What is Petralia Sottana known for?

The only commune in Sicily to hold the Italian Touring Club's Orange Flag for inland tourism quality. Headquarters of the regional natural park inside the comune, covering most of its territory and the Pizzo Carbonara summit. Seventeenth-century mother church, the largest place of worship in the Madonie, in the Pusterna district overlooking Piazza Umberto.

Where is Petralia Sottana?

Petralia Sottana is a comune in the province of Palermo, Sicily region of Italy, about 94 kilometers from Palermo.

Sicily · Palermo

Petralia Sottana

A Madonie village at 1,000 meters, the only Bandiera Arancione in Sicily, and the headquarters of the Parco delle Madonie.

1000m

Elevation

94 km / 58 mi

Nearest hub (Palermo)

2,475

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Bandiera Arancione

Why come

Petralia Sottana sits at 1,000 meters in the heart of the Madonie, the second-highest range in Sicily after Etna. The town is the only commune in Sicily to hold a Bandiera Arancione from the Italian Touring Club, and the headquarters of the Parco delle Madonie are inside its territory. The two Petralie, Sottana and Soprana, share a Roman and Byzantine origin and were rebuilt under the Normans on opposite slopes of the same ridge; Sottana, the lower of the two, became the administrative centre of the surrounding mountain villages. The Chiesa Madre, also known as the Chiesa Maria Santissima Assunta, is the largest place of worship in the Madonie, seventeenth-century and rebuilt around an earlier core in the Pusterna district. The Chiesa di Santa Maria di Loreto, founded in 1484 and remade in the seventeenth century, has majolica spires that mark the south end of the centro. Piazza del Popolo holds the Neo-Gothic Palazzo Pottino, the marble Quattro Cannoli fountain of Billiemi stone, and the Oratorio delle Anime Purganti.

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Gallery

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Known for

Chiesa Madre (Maria Santissima Assunta)
Seventeenth-century mother church on Piazza Umberto, the largest place of worship in the Madonie, in the ancient Pusterna district.
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Loreto
Church founded in 1484 and rebuilt in the seventeenth century, with majolica spires and a marble altarpiece attributed to Giandomenico Gagini.
Piazza del Popolo
Central square with the Neo-Gothic Palazzo Pottino of the Marquises of Eschifaldo, the Oratorio delle Anime Purganti and the Quattro Cannoli fountain.
Parco delle Madonie
Regional natural park with headquarters in the village, covering most of the municipal territory and rising to Pizzo Carbonara at 1,979 meters.
Pizzo Carbonara
Highest peak in the Madonie at 1,979 meters, second in Sicily only to Etna, with the trailhead reached from the southern flank of the village.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

June through September are the Madonie hiking months. Pizzo Carbonara stays cool above 1,500 meters even in August, and the trails radiate from Petralia Sottana into the beech and holm-oak woods of the park. December through March is the second season: at 1,000 meters the town gets reliable snow, and the Piano Battaglia ski station above the village runs the only working lifts in western Sicily. April, May, October and November are quieter and damp. The Chiesa Madre and the Loreto church keep regular hours, and the autumn brings chestnut and porcini sagre across the Madonie villages.