Welcome To Abbateggio – One Of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages!
Which village is the most beautiful in Italy?
Well, by official count, it’s a 334-way tie for first!
This photo of the village of Petrapertosa is a great example – I love this story because it highlights incredible villages like this!
This is a photo of Boccada credited to Photographer Robe Roellaan – stunning!
This story came from an article on The Washington Post’s website.
Reporter Chico Harlan filed this story, which is a terrific deep dive into efforts to save Italy’s villages, thanks to an organization formed to shine a spotlight on these incredible villages…as he reports:
“The villages range from the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy to the back roads of Sicily in the Mediterranean, each with the same designation: Most Beautiful. They have been so named by Italy’s Borghi Più Belli (Most Beautiful Villages) association, a group that began 20 years ago with the goal of preserving and promoting its endangered hamlets.”
So what does it mean to be “Most Beautiful”? The Borghi Piu Belli association has a technical answer. A town is eligible only if at least 70 percent of the buildings in its historic center predate 1939. There must be a “harmony” of roof materials and decorative elements. There are 72 parameters in total, dealing with aspects of community and history, and a scientific technical committee that assesses bids.
This is the gorgeous Greek Theater in Taormina, Sicily…the town isn’t on the list because too much of it is modern, but this ancient theater certainly fits the bill!
Click here for a tour!
The Washington Post story goes on to report how more modern towns can get on this list:
“In some instances, towns may gain Most Beautiful status provisionally, with the requirement that they make certain changes — such as making their historic centers off-limits to cars, for instance. They’re booted if they don’t follow through. As part of the final assessment of a town’s application, an expert from the association makes a site visit.”
My wife Alex and I have been to Italy several times, and actually got to explore a few of the small villages there, like one outside of Taormina Sicily.
Sicily is filled with amazing sights to tour, like the original locations used for “The Godfather!”
One of the locations was up a steep road, so we took a small motorized cart and what a ride!
Check it out:
There were so many other cool locations, including us sitting in the exact same spot as Al Pacino!
This is a quaint little village high up in the hills above the Ionian Sea – an escape into the past:
See our tour of these “Godfather” film locations by clicking here:
Also, check out this shot we took from the greek theater in Taormina – see what’s right behind Alex?
Yes, that’s Mt. Etna!
It’s the most active volcano in Europe!
As some of you may remember, Alex and I got to hike to the top!
Check out this clip:
If you want to see what it takes to climb an active volcano, just click on my story here for more!
While we were near the top of Sicily, we also walked along the shoreline, where we discovered a “part time” island!
You see, it’s an island when the tide is high, but not when it’s low!
Clcik here to find out more about the magical “Isola Bella!”
By the way, Sicily is the largest island in Italy… and Sardinia is the second-largest – and we went there too!
Our hotel was unique – because it was also the set of a James Bond film!
Click here to see which one!
The food of Italy is incredible, so I had to try and make some back at home after our trip!
This “Cassatedde” went well with lava wine – click for the recipe!
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Categories: Art, Books / Media, Exotic Travel, Italy, nature, Real Estate, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
I’m a born-again Italian! I love everything about Italy. Thank you for suggesting a few more places to visit! 🙂
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We loved watching the Italian television series of the Inspector Montano detective books, set in Sicily; wonderful scenery and constant sunshine made the programmes a must for winter evenings.
Back in a previous carnation I was living in a country town in the West Australian wheat belt. The scenery was flat, very flat. When the local motel owner returned from his holiday back home to Italy he said the hills made him dizzy. It was only many years later when we had a holiday to Umbria that I fully appreciated what he meant and also how homesick Italian migrants must have been for that beautiful scenery – but of course you cannot always make a living from scenery.
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I love this, thanks for sharing! I need to look for those books and TV show – we barely scratched the surface of Sicily – so many great places in the world to explore!
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Wonderful, John. I love the small villages. Your photos are beautiful!
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Hi John, that big tie number doesn’t surprise me. Lots of stunning places to visit in Italy. It is a long time since I visited, but I remember some of the stunning villages and towns.
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Agree Robbie and it’s a great way to shine a spotlight on them before its too late!
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That’s a big number to ‘tie’, John. 🙂
Now I want some of tha ricotta pastry!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, it’s a marketing gimmick that helps with a good headline and therefore making people aware of the organization’s high is trying to keep these dying villages alive…when we toured The Godfather towns in Sicily they were basically devoid of any services except a cafe…it’s impossible to get a young person to want to stay in a dying town…
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