Hidden in the greenery of dense woods, among legends, stories of hermits and Byzantine treasures, forgotten cities, birds of prey, cliffs and precipices. There are five small towns in the Nebrodi area ready to participate in the third edition of the Borghi dei Tesori which opens tomorrow (Saturday 26 August) and will go on for three weekends, until 10 September. The festival, organized by the Le Vie dei Tesori Foundation with IGT, welcomes the debut of the minuscule Tripiwhich joins Frazzanò, San Piero Patti, Alcara Li Fusi and – from next weekend, 2 and 3 September, also in Mirto.
This year’s new entry, therefore, is Tripi, a small town but with immense wealth: in fact, the ancient Abakainon, the mysterious city founded by the Sicilians, is being brought to light and (Saturday 2 September) it will also be possible to follow the excavation and ask questions to the archaeologists. The treasure found in the necropolis of Cardusa is instead exhibited in the small jewel-museum “Santi Furnari” which is one of the most innovative on the island: the gold of the Sicilians, necklaces, bracelets, gold coins, sparkle on the showcases, but you can also participate to a guided tour with Greek-themed dishes. The village is dotted with murals that Ligama, on behalf of the Municipality, dedicated to the ancient Sicilian city. It will also be possible to visit the ancient millstones – there are many of them on these mountains – or, just for this weekend with Ascosi Lasciti, visit the nearby Borgo Schisina, the largest of the seven villages built by the Sicilian Region in 1950 following the ERAS projects ( Institute for Agrarian Reform in Sicily). It was never inhabited and is a real ghost town. Sunday at 19 in the church of San Vincenzo Martire, Edoardo Siravo will be Captain Ahab in Moby Dick adapted by Massimo Vincenzi. In collaboration with the Biondo Theater.
TO Frazzanò, in addition to the beautiful Basilian monastery of San Filippo Fragalà – which is a spectacle, immersed in an uncontaminated, silent, extraordinary environment – Palazzo Fragale opens, in the heart of the historic center, a jewel that will soon be reborn to become the historical library and museum of the village . But it is the whole village of Frazzanò that is a treasure to be discovered, and it can be done during a guided walk through the alleys of the town, listening to legends of saints and queens.
After last year’s debut, it’s back Alcara Li Fusi, with its ancient churches that hide unexpected treasures. There is the Annunziata with the Annunciation in telacolla from the 16th century; San Pantaleone with the seventeenth-century organ, among the oldest in Sicily or the museum of sacred art, with a very special wax Christ with open side and visible internal organs. They will tell you about the hermit hermit Nicolò Politi, who lived in the Basilian monastery of Santa Maria di Rogato where a medieval fresco of the Dormitio Virginis still survives today. And obviously you can’t leave Alcara Li Fusi without seeing the griffon vultures up close, the only colony of birds of prey existing on the island. Sunday at 7pm in piazza Politi, Sacred and Nature, Encounters with the unreal, dance theater performance conceived by Emilia Guarino who interprets it alongside Benedetto Basile, where the dancer’s body is linked to minimal sounds such as breaths and breaths. Curva Minor production.
San Piero Patti it is a very particular village, also because here we move between the traditions and ancient crafts of a village, where the very strange Gallo-Italic dialect is still widespread. In the church of Santa Maria here is the mysterious black Christ; but you will visit both the anthropological museum where the workshops of the trades of the past are reconstructed, while objects and pieces of art of contemporary artistic craftsmanship are visible at the Castle. The doors of the sixteenth-century convent of the Carmelitani Calzati also open the workshops where the ancient art of weaving natural fibers is handed down, explained to visitors with the use of an original loom; natural fibers such as flax, hemp, cotton, sheep and alpaca wool are woven there. But there are also workshops for tinsmiths, pyrography and basket makers. You can participate in the walk to the ancient rupestrian millstone, absorbed by the song of the Ciavole, or visit the ancient arabite district, tasting typical products. It will be staged on September 9th Francis and the sultanmonologue by Ugo Giacomazzi on the figure of Saint Francis.
Finally, he returns to Borghi dei Tesori too Myrtlebut it will have to wait for next weekend.