The experience
A journey into the heart of Sicily that allows travelers from the roots to relive places of memory of emigration, of cinematographic history, of art and crafts, of popular and food and wine tradition.
Biscaquino and Palazzo Adriano – An unmissable walk through the alleys of the ancient villages, among the places that inspired the famous film by director Giuseppe Tornatore, winner of the Oscar for his “Nuovo cinema Paradiso”, a poignant tale of Sicily of the past and an act of love for one’s land. A proposal that involves young promoters and local communities that will allow you to get to know your roots by walking among the props of the film and the memorabilia of the filming period, from the bicycle on which Alfredo took little Totò around to the seats of the Cinema Paradiso: treasures kept in the new Museum set up in the former Town Hall, opened in 2022. A must-see itinerary for tourists and film enthusiasts.
Going to Burgio means getting lost in the sound of the bells of the last foundry, the intense scent of tin-plated ceramics, the chiaroscuro of the stone portals. The ancient Scirtea sicana was known from ancient times, as the ruins of the inaccessible castle of Acristia recount, but Burgio began to be spoken of under the Arab emir Hamud. In the fourteenth century it ended up in the hands of the Peralta, then the Gioeni, then the Colonna.
Chiusa Sclafani is a village that is a baroque lace between convents, sets and ateliers.
A lace of stucco, churches that seem like completely unexpected precious treasure chests. But it is also a village that preserves a precious and moving treasure of the memory of emigration: the female orphanage, inside the monastery of the Badia, where daughters were welcomed that women could not take with them before emigrating abroad and which exceptionally opens its doors for travelers of the roots. Dresses in organza, cotton and wool, hand-sewn dolls, a merry-go-round, a rocking horse, lots of colorful puppets. The girls, deprived of the affections of their loved ones, were entrusted to the care of the nuns, who made them study and engage in recreational activities, waiting for the return of their families in the summer when they returned for vacation. Visiting Chiusa Sclafani today means discovering an authentic village, a jewel also chosen by artists, such as the painter and engraver Giovanni Schifani from Palermo. Not to be missed are the monastery of the Olivetan Fathers, also one of the sets of “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”, and the workshop of Giuliano Colletti, rediscovering an ancient craft. Thanks to this family passion, many ancient organs, in most cases of great value, can now be restored and return to make their “voice” heard.
Without forgetting the taste: a company of excellence in the village will open its doors to share with visitors a passion: the transformation of milk into cheese and ricotta. Awarded at the Italian Cheese Awards 2022 in Bologna, the members of this family transform the milk of their sheep farm every morning. Salvatore and Rosario, who are in charge of raising and milking the flock, provide fresh milk every day, which is processed by Marisa, Giusy and Giuseppe. A final tasting of the freshly produced delicacies will prove to be a surprising discovery.
Shortly
Tour
BISACQUIN
Bisacquino, the native land of the great film director, naturalized U.S. citizen, Frank Capra. The director of “A Wonderful Life. Here, together with the youth of the village, it will be possible to learn about the extraordinary history and the most striking corners of the village with a very special guided tour.
Our journey will start right from Frank Capra Street, where it all began before the director embarked on his journey to the United States. Along the way, you will see posters dedicated to his most famous films and even read his birth certificate. Frank Capra’s story is linked to the emigration of the many Sicilians who crossed the Ocean, seeking America.
The walk peaks at the belvedere, with a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Along the way, the most striking views of Bisacquino can be admired in an evocative series of photographs. The final stop is the Civic Museum, where unique documents and films chronicling Capra’s career can be viewed. The museum is considered one of the five most important ethno-anthropological museums in Sicily. Its establishment, dating back to the end of the last century, was made possible thanks to numerous donors from the village animated by a desire to pass on the traditions of Bisacquino. This is a fascinating display of ancient objects that allow us to retrace the ancestors’ way of life and the organization of their daily lives. Consisting of sixteen different areas, from archaeology to collections of weapons and musical instruments, from photography to agricultural implements, it allows people to take a journey back to their origins.
Address: Frank Capra Street, Bisacquino (Palermo)
Address : Municipal Museum, Olmi Street, Bisacquino (Palermo).
The tour will continue with a guided tour of the Mother Church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, considered one of the most beautiful in the diocese, a true treasure chest of art treasures, and Triona Square, which originated in Arab times.
The square, initially created without any precise architectural design, later acquired a well-defined physiognomy and division of space between the people, clergy and nobility. In the center of the square, a beautiful fountain has replaced the old drinking trough, but has retained the ancient masks representing the noble families of Bisacquino.
Address: Triona Square, Bisacquino (Palermo)
This will be followed by a typical lunch in a bisacquinese farmhouse to rediscover the flavors of the past: protagonists are the “onion busacchinara” and extra virgin olive oil.
ADRIAN PALACE
Transfer to the nearby town of Palazzo Adriano, the main set of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, the Oscar-winning film by Giuseppe Tornatore.
This will be the site of a unique poignant storytelling that branches out in a radial pattern from the spectacular main square where the set of the projection booth where, in the film, Alfredo-Philippe Noiret works and where little Totò hides to steal the secrets of the trade was set up (and then dismantled at the end of filming). Instead, the interior of the cinema was rebuilt in the Church of Mary Most Holy of Carmel. A walk through the characteristic alleys of the Sicani village will be like feeling at home, among friendly faces and the scents of tradition.
Following this, the tour will include a cooking class, where we will go to. “hands on dough” in collaboration with a historic bakery in the village, a way to retrace with your hands the gestures of your ancestors. And it will not be “normal” bread that you will learn to make, but the votive bread of St. Joseph, an important feast in many Sicilian municipalities. Bread, that is, that is prepared on March 19 for altars set up in private homes, with the most varied shapes. A feast that celebrates, along with the saint, nature, wheat, and the coming spring.
What better opportunity to learn how to prepare it, and to learn about the shapes, decorations, and meaning. Among the fragrances of the bakery will be a beautiful journey into tradition. At the end of the experience, you can taste bread accompanied by typical products of the village.
Typical dinner. Overnight stay.
Address: 34 Cittadella Street, Palazzo Adriano (Palermo)
BURGIO
A guided walk will allow visitors to visit the capital of Sicilian ceramics, starting from the famous museum set up in the former convent of the Reformed Fathers to the last workshops where the secrets of this centuries-old craft will be told, crossing medieval streets that lead to the Castle of the Peralta nobles, perched on a rise above the town.
Surprising treasures will be recounted by young insiders in the village, including the Mother Church with its eleven altars, the 16th-century San Vito with its marble statue of the saint sculpted by Antonello Gagini, and the Baroque church of San Giuseppe, considered a small Sistine Chapel of Sicily. It closes with Paolo Pendola’s small nativity scene museum where it will be possible to make a ceramic artifact.
Light lunch of Burgio specialties.
Address: Burgio (Palermo)
LOCK SCLAFANI
In the afternoon, continuation of the tour with a transfer to Chiusa Sclafani, where you can visit the ancient monumental complex of La Badia, where the orphanage where women used to leave their little girls before emigrating abroad will exceptionally open its doors: a moving journey through memory, among cribs, letters, little dresses. And then the immense Monastery of the Olivetan Fathers, where Giuseppe Tornatore shot some scenes of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso.
Once the visit is over, it will be time to discover a living treasure: Giuliano Colletti, one of the few craftsmen in Sicily who is involved in the restoration of pipe organs, so much so that he is registered in the national register of “professional restorers of cultural heritage.” The craft of organ-building is multifaceted, as one must be a skilled carpenter, welder, and tuner to practice it.
Visitors will be able to appreciate the different stages of restoration, see up close what a pipe organ looks like and how it works. In short, discover their innermost secrets and also learn about the main stages of the construction of new organs.
An interesting journey with an old-fashioned flavor into a craft of yesteryear.
At the conclusion of the tour, a visit to a local family business that, following ancient traditions, produces a sheep’s ricotta cheese considered among the finest in Italy.
The visit to the dairy will allow the visitor to learn in detail about the stages of production in order to taste at the end of the tour the products that were born before his eyes.
Typical dinner, Overnight stay.
Address: Largo Collegio, 50, Chiusa Sclafani (Palermo)
Address: C.da Scalonelli, SNC, Chiusa Sclafani (Palermo)
Address: Via fra’ Innocenzo da Chiusa, Chiusa Sclafani (Palermo)
Let us guide you on your journey to the Roots
Don't miss the opportunity to explore the places that have shaped your origins, request a tailor-made itinerary without obligation
