Gangi, Geraci and Mount Contrada Savochella

On Day 4 we passed Gangi and stayed in the 18th century Villa Raino, an old estate in a picturesque valley close to the town.

Villa Raina on the outskirts of Gangi

Company on our walk 

Gangi itself has a very colourful history.  Founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC, Gangi was an important cultural and artistic centre up until the 16th century but by the 19th century with the reunification of Italy, its history took on a different flavour, being known for its banditry and links to the mafia.  When Mussolini was in power in the 1920s he tried to break up the power of the Sicilian Gangi bandits,  sending in a force of over 2000 Carabinieri to seize all the men and boys from the town.  As the town is built on the top of a very tall rocky outcrop and all the houses are perched together, the townspeople could see the authorities were on the way.  After a fierce invasion of every Gangi house, the Carabinieri found not one man or boy; they reportedly escaped through secret passages tunnelled through and between the Gangi town houses and escaped into the mountains.

Known as the ‘Siege of Gangi’ all the women and young children were held hostage until the men returned, after which hundreds were sentenced to long prison terms far away from Sicily.

Enjoying the walk in Sicily

From Villa Raino we walked over 12 kms to the next mountain village of Geraci.  This was a very steep walk to the height of over 1100 metres and it took us 5 hours.  We were thrilled to arrive at the water fountain of Geraci, producing some of the purest water in the world, coming straight from the surrounding sandstone mountains.  It is another spectacular village, with an abandoned castle and the houses spilling over the surrounding ridges.

The abandoned castle at Geraci

The end of our walk Day 5 Geraci water fountain – the purest water in Italy

A novel thing about our stay in Geraci is that we were overnighting in the town’s convent in the small main square.  It was initially a puzzle locating the large metal doorway, which was the entrance to the convent attached to the stunning old 11th century church.  We were welcomed by Sister Melagna, a tiny nun who showed us to our room deep in the convent walls.  The town appears very religious with icons and crucifixes all around the cobbled streets.  The alleys were only large enough for walking, there were no motor bikes or scooters and walking passed you can hear families living their lives behind their thick wooden doors.  There was certainly no English spoken (our sign language has become quite deft); no internet anywhere; and no phone coverage.  It was like stepping back in time.

View of Geraci from the mountain before the rain and fog

The streets of Geraci

An outdoor icon in Garaci town

That evening we had a delicious dinner at the only local locanda (bar/cafe).  The food was excellent, starting with a plate of mixed finely sliced meats, deliciously ripe tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella and a selection of hard local cheeses.  The soup was the best I have had: a shell pasta with a herbal broth with chick peas and then (another course!) of thinly sliced piece of veal with peppercorns and cream.  Certainly we were fuelled well for the walking to come.

The Convento della Sacre Famiglia, our inn for the night

It was a peaceful night in the convent – of course I was on my best behaviour – and after breakfast in the nuns’ kitchen area (a bit creepy?) we headed for the last walk of our Sicilian holiday, up the mountain Contrada Savochella.

In the convent kitchen

We have been very lucky with our walking weather to date.  There has not been any rain at all.  When we headed up to the mountain – it was another very steep incline up to 1470 metres above sea level – we expected to be in the clouds as we had seen the mountains shrouded in clouds in all of our walking.  But sadly, the cloud really closed in and the views down the mountains across to Gangi, Sperlinga and Mount Etna were denied us.  In fact the visibility was only about 20 metres and at times only 10 metres as we were shrouded in eerie mist.  And then the rain arrived.

After three hours of passing through the pine forest, muddy and rocky tracks, fields, glades of holly and many, many cows, sheep and goats, which we only knew were there when they moved on account of their bells, we made it down the mountain to the road onto Petralia Soprana.

Now, sometimes, good things come to good people, and this is what happens to people like Bill and me.  Just as we celebrated our epic descent from the hazardous mountain trail – and it was really difficult given the visibility, a small car drove towards us, the first we had seen.  The rain was coming down and I was feeling a bit bedraggled.  I whispered to Bill, “wouldn’t it be nice if this car was here to pick us up?” and what happened, of course, was that the woman in the car approached me and said “You Susan?”  Hurray! We were rescued from the rain and taken the remaining distance to Petralia Soprana.   It was only a ten minute ride but it saved us a half hour walk in the driving rain.

Walking through the forest, Geraci

Walking Day 6!