Marzamemi & Portopalo - It's like paradise - Sicily
Marzamemi is a small peninsula in the province of Syracuse. The historic village has been used as a location
for several films with success because of its extreme charm that creates a natural set much loved by different directors including Gabriele Salvatores. Since 2000 Marzamemi houses an
important film festival: Festival del Cinema di Frontiera (the Border Film Festival), in those days the small town is transformed into a magical place populated by many tourists and
movie amateurs. From the port of Marzamemi, in the past, also departed ships carrying large amounts of locally produced wine to the different ports of the peninsula. A great development had the
famous cherry tomatoes along with the local wine production, fishing, and processing of seafood products such as tuna roe red (bottarga), carved by craftsmen using ancient drying
systems derived from the Arabic-Phoenician culture. Marzamemi is definitely one of the most fascinating places in Sicily Sicilian having preserved the authenticity of places and building
structures typical of ancient seafaring and agricultural companies.
In the territory of Pachino, are the village of Portopalo, the island ofCapo Passero the most
southern island of Sicily (below the parallel of Tunis) a few tens of meters from the mainland, reachable by swimming and Isola delle Correnti, famous for the meeting between the two seas,
the Ionian and the Mediterranean. On the Ionian once stood the little harbor where there are still, today renovated fisherman’s cottages (Portopalo). To the east stands the island of Capo Passero
where a Spanish fortress can be visited. In the past Most of the village houses were white and chapped from the sun and salt. In almost all of it was a small gap (‘u bagghiu) used as a barn,
where it was also possible to grow a small vegetable garden. On 25 and 26 December 1996, a tragic event afflicted the country, “The massacre of Christmas.” The shipwreck, not far from Portopalo,
a ship carrying 289 illegal migrants made victims. This was the largest naval tragedy in the Mediterranean since the end of World War II, but also the beginning of a row of several other
incidents in the last decades.
Where to sleep
Il poggetto Marzamemi b&b
B & B set in the countryside a few miles from Marzamemi for those who love the sea and the countryside and tranquility. The managers are very cordial and friendly.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Il-Poggetto-Marzamemi-bb/583320148385583?fref=ts
where to eat
"sicily take away"
Fastfood Sicilian with a wide selection of food from "scacce" typical of the province of Ragusa in pasta dishes and fried fish all made express and guaranteed quality.