SAN
FRATELLO
San Fratello is located in the Messina
province, at 675m a.s.l., among the Nebrodi mountains. It has a population of
about 5,300 inhabitants.
It seems that a major role in its foundation
was played by Roger I’s wife Adelaide di Monferrato played.
The city history has been marked by numerous
landslides; two of them, in 1754 and 1922, were notably catastrophic. Some old
buildings, albeit ruined, have survived the disasters, such as the Norman
church and the old Chiesa Madre dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Old.
Other outstanding remnants are located by the Monte Vecchio district, consisting of the ancient Apollonia, a site of Sikel origin successively Hellenized. Athough it has been explored, proper excavation works have not yet been initiated.
Several churches in town are worth-seeing such
as the medieval Chiesa del Crocifisso, the 1700’s Chiesa delle Grazie
and the Chiesa Normanna dedicated to Saints Alfio, Filadelfio and
Cirino, the so-called Santi Fratelli. The Norman Church, built in the 12th
century, has a single nave with transept and three apses.
A plenty of beech, holm- and bay-oak groves
cover the town’s surrounding area, stretching across the valleys of the San
Fratello and Inganno rivers, the Passo dei Tre Re (rising 782m) and the Portella
Femmina Morta (1,524m).
Easter Week is celebrated with several
attractive festivals, that are much awaited by the faithful. Notably on Good
Thursday and Friday, the town is invaded by the Giudei (Judaean),
dressed in bright-colored clothes, who with old trumpets and noisy chains
‘disturb’ the town’s mournful atmosphere.
Other worth-seeing celebrations take place
throughout the year, such as the Santi Fratelli’s on 10 May, dedicated
to the patron saints, the celebration of the Corpus Domini, dedicated to
Saint Benedict, and the Carnival.