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.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Petralia Soprana is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Borgo dei Borghi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 28 min from Palermo
- Population
- 2,866
- J7°
- F9°
- M10°
- A13°
- M18°
- J25°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O18°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
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.
How to get there
From Catania (CTA), about 1 h 52 min by car.
By car from the center of Palermo 1 h 28 min.
Coming by train into Palermo Centrale? Petralia Soprana is about 1 h 26 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Catania airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
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.
Living here
Could you live here?
Petralia Soprana is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,866. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Gangi, is 18 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Caltanissetta, a city of 58,182, is 55 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 2,866, down 15.2% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Caltanissetta, 55 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Petralia Sottana, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €480 to €650 per m² to buy, €1.70 to €2.40 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 82% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Catania airport (CTA), 1 h 52 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Palermo, 1 h 28 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania and China, against 9% across Italy. There are 332 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 60% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Palermo province ranks 97th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Petralia Sottana, 11 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Caltanissetta, 37 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Caltanissetta, 37 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 76 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.91% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.2% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sicily spends about €1,820 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €524 a year for water, on the Sicily average. In Palermo, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.26, a meal in a pizzeria €13.56 and a man's haircut €17.31.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 7% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
BORGO DEI BORGHI 2018
RAI Borgo dei Borghi winner in 2018, the year the salt mine MACSS opened more broadly to visitors.
MINIERA DI RAFFO
Active salt mine below the village, 80 km of tunnels through one of Europe's largest salt deposits, worked since the fourteenth century.
TETTO DELLE MADONIE
Highest commune in the Madonie range at 1,147 meters, surrounded by the Madonie Natural Park and its 30% of Sicilian biodiversity.
Common questions
- What is Petralia Soprana known for?
- Petralia Soprana is the highest village in the Madonie at 1,147 meters, RAI Borgo dei Borghi 2018 winner, sitting above 80 kilometers of salt tunnels.
- Where is Petralia Soprana?
- Petralia Soprana is a comune in the province of Palermo, in Sicily, at 1147 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Petralia Soprana?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Catania (CTA), about 1 h 52 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Palermo to Petralia Soprana?
- About 1 h 28 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Petralia Soprana?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Petralia Soprana?
- Petralia Sottana, Geraci Siculo and Moena.
- How many people live in Petralia Soprana?
- 2,866 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Petralia Soprana a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Petralia Soprana is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Gangi, is 18 min away. The nearest city, Caltanissetta, is 55 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Petralia Sottana, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 82% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1147 m
- Population: 2,866
- Surface area: 56.1 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.
The ranked lists
Lists Petralia Soprana appears in
- The 6 best mountain towns in the province of PalermoPalermo provincemountain6 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
- The best towns inside a nature park in the province of PalermoPalermo provinceinside a park6 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
- The best small mountain towns in SicilySicilymountainsmall7 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
- The best small towns inside a nature park in SicilySicilyinside a parksmall7 towns · smallest 1,516 residents
- The prettiest villages inside a nature park in SicilySicilyinside a parkprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
- The 8 best high-altitude villages in SicilySicilyabove 800 m8 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
Similar
Towns like Petralia Soprana
What all six share with Petralia Soprana: high in the mountains · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
The letter
Petralia Soprana 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Petralia Soprana comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 498 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.