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Route length 2 days

The dreams of the carusi

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The experience

We are in the oldest heart of Sicily: here the luxuriant Mediterranean scrub becomes more parched because the earth is often thirsty. It is an ancestral part, still little traveled by tourism, which has had to deal with at least three waves of migration that have impoverished the entire territory from which men and women in search of a better life left until the post-war period. A territory that, however, has remained very virgin, with villages where you can feel a slow, soft rhythm; among stones, alleys, churches, historic buildings, and characters narrated by some of the most authoritative writers of Sicily. It is also a land of mines, entire generations have worked underground, the quarrymen started with carusi, with children not even ten years old.

 

Shortly

Historic village

Tour

Racalmuto, Agrigento.

Leaving Palermo airport, in about 3 hours you will reach Agrigento and from here, Racalmuto. Lunch is
planned in a family-run trattoria. Here you will feel like you are being received by a group of friends,
And in the kitchen at home, you will taste simple dishes, rich in flavors, smells and colors.
The route will wind through churches and shops (it will be a continuous stop to taste cured meats, cheeses, extra virgin olive oil and desserts such as the famous nougat). And in fact, the insider guide has chosen the Capitano pastry shop as a meeting point, a historic ‘confectionery jewelry’ in the central square of the town, where you can taste the taralli for which people grind kilometers. The itinerary will start from the narrow streets of the center, between baroque balconies and flowery alleys, up to the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima del Monte, the religious heart of Racalmuto.
The next stop is Leonardo Sciascia’s house-museum, crystallized at the time when the writer lived there. Following in the footsteps of Sciascia to the main street of Racalmuto, here is the bronze statue dedicated to him, ready for a selfie. And since we talked about nougat, how can we not close with a real sensory and fragrant experience? Following the nose, you arrive at an artisan shop, to follow the preparation of the dessert live – and you will understand the importance of raw materials, starting with km0 almonds – of which there will be the coveted tasting.
Typical dinner. Overnight stay

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In the morning, immediately after breakfast, transfer to Montedoro, nestled on the hill, completely away from the tourist trails. This is truly a land of mines: sulphur deposits were exploited between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
In the twentieth century, it was the centre of a thriving economy that supported the territory and beyond. The life of the miner was very hard, it began as a child (the famous carusi narrated by Verga and Pirandello) when the body
Young and not yet formed, it allowed them to sneak into the ducts. The miner lived practically underground, many people lost their lives there, due to collapses, explosions or respiratory diseases. He tells it with
the Sulphur Mine Museum named after the writer Angelo Petix, created with the intention of enhancing the
and to protect the country’s heritage, through stories, photographers and, nineteenth-century documents, reconstructions, minerals and tools related to mining (to all intents and purposes, industrial archaeology). We will then move on to the Urban Park, a series of ancient houses that tell the story of life at the beginning of the twentieth century through materials, crockery, furniture, and reconstructed environments.
Typical lunch.
After lunch, visit to the modern Astronomical Observatory, a real surprise for those who think they know
Montedoro is in fact nicknamed “town of the stars” and can count on an astronomical observatory with an imposing 600 mm diameter main telescope located in the center of Sicily. The centre is a venue for interesting conferences and meetings and is aimed in particular at interested young people
astronomy.

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