If you are ready to embark on a journey into the distant Middle Ages for an exciting experience, you cannot miss a visit to the ruins of a unique Norman abbey in the woods of Gratteri. This is one of the oldest historical monuments in the Madonite village, just 17 km from Cefalù and a half-hour walk from the town, through an unspoilt natural landscape.

The meeting pont is at the ‘passo della Scala’ – below the little church of the Crucifix – where a path begins, which has been renamed Via dei Premostratensi for a few decades now. One arrives at a lonely place, steeped in stories and legends, where a superhuman peace reigns supreme, but which, at the time of the coenoby’s foundation, must have been a strategic point of intersection between two Roman roads that were much frequented by wayfarers and pilgrims.

Today, the site has become a favourite destination for many visitors, both Italian and foreign, who come to discover what might seem, at first glance, to be just another ruin, but which in reality, is a milestone of the Norman Way in Sicily.

The church of the monastery of San Giorgio is in fact a cultural asset of singular importance in the Sicilian panorama from a historical, artistic, spiritual and anthropological point of view. Its origins date back to the 12th century and are situated in a very complex and, at the same time, intriguing period of medieval history.

A monument founded by the Normans and entrusted to a French order, the Premonstratensian monks, the only example in Sicily, and then, in 1300, inherited by the Hospitallers of Jerusalem, better known as the Knights of Malta.

You will discover a fascinating history of a Norman monument where real events and singular legends blend together in a highly evocative scenario that makes Gratteri a unique historical document ready to be included in the Unesco Arab-Norman site.

For more information and prices on guided tours, contact Gratteri Holiday.