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00 Montalbano Elicona
Stemma di Montalbano Elicona

Sicily · Messina

Montalbano Elicona

A Nebrodi castle town at 907 meters, Frederick III of Aragon's summer residence and gateway to the Argimusco megalithic plateau.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
1 h 43 min from Catania
Population
2,038

Known for

  • BORGO DEI BORGHI 2015

    Won the RAI Borgo dei Borghi competition in 2015, which brought the castle and the Argimusco plateau into wider circulation.

  • ARGIMUSCO

    Plateau of large eroded sandstone formations twelve kilometers from the village, called the Sicilian Stonehenge in the local press.

  • FREDERICK'S CASTLE

    Frederick III of Aragon's summer residence between 1302 and 1308, where the king brought physician Arnaldo da Villanova to treat his gout.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J10°
  • F11°
  • M12°
  • A15°
  • M20°
  • J25°
  • J28°
  • A28°
  • S24°
  • O20°
  • N15°
  • D11°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Montalbano Elicona stands at 907 meters in the Nebrodi mountains, north of Etna and inland from the Tyrrhenian coast above Patti. The Castello di Montalbano was raised in 1233 under Frederick II of Swabia, then rebuilt and adopted as a summer royal residence by Frederick III of Aragon between 1302 and 1308, who brought his physician Arnaldo da Villanova with him to treat his gout. The castle still combines a Norman rectangular nucleus with crenellated towers and an Aragonese addition with arrow slits and large windows.

The town won the RAI Borgo dei Borghi competition in 2015. A short drive from the village, the Argimusco plateau holds a set of large eroded sandstone formations that some scholars read as a fourteenth-to-eighteenth-century hermetic site and others as wind-and-water sculpture. The surrounding hills are Città della Nocciola territory; hazelnut groves run from 700 to 1,000 meters.

The Sunday letter

Montalbano Elicona is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Montalbano Elicona comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Montalbano Elicona in our articles

How to get there

From Catania (CTA), about 1h 51m by car.

By car from the centre of Palermo 2h 35m.

Coming by train into Messina Centrale? Montalbano Elicona is about 1h 11m away by road.

Every town within reach of Catania airport.

Montalbano Elicona, photo 1
Montalbano Elicona, photo 2

What to see

  • Castello di Montalbano

    Frederick II castle of 1233 rebuilt as the summer residence of Frederick III of Aragon between 1302 and 1308, two towers and a Norman-Aragonese hybrid plan.

  • Megaliti dell'Argimusco

    Eroded sandstone plateau twelve kilometers from the village, large free-standing formations read variously as natural sculpture and a medieval hermetic site.

  • Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria Assunta

    Norman-era mother church near the castle, fourteenth-century reworking and a Renaissance baptismal font, restored after twentieth-century seismic damage.

  • Borgo medievale e Quartiere dei Saraceni

    Concentric medieval ring of stone houses below the castle, including the Quartiere dei Saraceni, narrow lanes that wrap around the rock outcrop.

  • Bosco di Malabotta

    Beech and oak reserve adjoining the Argimusco plateau, part of the Nebrodi park and a route for the summer hazelnut and chestnut harvests.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Montalbano Elicona fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 2,038
  • Remotei
  • Pharmacy in town
  • Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
  • Nearest airport Catania, 1 h 51 min drive
  • Regional capital Palermo, 2 h 35 min drive

Common questions

What is Montalbano Elicona known for?
Montalbano Elicona is a Nebrodi castle town at 907 meters, Frederick III of Aragon's summer residence and gateway to the Argimusco megalithic plateau.
Where is Montalbano Elicona?
Montalbano Elicona is a comune in the province of Messina, in Sicily.
What is the nearest airport to Montalbano Elicona?
Catania (CTA), about 1h 51m by car.
How long is the drive from Palermo to Montalbano Elicona?
About 2h 35m by car.
When is the best time to visit Montalbano Elicona?
Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Montalbano Elicona?
Yes. Feste Aragonesi di Montalbano Elicona and Sagra della Ricotta a Montalbano Elicona - Braidi. August is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Montalbano Elicona?
Polizzi Generosa, Buccheri and Acerenza.
How many people live in Montalbano Elicona?
2,038 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 907 m
  • Population: 2,038
  • Surface area: 67.8 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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