Casa Montalbano (Montalbano’s House)

We are great fans of the Inspector Montalbano TV series. Broadcast in Italian with English subtitles it also helps us to learn Italian.

The Inspector Montalbano television series is based on Andrea Camilleri’s detective novels, they are located in the imaginary town of Vigàta, Sicily. The series star Salvo Montalbano is the police chief, or commissario. The detective’s character encapsulates astute detective work and a fractious manner. Inspector Montalbano is an engaging hero – honest, decent and loyal. He has his own way of doing things, and his superiors regard him as something of a loose cannon. One of the strengths of the novels is Montalbano’s ability to navigate through a murky world, a world of shady connections and favours owed and owing, without compromising himself beyond what he can live with.

With our love of this TV Series, it made sense to include visiting some of the major locations used for filming Inspector Montalbano during our Sicily trip. The locations include:

Punta Secca

Inspector Montalbano is lucky enough to wake up every morning in his seafront house in “Marinella”, which is, in reality, the small village of Punta Secca, just south of Santa Croce Camerina. We based ourselves there for a few days staying under the famous lighthouse in an apartment on the beach. It was a perfect location and we enjoyed a couple of days on the beach.

Scicli

The police station in “Vigata” where Montalbano plies his trade is actually the town hall of Scicli in the beautifully conserved baroque street of Via Mormino Penna. When things are getting particularly serious, Montalbano is summoned to meet his boss at the regional police HQ in the fictional town of “Montelusa”. In reality, however, the HQ is conveniently located upstairs. Scicli’s old town centre is part of the World Heritage Site of the Val di Noto.

Ragusa

Many of the “Vigata” scenes are filmed in and around Ragusa Ibla’s gorgeous Piazza Duomo, which is overlooked by the impressive Cathedral of San Giorgio, built in 1738. In the same street is another building that has featured in the series: the powder blue neoclassical Circolo di Conversazione, once the meeting place for the town’s aristocrats.

The panoramic shots of Ragusa Ibla that set the scene for many of the episodes are taken from the Church of Maria delle Scale, which lies midway between Ragusa Superiore (on the top of the hill) and Ragusa Ibla (way down below on a rocky crest that rises from a deep gorge). This lovely church was only partially destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, as can be seen from the Gothic Catalan-style arches in the right aisle. As its name suggests, the church is reached via 242 steps.

Modica

Modica is yet another glorious baroque town rebuilt, like Scicli and Ragusa, after the earthquake of 1693. Eminently photogenic, the location managers of the Montalbano series simply couldn’t leave it out! Therefore, in certain episodes, we are treated to backdrops that include the magnificent Church of San Giorgio and the handsome façade of Palazzo Polara, amongst others.

Modica is also known for it’s chocolate. We were able to take part in a tour of one of the chocolate factories. Modica chocolate is characterized by an ancient and original recipe using manual grinding (rather than conching) which gives the chocolate a peculiar grainy texture and aromatic flavor. The specialty was introduced by the Spaniards, during their domination in southern Italy. Modica Chocolate is cold processed (with no cocoa butter added), at 45 degrees Celsius and without the conching process, sugar does not dissolve. That’s why it has a different (grainy) texture.

Ispica

One of the most famous corners of Ispica is undoubtedly Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore. Here we saw the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore and a splendid Loggia used in some of the episodes. The Villa Bruno di Belmonte is a beautiful restored old Palazzo.

Beaches

Apart from swimming off the beach outside his house in Punta Secca, Montalbano often finds himself on the long expanses of sand in Donnalucata and Sampieri just south of Scicli. The beach at Sampieri is also home to the “Mannara”, an evocative ruined brick factory that doubles as a tuna fishery in certain episodes of the series. Apart from their associations with Montalbano, both beaches are amongst the loveliest on this stretch of the Sicilian coastline.