At the hermitage in the woods where Saint Rosalie prayed.

The experience

Santa Rosalia is the beautiful soul of Santo Stefano di Quisquina, an enchanting town of the Sicani: the community is very attached to its Santuzza even if it has to “share” her with the capital Palermo, which has made her its patron saint. In the Rosalian Jubilee Year, which celebrates the fourth centenary of the discovery of the remains of the maiden who allegedly saved Palermo from the plague, and the start of a cult that is celebrated by Sicilians around the world, here, then, is an evocative journey through art, history and nature proposed to travelers in search of their roots.

An itinerary that will allow visitors to discover with expert local guides the cave that hosted the Saint between 1150 and 1162, the sanctuary and the conventual environments inhabited for so many years by the congregation of hermits. And an important stop for visitors and devotees, will also be the Matrix, which houses, in the chapel dedicated the saint, in a silver bust, fragments of relics donated in 1625 by Cardinal Giannettino Doria to the Quisquinese community.

È in these places that St. Rosalie began her parable of life, refusing marriage and approaching nature as befitted a maiden who wanted to escape the world. To reach the centuries-old Quisquina Forest is to absorb a sacredness inherent in the place, which exudes from every plant in this pristine Eden.

The route can only end at the famous “quercia granni” (big oak), a nearly 700-year-old oak tree that stands solitary and incorruptible: this is the place where, according to legend, Santa Rosalia, a hermit in a nearby cave, went to pray daily.

The Matrix is a beautiful place, not to be missed: it dates back to the 14th century, was dedicated to the worship of St. Nicholas at the time, and was built at the behest of the powerful Frederick Chiaramonte. It is an imposing three-aisled church, and also houses the golden urn of Jesus Christ that is carried in procession on Good Friday with the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, accompanied by “u’lamentu,” a folk song of very ancient origins, handed down from generation to generation. Usually the elders take turns intoning the stanzas-whose words are actually almost incomprehensible-for unfaithful gathered, while the rest of the group creates an echo of shouts and wails at the end of each stanza.

Many of the frescoes are due to the brother painters Manno, Antonio and Vincenzo, who also worked at the Quisquina hermitage. It was Prince Joseph Emanuele Ventimiglia who wanted their art for the Matrix.