sand track
La Mànnara is the famous Fornace Penna, an ancient ruin located on the cliff of the Pisciotto district in Sampieri, a hamlet of Scicli in the Ragusa area. A wild place, which in the fiction was represented as a tonnara, but which in reality once employed young workers to make tiles and bricks.
The places of Inspector Montalbano: Montelusa
"Agrigento would be the Montelusa of my novels, but Montelusa is not an invention of mine but of Pirandello, who used this name many times in his short stories: today's Agrigento called it Girgenti and also Montelusa, and I stole his name, he can't protest anyway. »Andrea Camilleri - Street of writers.
The island of Levanza
Many will remember the weekend between Salvo and Livia on the island of Levanza in the episode The sense of touch. In reality we are in Favignana, the main island of the Egadi archipelago in the province of Trapani and at the Spiaggia dei Conigli in Lampedusa, belonging to the Pelagie islands, in the province of Agrigento. Curiosity: before arriving on the beach of Isola dei Conigli, one encounters what was once the villa of Domenico Modugno in Lampedusa. Modugno spent the last moments of his life here.
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Favignana
the sea of Favignana
Favignana
view of the sea of Favignana
Rabbit Island
Rabbit Island in Lampedusa. Photo by Lucio Sassi
La Don Balduccio Sinagra's house in The trip to Tindari
Tindari actually exists and is located in the province of Messina. The Sanctuary of the Madonna is the background to the sequences of the book and the TV series. The house of the boss Sinagra, on the other hand, is none other than the sumptuous Castello di Donnafugata. It is located 15 km from Ragusa and covers an area of about 2500 square meters. A legend tells that the name derives from the flight of Queen Bianca of Navarre, widow of King Martin I of Aragon and regent of the kingdom of Sicily. The queen was imprisoned in the castle by Count Bernardo Cabrera who aspired to her hand and the title of King. In reality, the construction is subsequent to the legend and other stories intertwine on the origin of the name.
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Donnafugata Castle
entrance to the castle
Donnafugata Castle
Castle labyrinth
Donnafugata Castle
side view
Some sources testify that the name derives from Arabic Ayn al-Sihhat (Source of Health). So in Sicilian it would be Ronnafuata and subsequently Donnafugata. Others tell of the discovery of a woman who died of suffocation and in Sicilian the equivalent of a suffocated woman would be "drowned" by this Donnafugata. The castle can be visited according to the times established by the municipality of Ragusa. Curiosity: beyond Montalbano, the Donnafugata Castle has been home to several film sets. To name a few: The Viceroys e Tale of Tales - Tale of Tales.
Other places of Inspector Montalbano in a nutshell
In “Tocco d'Artista” you can admire the splendid staircase of San Giorgio in Modica. In the episode "The paper moon" when Salvo Montalbano goes to a jewelry store to investigate, we are in Ispica. In “Il cane di terra”, the exterior day of the Casa del Dean Burgio is filmed in Vittoria. The locality of Donnalucata, on the other hand, is the scene of the first meeting with Ingrid Sjostrom, and in “La casa del violino” with Anna Tropeano. Comiso is the film set for "Montalbano arancini ”, here the inspector investigates the past of Calogero Picone at the Istituto Sacro Cuore di Maria.
