Discovering the places of Commisario Montalbano

Hello, today we want to talk about our journey to discover the places where the fictional film Commissario Montalbano is filmed.

We left Cosenza by car and boarded the ferry at Villa San Giovanni. We did the ticket online on the Caronte & Tourist website, saving 5% which is not much, but it is always better than nothing and you save time on boarding. Landed in Messina we headed to Ragusa, our first destination.

Ragusa.

We stayed at the rented rooms I Cappuccini, booked through Booking.com, it is located in a very convenient location to visit Ragusa Ibla the oldest part. In the area there are several parking lots, both paid and free. After checking in we headed straight to the discovery of this city starting to take some pictures. We walked through the Pope Giovanni XXIII bridge towards the Church of Santa Maria delle Scala, from where it is possible to admire a beautiful panorama of Ragusa Ibla.

To get to the historic center, you have to go down quite a few steps, continuing to walk through its alleys to get to the Cathedral of San Giorgio which has a great grandeur perhaps given by its oblique position with respect to the square below. The Cathedral of San Giorgio reflects the baroque sacred architecture and was designed by the architect Rosario Gagliardi di Noto.

The square below the Cathedral corresponds in the film to the main square of Vigata. Continuing to walk we came across the restaurant where Commisario Montalbano goes to dinner, in the film it is called “Trattoria da Calogero” while in reality it is called “A ’Rusticana”.

Given the late hour we stopped in a pub to drink a good beer before going to sleep.

The following morning we had breakfast with Sicilian cannoli and coffee in a bar in Cathedral Square and immediately afterwards we went to visit the Cathedral as it was closed the night before.

Before concluding our visit to Ragusa, we walked along XXV Aprile street and saw the town hall and the Church of San Giuseppe externally.

Modica.

Our second destination for this trip is Modica, a town that really liked us. Having little time available, we went to visit the Cathedral of San Giorgio which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Immediately after the visit we decided to enjoy the panorama of the city with the help of the Baroque train. This is a 45-minute tour that passes through the main attractions of the country. The ticket price is € 5.00 per person. The train is very nice. This service is also carried out in the municipalities of Ragusa Ibla, and Scicli.

In this city several episodes of Commissario Montalbano have been shot, a scene that recurs and that surely everyone remembers is the one in which Montalbano waits for Livia who arrives with the bus that stops right at the steps of the Cathedral.

We stopped for lunch with excellent pistachio arancini, and we didn’t miss the opportunity to buy good chocolate, because Modica is also famous for this.

Scicli.

The third stop on the Montalbano tour is Scicli. Here, fiction fans will feel at home here. As soon as we arrived we immediately went to the town hall which is the headquarters of the Vigata police station in the TV series.

It is possible to visit both the police station and the questor’s room at a cost of € 6.00 per person. Or individually for € 3.00 per attraction. We chose the € 6.00 ticket and visited the police station and the quaestor’s room.

The police station is on the first floor of the town hall, it’s really all like in the movie, in fact the set is never dismantled. It is possible to see Montalbano’s room, Catarella’s office, it’s really all taken care of as if it were a real police station.

The quaestor’s room is on the upper floor and is actually the mayor’s room that is used only on important occasions or to celebrate weddings.

The exterior of the quaestor’s palace that we see on TV is actually the Iacono Palace, located about 300 meters from the town hall.

After leaving, we took a ride on Francesco Mornino Penna street, which is the road in front of the police station, and on walking we can see several places that appear during the episodes of the film such as the ancient Cartia pharmacy. There would still be locations, but time is short since we must continue on our itinerary.

Sampieri.

Continuing, we wanted to visit the former furnace Penna, la Mànnara in the film, which is located in Sampieri where several scenes of the film were shot.

Punta Secca.

Immediately after Sampieri, we finally went to Punta Secca (Marinella in the film), one of the important places in the film. In this town is the beautiful house of Montalbano which is actually the b & b La Casa di Montalbano.

Here is also the famous trattoria that can be seen in almost all the episodes of the film. The restaurant is called “Enzo a Mare”, it is really pretty, too bad it is closed in winter and only open from May to September.

This tour was done in a day and a half. Unfortunately, the Montalbano tour ended as always, time is short and there are many things to see. A nice “Scaccia” from Ragusa for dinner and then to sleep in another village called Scoglitti where we booked another apartment, and then continue to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.