Sicily · Palermo
Petralia Sottana
A Madonie village at 1,000 meters, a Bandiera Arancione town, and the headquarters of the Parco delle Madonie.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Petralia Sottana is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 28 min from Palermo
- Population
- 2,381
- J9°
- F11°
- M11°
- A15°
- M20°
- J26°
- J30°
- A29°
- S24°
- O20°
- N15°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
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 holds 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 center 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.
How to get there
From Catania (CTA), about 1 h 53 min by car.
By car from the center of Palermo 1 h 28 min.
Coming from Palermo?
Coming by train into Palermo Centrale? Petralia Sottana is about 1 h 29 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 (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.
Living here
Could you live here?
Petralia Sottana is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,381. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Gangi, is 22 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Caltanissetta, a city of 58,182, is 56 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 2,381, down 16.9% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Caltanissetta, 56 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €560 to €710 per m² to buy, €2.10 to €2.50 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 58% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Catania airport (CTA), 1 h 53 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, against 9% across Italy. There are 423 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 58% 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
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Caltanissetta, 38 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Caltanissetta, 38 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 75 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 at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds between 0.2% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €8,000. 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. 20% 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
BANDIERA ARANCIONE
Holds the Italian Touring Club's Orange Flag for inland tourism quality.
PARCO DELLE MADONIE
Headquarters of the regional natural park inside the comune, covering most of its territory and the Pizzo Carbonara summit.
CHIESA MADRE
Seventeenth-century mother church, the largest place of worship in the Madonie, in the Pusterna district overlooking Piazza Umberto.
Common questions
- What is Petralia Sottana known for?
- Petralia Sottana is a Madonie village at 1,000 meters, a Bandiera Arancione town, and the headquarters of the Parco delle Madonie.
- Where is Petralia Sottana?
- Petralia Sottana is a comune in the province of Palermo, in Sicily, at 1000 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Petralia Sottana?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Catania (CTA), about 1 h 53 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Palermo to Petralia Sottana?
- About 1 h 28 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Petralia Sottana?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Petralia Sottana?
- Geraci Siculo, Petralia Soprana and San Vito di Cadore.
- How many people live in Petralia Sottana?
- 2,381 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Petralia Sottana a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Petralia Sottana is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Gangi, is 22 min away. The nearest city, Caltanissetta, is 56 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 58% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1000 m
- Population: 2,381
- Surface area: 178.35 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 Sottana 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 8 best high-altitude villages in SicilySicilyabove 800 m8 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
- The best mountain towns inside a nature park in SicilySicilymountaininside a park8 towns · smallest 1,664 residents
Similar
Towns like Petralia Sottana
What all six share with Petralia Sottana: high in the mountains · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
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