What is Sperlinga known for?

About fifty cave dwellings cut directly into a single sandstone monolith, the most extensive troglodyte settlement in inland Sicily. Castle hewn from the same rock as the village, partly cave and partly built, the strategic point of the Nebrodi-Madonie crossing. Alone in Sicily, Sperlinga refused to join the 1282 uprising against the Angevin French and gave shelter to their garrison.

Sperlinga is a comune in the province of Enna, Sicily region of Italy, about 111 kilometers from Catania.

Sicily · Enna

Sperlinga

A sandstone borgo at 750 meters in the Nebrodi foothills where a Norman castle and dwellings are carved into the rock as one continuous mass.

750m

Elevation

111 km / 69 mi

Nearest hub (Catania)

674

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi più belli d'Italia

Why come

Sperlinga sits at 750 meters on the southern slopes of the Nebrodi, in the inland Enna province with about 670 residents. The name comes from the Latin spelunca, meaning cave. The village is carved directly into a sandstone monolith, with around fifty rupestrian dwellings connected by streets and steps also cut from the rock. The Norman castle, built between the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries on the highest point of the same monolith, includes stables, prisons and forges all hewn into the stone. Sperlinga is famous for one historical refusal. During the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, when the whole island rose against the Angevin French, Sperlinga alone gave shelter to a French garrison and held out against the rebels. An inscription over a castle doorway once read quod Siculis placuit sola Sperlinga negavit, what pleased the Sicilians, only Sperlinga denied. The village is listed among the Borghi più belli d'Italia.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello di Sperlinga
Norman-era castle carved into the sandstone monolith above the village, with stables, forges and prisons cut directly into the rock.
Grotte rupestri
Around fifty cave dwellings hewn from the sandstone mass, inhabited until the last century and connected by rock-cut streets and steps.
Borgo rupestre
Rock village around and beneath the castle, the largest surviving troglodyte settlement in inland Sicily.
Chiesa Madre di Sant'Anna
Eighteenth-century parish church at the foot of the castle rock, the religious center of the village and the venue for the Sant'Anna feast in July.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through November are the months for Sperlinga. The Nebrodi foothills are green in spring and gold in autumn, and the 750-meter altitude keeps the rock and the castle cool when the inland plains bake. July and August push past thirty-five degrees in the valleys, though the village stays bearable inside the stone houses. December through March is harsh: cold wind, occasional snow on the Nebrodi ridges, and many of the dwellings closed. The Festa di Sant'Anna in late July fills the lanes between the rock and the church. The castle terrace at dusk, looking over the Salso valley toward Etna, is the photograph everyone takes.