Montalbano and the Malabotta Forest

Montalbano is mainly known for the castle built in 1233 by the Emperor Frederic II and the medieval architecture of its streets. It is very small - only about 2600 people live here. It has shot to "fame" because of the Italian television series based on the detective novels of Andrea Camilleri about Commissario (Inspector) Salvo Montalbano.

According to some scholars, the place name "Montalbano" comes from the Latin mons albus ("white mount"), referring to the mountains whitened by the snow; according to others from the Arabic al-bana, meaning "excellent place". 

In the morning we visit the castello. On the walk up, we pass little houses constructed in sandstone, some abandoned; some restored.

The castle is a mix of Byzantine and Arab structures, and restoration work in the 1980s has made some improvements but also some unfortunate mistakes. 

From the Portello lookout, one can see the peaks of the Nebrodi, Cape Milazzo and the Lipari Islands. The castle was constructed to control the valley below.

Afterwards, we travel about half an hour along a road that passes along the perimeter of a very pleasant wooded area of elms and oaks to arrive at Megaliti dell'Argimusco which is the site of natural megalithic shapes - sometimes referred to as the "Sicilian Stonegenge". 

This group of large rocks of quartz sandstone of curious shapes stands on a plateau over a thousand meters high and are visible from a long distance away. The popular tradition is that these megaliths are the work of prehistoric peoples; but geomorphologists and archaeologists incline to their origin being totally natural, due in fact to wind erosion (and also because in their vicinity were not found significant remains of human presence such as pottery, tools, bones, etc.).

We are just north of Mt Etna here and in fact we can see it in the distance from this site - there seems to be some vapour rising out of the crater at the top but the mountain is surrounded by a lot of haze so it is not clear.

From here there is a short drive to the Malabotta Forest where, after a short walk, Stefano and our driver Christian provide a picnic lunch with wine amongst the trees. We have a very pleasant time chatting and eating before embarking on a long walk along one of the forest trails, finishing about 5 p.m.

The Bosco di Malabotta is one of the oldest forests of Sicily. It is a natural wood and the paths lead to the "patriarchs" (i patriarchi), the oldest oaks of the forest, some between 200 and 300 years old. Apart fron the oaks, there are pines, hazelnut, chestnut, poplar, maple trees, beech, hawthorn, wild rose and thorny broom. The bosco provides shelter to foxes, wild boars, weasels and martens; we also saw sheep - some black and some white with their wool dyed blue!