What is Petralia Soprana known for?

RAI Borgo dei Borghi winner in 2018, the year the salt mine MACSS opened more broadly to visitors. Active salt mine below the village, 80 km of tunnels through one of Europe's largest salt deposits, worked since the fourteenth century. Highest commune in the Madonie range at 1,147 meters, surrounded by the Madonie Natural Park and its 30% of Sicilian biodiversity.

Where is Petralia Soprana?

Petralia Soprana is a comune in the province of Palermo, Sicily region of Italy, about 105 kilometers from Palermo.

Sicily · Palermo

Petralia Soprana

The highest village in the Madonie at 1,147 meters, RAI Borgo dei Borghi 2018 winner, sitting above 80 kilometers of salt tunnels.

1147m

Elevation

105 km / 65 mi

Nearest hub (Palermo)

2,968

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Petralia Soprana sits at 1,147 meters at the heart of the Madonie Natural Park, the highest commune in the range. The town and its lower twin Petralia Sottana grew from the Roman Petra, then took its current form under the Normans, who fortified the ridge. The Chiesa Madre, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, dates to the fifteenth century and faces Piazza Duomo with a clear view across the Madonie. Below the village, the Raffo salt mine runs 80 kilometers of tunnels through one of the largest salt deposits in Europe, mined since at least the fourteenth century; the active mine now hosts MACSS, a contemporary art museum carved into the salt, one of a kind worldwide. RAI named Petralia Soprana Borgo dei Borghi in 2018, the year of the salt mine's wider opening to the public. The stone streets, the mountain air at 1,147 meters, and the salt below the floor are the three things the village trades on.

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Gallery

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Known for

Chiesa Madre (Santi Pietro e Paolo)
Fifteenth-century mother church on Piazza Duomo, central monument of the village, with a baroque interior added after the 1693 earthquake.
Miniera di Sale di Raffo
Active salt mine below the village with 80 km of tunnels in one of Europe's largest salt deposits, worked since the fourteenth century.
MACSS — Museo Arte Contemporanea Sotto Sale
Contemporary art museum inside the active Raffo salt mine, sculptures cut directly into rock salt walls, the only museum of its kind worldwide.
Belvedere
Eastern terrace with views across the Madonie ridge to the Nebrodi, Etna visible on clear days; the postcard the Borgo dei Borghi jury photographed.
Centro storico medievale
Stone village laid out along the Norman ridge, narrow lanes paved in local sandstone, baroque palazzi from the seventeenth century along Via Loreto.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

June through September brings dry mountain weather, ridge trails open across the Madonie, and temperatures stay below twenty-five even when Palermo touches forty. The salt mine and MACSS run all year, lit and warm inside. December through March catches snow at 1,147 meters and the village fills briefly with day-trippers from Cefalù coming up to see white roofs. April, May, October and November are quiet, often wet, with low cloud sitting on the ridge and many guesthouses closed. The patron Saints Peter and Paul are celebrated on 29 June, the festa that opens the summer season.