Marineo, what to see in the small Palermo village

A magical place rich in history, culture and traditions that knows how to give emotions to its visitors. Let's find out a Marineo what to see.

Marineo, what to see in the village so devoted to Santu Ciru

Marineo is a charming town of approx 6000 inhabitants located in the province of Palermo, full of proposals for tourists and travelers in search of history, culture and tradition.

The extraordinary immediately catches the eye devotion of the village for Santu Ciru celebrated 2 times during the year. The splendid cliff that stands behind the town and is known by its name impresses La Rocca or Tom of Polyphemus. There are traces of a first settlement in the territory of Marineo which owes its name to its particular geographical position, halfway between the hinterland and the coast, around the eighth century before Christ.

Subsequently it underwent strong cultural influences due to the presence in Sicily first of the Phoenicians, then of the Greeks and finally of the Romans. The legacy of this period is very important and in fact there are still many archaeological finds that can be visited and in particular in the area of ​​the Archaeological excavations on the Montagnola. Subsequently, like many other parts of Sicily, the history of this small village was characterized by the conquests of the Byzantine, Arab, Norman and Swabian peoples.

The feast of Santu Ciru

Among the peculiarities of Marineo there is the great devotion to Santu Ciru whose anniversary falls on January 31st of each year and on the penultimate Sunday of the month of August. On the first date Santu Ciru Puvureddu is actually celebrated which in dialect means poor and therefore in August Santu Ciru Riccu or rich. On the first occasion, above all, the martyrdom suffered by this exponent of the Christian religion is remembered, while on the second date, the memory of the saint's skull relic commissioned and managed by the Holy See of Rome.

What to see in Marineo

Marineo is a village whose foundation with its current characteristics dates back to 1550 thanks to a Palermitan praetor named Francesco Beccadelli originally from the current Emilia Romagna i.e. from the city of Bologna and was a powerful feudal lord. This priest decided to invest in the area and to buy the Popular license from Charles V, i.e. to create and give birth to a community.

The first investment made it possible to organize as many as 100 houses located around the fortress and subsequently the indispensable buildings were inserted in order to have an adequate and happy community life, the Church of the Crucifix e the matrix. These two churches are still visible today and are also important from a historical and cultural point of view.

Another important structure built in 1559 was the marine castle in whose halls the archaeological museum of the Eleuterio Valley. In this splendid structure it is possible to appreciate many objects that have been found in archaeological sites throughout the territory and which tell what happened at the time. Especially in the city center is the mighty Mother Church obviously dedicated to San Ciro inside which the skull is kept in an urn made during the eighteenth century. Absolutely not to be missed are the college of Santa Maria, the oratory of the Blessed Sacrament, the church of San Vincenzo Ferrari and the town hall.

What to see near Marineo

There is also much to see in the vicinity of the territory of the municipality of Marineo. In particular, there are some archaeological testimonies that tell of what happened around the eighth century BC with finds of all kinds that are not to be missed for history buffs.

In what is now called Contrada Montagnola, most likely there was aancient city known as Makella. A city of which there is historical evidence because it has been mentioned in important writings by historians of Greek civilization such as Diodorus, Siculus and Polybius. Also nearby there are several stories that tell of the presence of ancient mills and it is possible to visit especially the sanctuary of the Madonna dello Scanzano located in the municipality of Santa Cristina Gela.

Typical products and how to get to Marineo

In Marineo there is a big one agricultural tradition and dedicated to cattle breeding and this has made it possible to produce an excellent extra virgin olive oil, quality wines e cheese tasty. Furthermore, with genuine meat you get sausages, meat to be used for excellent cooking on the grill. Like many other areas of Sicily, here there are many excellent pastry products such as cannoli, cassata and buccellato.

To reach the town of Marineo coming from Palermo you have to take the SS 121 and then at the Bolognetta crossroads follow the SS 118 until you reach your destination.

© Image byVirgil Ferrara, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons