The Casa del Dispetto in Petralia Sottana, a small village in the province of Palermo, is a very particular building that boasts a curious record: its dimensions, in width, are so small, that it ranks among the narrowest buildings in the world.
It's a two-story house, tall enough to hide the windows of the building behind it, even with a small balcony, but barely a meter wide.
It seems to recall that little children's song about a little house "without ceiling and without kitchen“. However, La Casa del Dispetto has a history of family quarrels and vendettas behind it that have little to do with the fairy-tale atmosphere of the song.
Petralia, the village with the narrowest house in the world
Petralia is a small town in the north of Sicily slopes of the Madonie.
The urban layout is typical of the villages that originally developed around a medieval castle: the upper part of Petralia is made up of the oldest districts, called Pusterna and Carmine. The lower part is the more modern one with buildings built during the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.
The town is divided into two distinct areas: Petralia Soprana and Petralia Sottana. The two 'Petralie' are rich in artistic works: the portals of the ancient noble houses, the paved streets, the squares, the stairways, the palaces, the villas and splendid palaces which retain the charm of distant eras.
Petralia Sottana, the fraction of the House of Spite
On a rocky outcrop to the left of the Imera river is Petralia Sottana, where there are numerous churches and palaces of great value, such as the church of S. Maria della Fontana, which houses sculptures attributed to the Gagini school; the baroque church of San Francesco and the Church of Mercy, with a XNUMXth century bell tower.
Petralia Sottana is located in front of the Cave of the Vecchiuzzo, a precious source of precious ceramics now exhibited at Archaeological Museum of Palermo.
Proceeding from Petralia a Battle Plan (about 1600 meters above sea level) visitors can appreciate the extraordinary charm of this splendid Sicilian glimpse, rich in oak and holm oak woods and pastures.
The agricultural sector produces cereals, grapes and dairy products. Petralia is also rich in popular traditions, such as the feast of Saint Peter and Paul, patron saint of the town. Do not miss some local products, such as the so-called 'sfoglio', a typical dessert of the Madonie: a puff pastry filled with “tuma” (mountain cheese), pumpkin, egg whites, cocoa, sugar and lemon peel, cooked in the oven and served cold.
The house built to spite the neighbors
The tiny building of Petralia Sottana, known as the Casa del Dispetto, built in the middle of the last century, probably, as we will see, after a heated dispute, has become an unusual tourist destination that attracts many visitors intrigued by its very strange and slender vertical structure.
The "house of currivu“, in Sicilian dialect, according to some rumors, was built in the 50s due to a dispute between neighbors, perhaps related to each other.
The locals say that a man from Petrale intended to enlarge his home by raising it by one floor. A neighbor of his who was also said to be his brother-in-law did not grant him permission. The denied permission was the beginning of the dispute that led to a very imaginative conclusion and to the construction of the Casa del Dispetto.
A useless house built for revenge
The gentleman, hindered by his brother-in-law, decided to inquire, through a law firm, about the possibility of building the house anyway, despite the denial of the permit, without incurring penalties.
Unfortunately the law was not on his side, but the citizen of Petralia Sottana did not give up, above all in order not to give in to his brother-in-law, who had become, at that point, in defiance of any kinship ties, his most bitter enemy.
The man, who owned a small piece of land in front of the neighbor's house, used it to build a two-story house only 1 meter wide and, therefore, absolutely uninhabitable. The house of Dispetto in Petralia Sottana was therefore built only to obscure the splendid view enjoyed by the neighbour. Inside the house there is absolutely nothing: only the floor and a staircase. The interior is so narrow that two people could not enter together.
The House of Spite, an unexpected attraction for tourists
From an economic and tourist point of view, the house has no value. However, the place has become a destination for many tourists who regularly go to Petralia Sottana just to admire it, enlivening the life of a village that had never been among the favorite destinations of any traveler and which now takes advantage of this unexpected popularity.
Even the tour operators had always ignored Petralia Sottana, never including it in the itineraries suggested to their customers.
Now, however, they often tell the story of this unusual building to those in search of curiosities and oddities, fueling the myth of what is perhaps the narrowest house in the world.
