Sicily: a fictional island
Raiuno's most popular series, Il Commissario Maltese and Il Commissario Montalbano, are set in Sicily, which has become a real fictional island.
Discovering the Sicily of the Commissioners
Il Commissario Maltese, a miniseries with Kim Rossi Stuart, is set between Trapani and Palermo. It is inspired by the mafia crimes of 1978.
What are the travels and tastings of Maltese?
- San Vito Lo Capo. What a dream! The "Maldives" of Sicily have three kilometers of sandy beach and cliffs overlooking the sea. Renowned seaside resort in Sicily and considered among the best in Italy. Its territory includes the westernmost part of the Zingaro Reserve. The generating core of San Vito Lo Capo is the current Sanctuary, an ancient fortress that has undergone numerous building interventions over the centuries. The first construction, built around the fourteenth century, was a small chapel dedicated to San Vito Martire, patron saint of the seaside village.
- The Tonnara of Favignana. Officially named Former Florio factory of the Favignana and Formica traps, is an ancient trap, with an adjoining establishment for the conservation of fish, located in Favignana in the Egadi Islands. With its 32 thousand square meters, 3/4 of which are covered, it is one of the largest tuna traps in the Mediterranean. The tales of the old tuna fishermen, who today guide and recall the years of the slaughter, are moving. Inside, a space is intended for the Museum with multimedia rooms, video testimonies related to the slaughter and the trap. And also historical films granted by the Istituto Luce.
- Segesta. Ancient city, no longer inhabited, founded by the Elimi and located in the north-western part of Sicily, in the province of Trapani. The old city is located on Monte Barbaro, in the municipality of Calatafimi Segesta about 15 kilometers from Alcamo and from Castellammare del Golfo. The archaeological area of Segesta, which became an Archaeological Park in 2013, includes several sites. The area, since the nineties, has been enormously re-evaluated thanks to numerous discoveries concerning the ruins of the ancient Elymian city. The imposing Doric temple built in the XNUMXth century BC, it is among the most beautiful and best preserved in the world.
- U pani c'a meusa. Bread with veal spleen is a Jewish food from Palermo dating back to the Middle Ages. Maltese eats it blunt (celibate, i.e. simple). But there is also married, married. Seasoned with ricotta and provolone.
Places and tastes of Montalbano
Il Commissario Montalbano, a fiction always produced by Palomar, whose protagonist is played by Luca Zingaretti, is always set in magical places in our Sicily.
- Dry tip. Small fishing village, fraction of Santa Croce Camerina in the province of Ragusa, Sicily. Locals call it "A sicca" (the shoal) probably due to the presence of a small formation of rocks in front of the eastern beach, precisely a “shoal”. Thanks to the Montalbano house and its splendid terrace, the seaside village of Santa Croce Camerina is very famous. Hosts the restaurant preferred by the Commissioner. In the surroundings, the beaches of Caucana, Casuzze and Punta Braccetto are also worth a swim.
- The Valley of the Temples. From this year the fiction set is the largest Archaeological Park in the world. It covers about 1.300 hectares. Of the ancient Greek city of Akragas, now Agrigento, it preserves splendid temples such as that of Concordia, built in 430 BC and used as a Christian Basilica between 590 and 1790.
- The Penna Furnace. Wonderful to visit! It was a brick factory built between 1909 and 1912, overlooking the sea on the Pisciotto cliff, in Scicli (RG). In the series it is the infamous tonnara Mànnara.
- The arancini of Montalbano. They give their name to a tale by Camilleri. They are made in tip as per the gastronomic tradition of Eastern Sicily.
Sicily is one but the dialects are as many as there are capitals
Kim Rossi Stuart and Luca Zingaretti were born in Rome but to appear Sicilian they speak with a certain cadence. Maltese uses that of Trapani and Palermo. Montalbano is inspired by Andrea Camilleri's literary language from Agrigento. With the result that they look like different dialects. And this is also the case in reality. Sicily is a single land but the dialects are many. Let's see some of them.
In Palermo packet means fat (from the Greek pachiùs, big). In Catania, on the other hand, it means “cool”.
Binge is a Sicilian verb entered the Zingarelli in 1959. It comes from wow (toad) and it means filling your throat like a toad. In Ragusa, however, is the boffetta a toad? No, it's a coffee table!
West to knock is pronounced tuppululate, at East tuck.
The word vastedda (loaf) is used throughout the Region and derives from the Norman Wastel.
While clear up or dress up (derives from aziz, which means "splendid" in Arabic), it is said only in the capital.
