Inspector Montalbano's Sicily
Pat Keenan visits the patch of Italy's
best-loved policeman, visits his places of work,
his beachside home and samples his favorite foods.
Photos: Pat Keenan, unless otherwise stated
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Roman actor Luca Zingaretti who plays Salvo Montalbano: relaxed
in the Hotel La Moresca-Maison de Charme, Marina di Ragusa.
Photo courtesy of LaMaresca
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The Italian TV crime mystery series
'Inspector Montalbano,' currently showing Saturday nights on BBC4, is set in southeast Sicily in and around Ragusa and the enticing coastline between Scoglitti and Pozzallo. Now, thanks to the opening of a new airport in the area and direct Ryanair flights from Dublin, I abandoned my armchair and went, armed with a Kindle-full of Montalbano books, on the sunny trail of the police commissario.
Traditionally, travellers to Sicily, headed to the capital, Palermo in the northwest or to the east coast cities of Catania, Taormina and Syracuse. Southeast Sicily, with no airport nearby, was more difficult to reach. All that has changed.
With the recent opening of Comiso Airport (officially Vincenzo Magliocco Airport), you can fly there with Ryanair in just three and a half hours, direct from Dublin (Thursdays and Sundays). They also fly from London Stansted direct to Comiso. The airport changed from military use (a major NATO base during the Cold War) to civil use in 2008. The historic Baroque-era town of Comiso, just 5km/3 miles from the airports, is well worth a visit and in the newer prequel TV series 'Young Montalbano' (also shown on BBC4) it was the setting to the young inspector's first police station. (see also:
http://holidayezine.blogspot.ie/2014/06/comiso-in-sicily-charming-town-new.html)
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| Montalbano action in Piazza Italia, Sicicli. Photo: RAI/BBC |
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| Montalbano at home in Punta Secca Photo: RAI/BBC |
'Inspector Montalbano' takes a bit of getting used to - it's an Italian way of acting, I suppose it mirrors a widely held view of the Italian way, fast talking, much shouting and a bit melodramatic - perhaps operatic is more appropriate. But, for all that, Roman actor Luca Zingaretti plays Salvo Montalbano well as a likable and layered character - macho, confident and yet sensitive and understanding. He shows a certain sophistication but then, all around him are foolish or annoying: (Police officer, Catarella) or weak: (his deputy Mimi), competence: (forensic specialist Jacomuzzi), self-important: (his boss, Bonetti-Alderighi). Women, of course, find him irresistible… and will his long term girlfriend, Livia, get him to commit to something more permanent?
"Both farcical and endearing," said Maxim Jakubowski in The Guardian review of the Montalbano books, and succinctly sums up with: "Montalbano is a cross between Columbo and Chandler's Philip Marlowe, with the added culinary idiosyncrasies of an Italian Maigret." In the TV series, you can add the sunny landscapes and the chaotic architectural richness of Sicilian towns.
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| Montalbano locations Map:HOLIDAYezine |
The TV programmes are based on the character created in the novels of Andrea Camilleri and are set in the fictional town of Vigata, in the equally fictional district of Montelusa. These places are based on his own home town of Porto Empedocle, in the district of Agrigento. Incidentally, in deference to Camilleri and Montalbamo, Porto Empedocle is now officially renamed Porto Empedocle Vigata and proudly has unvailed a statue of Inspector Montalbano.
As in the age-old practice of film/TV making, the settings for Vigata and Montalusa are in reality a composite of several places around the province of Ragusa and along the coast between Scoglitti and Pozzallo.
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| Sicicli: Piazza Italia where Palazzo Iacono is police HQ in fictional Montelusa |
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| The office of Montalbano's superior Quaestor Bonetti-Alderighi (actually the office of the Mayor of Scicli) |
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| Palazzo di Città (town hall), in Sicicli is Momtalbano's police station in Vigata |
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| Palazzo di Città: the view of Sicicli from the Mayors office |
Sicicli
An example of this composite is in Sicicli where the Palazzo di Città (town hall), becomes Momtalbano's police station in Vigata, whilst a stone's-throw away, the Palazzo Iacono in Piazza Italia, is the regional police HQ in Montelusa.
In many episodes the hilltop church of San Matteo is a frequent backdrop. In itself worth a visit and the steps afford a wide-angled view across the town.
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| Punta Secca: HOLIDAYezine Editor Pat Keenan on Montalbano's balcony |
Punta Secca
Punta Secca, also standing in for Montalbano's fictional town of Vigata, is in every episode.
Standing, in his house, on the balcony where, after his morning swim, Montalbano sips his coffee, I recalled an episode in
The Track of Sand - he wakes up and, from this very balcony, sees a dead horse on the beach below. Soon after, a beautiful woman (- isn't it always) arrives at the police station to report a missing racehorse and the investigation ensues.
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| Punta Secca Harbor: murder weapon?....or a fisherman's gutting knife. |
You can stay here - the house is a bed and breakfast guesthouse called
La Casa di Montalbano (see below under Accommodation), It sits right on the beach in Piazzetta della Torre Scalambri in Punta Secca.
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| La Casa di Montalbano brochure: you can stay here |
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Opening credits: the Punta Secca lighthouse
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Modica
The scary looking high-rise viaduct in the opening credits is Ponte Guerrieri on highway 115 South West Sicula, just south of Modica town.
Ragusa
Stand on the steps of the church of Santa Maria delle Scala, you'll picture Montalbano materialize any moment in the Piazza del Duomo below, where many street scenes are filmed in and around these baroque settings, ornate balconies, high-arched doorways and the Church of San Giorgio.
Also in the Piazza Duomo, we visited the neoclassical Circolo di Conversazione, founded as a male-only social club for the Ragusan gentry, and it's where Montalbano breaks in on the coroner Dottor Pasquano’s card game in
The Scent of the Night episode.
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| Circolo di Conversazione: founded as a male-only social club for the Ragusan gentry |
In
Montalbano's Croquettes (an episode from the book Gli Arancini di Montalbano - alas, as yet, not translated to English) Salvo visits a cafe in Piazza Duomo to talk to his housekeeper's troublesome son.
In another episode the public park in Ragusa Ibla, the Giardino Ibleo, dating from in the mid-nineteenth century, stands in for a hospital garden.
Not far from Ragusa is the Grotta delle Trabacche, a cave where, during excavations, both Roman and Byzantine graves were found. It was used was used in
The Terracotta Dog episode as the place where Montalbano discovers a terracotta dog guarding a pair of long-dead corpses.
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| Marina di Ragusa: one of many sunny locations |
Marina di Ragusa
The Villa Criscione, described as a 'fortified farm's it is still the residence of the owners, Carmel and George Criscione and they have restored it as a complex for weddings, meetings, receptions and events including opera, concerts and plays. In
The Shape of the Water it becames the home of the engineer Luparello, the character found dead in a car at the Pasture, a disreputable district - more on this later.
Villa Criscione Contrada Camemi, SP-25 Ragusa Marina di Ragusa
www.villacriscione.it/
The Pasture
In the first Montalbano book,
The Shape of Water (1994), and the third of the RAI TV Montalbano programmes, a well respected engineer and local politician is found dead in his car, at the Pasture, an outdoor area portrayed as a sordid district known for prostitution and drug trafficking.There are no wounds, bruises, no signs of violence, so it is assumed that he died of natural causes in the course of some sexual shenanigans. The Pasture is at Pisciotto, just east of Sampieri, with the abandoned Fornace Penna, a brick making factory site that features in a couple of episodes.
Donnafugata Castle
This 14th century castle, recently restored, is used as the home of elderly Mafia Don Balduccio Sinagra, the retired head of one of the two local Mafia families. He and Montalbano profess a trust in each other and meet from time to time to mull over the old days, matters of honor and what's happening locally. In
Excursion to Tindari, Montalbano is juggling with two cases that might be related and is summoned here by Don Balduccio - it's an offer he can't refuse.
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| Donnafugata Castle: used as the home of elderly Mafia Don Balduccio Sinagra |
The castle's name Donnafugata, we were told, roughly translates as 'the fugitive or run-away woman,' a description that might fit Queen Blanche of Navarre, widow of King Martin I of Aragon. It is said that she hid herself here from a Spanish condottiero (warlord) Count Bernardo Cabrera, who wanted to marry her and so secure leadership over Sicily. The castle eventually fell under siege by Cabrera, but, again, she managed to escape and hide again in the Steri Palace in Palermo.
Food
Arancini - In
Gli Arancini di Montalbano (alas, as yet, not translated to English) Montalbano debates whether to leave Sicily and be with his girlfriend in Paris, or stay and eat his housekeeper Adelina’s arancini. Arancini is a famous Sicilian fried rice ball (containing meat and vegetables) coated with breadcrumbs
Cannoli - tube-shaped shells of deep-fried pastry dough with a sweet, creamy filling that usually contains ricotta.
Further HOLIDAYezine reading:
How to cook Arancini. Pat Keenan visited the Southern Sicilian province of Ragusa and tried his hand at cooking a local delicacy
http://holidayezine.blogspot.ie/2014/06/how-to-cook-arancini-pat-keenan-visited.html
Accommodations
Donnafugata
We stayed at Antica Locanda del Golf, Contrada Torre Piombo, 50122 Donnafugata Ragusa, Italy
www.anticalocandadelgolf.it
Ragusa
We stayed at the Hotel Villa Carlotta, Via Ungaretti, 97100 Ragusa.
www.villacarlottahotel.com/
Punta Secca
When the film crews are not shooting 'Inspector Montalbano, Salvo's house becomes a guesthouse called La Casa di Montalbano.
www.lacasadimontalbano.com or
www.discoveringsicily.com.
Marina di Ragusa
LaMoresca-maison de charme, Via Dandolo, Marina di Ragusa.
+39 0932 239495
www.lamorescahotel.it/
Eating out
Modica
We had lunch at the Don Eusebio Restaurant, Hotel Eremo della Giubiliana,
Now a 5 Star hotel, it dates from the 12th century, an old Arab fortress, a defense against Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean. The Knights of Malta occupied it in the early 16th century.
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| Eremo della Giubiliana: a splendid 5 Star hotel, but in Montalbano they find a dead naked young woman |
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| Eremo della Giubiliana: a splendid 5 Star hotel room |
In
The Voice of the Violin, Montalbano finds a dead naked young woman in a splendid villa outside Vigata. Well, they wouldn't find a better splendid villa. The building also features in
The Shape of Water episode
Hotel Eremo della Giubiliana, C.da Giubiliana. 97100 Ragusa www.eremodellagiubiliana.it/eng/index.html
Marina di Ragusa
We had lunch at Quattro Quarti-Ristorante Caffé Wine Bar, Via Augusta, 3, 97010 Marina di Ragusa
www.quattro-quarti.it/
Porto Empedocle
Salvo Montalbano likes to eat at the fictional
Trattoria San Calogero In the books it was based on the
Osteria al Timone Da Enzo, Via Garibaldi 11, 92014 Porto Empedocle.
Ragusa Ibla
In the TV series the fictional
Trattoria San Calogero is really
La Rusticana in Ragusa Ibla, where the cast of the TV series have signed photographs on the walls. It is where Montalbano introduces his colleague Mimi to his future wife Beba in
Excursion to Tindari .
La Rusticana, Corso XXV Aprile 68 Ragusa Ibla (tel. 0932/227981).
While staying at the Hotel Villa Carlotta, Via Ungaretti, 97100 Ragusa. www.villacarlottahotel.com/ , we had dinner at the 1 star Michelin Rated
La Fenice Restaurant at the hotel.
www.lafeniceristorante.com
Comiso
Before our flight home we had really tasty pizzas for lunch at
Le Sale, Sala Centrale, Villa Orchidea Holel, Contrada Boscorotondo, Comiso-Vittoria Ragusa
www.villaorchidea.it/index.php?v=l_en
Further HOLIDAYezine reading:
Comiso in South East Sicily. Pat Keenan flew into a new airport, visited a charming town, admired some great artistic riches and had another encounter with dead monks
http://holidayezine.blogspot.ie/2014/06/comiso-in-sicily-charming-town-new.html
Books by Andrea Camilleri
This Italian TV detective drama is based on the novels and short stories of Sicilian writer Andrea Camilleri. Many of the books, now translated into English, are available from bookshops and online at
www.amazon.co.uk www.easons.com
To read in the order they were written:
1
The Shape of Water(1994)
2
The Terracotta Dog(1996)
3
The Snack Thief(1996)
4
The Voice of the Violin(1997)
5
Excursion to Tindari(2000)
6
The Smell of the Night(2001)
7
Rounding the Mark(2003)
8
The Patience of the Spider(2004)
9
The Paper Moon(2005)
10
August Heat(2006)
11
The Wings of the Sphinx(2006)
12
The Track of Sand(2007)
13
The Potters Field(2008)
14
The Age of Doubt(2008)
15
The Dance Of The Seagull(2009)
17
The Treasure Hunt(2010)
Travel File
I flew with
Ryanair (
www.ryanair.com) direct from Dublin to Comiso, in South East Sicily (Thursdays and Sundays) They also fly London Stansted direct to Comiso
Ryanair also fly Dublin direct to Palermo on Mondays and Thusdays
For Information on travels in Italy:
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