From the A19, (the main arterial between Palermo and Catania) take the meandering Tremonzelli road up from the Imera valley to noble Polizzi Generosa on a warm afternoon and enter into Sicily’s interior. It brings you past medieval, baronial farming estates, pastures of grain, groves of olives, ginestra by the roadside and seasonal wild sweetpeas.
Just 2 kms out of town and Polizzi Generosa is seen sitting 917m high on a mighty spur with the majestic mountains of the Madonie National Park behind.
At 4pm Polizzi Generosa is almost a ghost town, not stirred fully from the ritual of lunch the town is still resting. At the beginning of the main street Via Garibaldi, Giovanni, the fruit vendor stops his van in the middle of the street and shouts out what he has for sale, “c’e banane..c’e fragole..”. It is a common sight in Polizzi for women to send a wicker basket on pulleys down to him to collect their fresh fruit and vegetables.
Either side of Via Garibaldi there are bars, barber shops, grocery and clothing shops, legal studios up steep staircases, the town hall housed inside the splendid 16th century former Jesuit monastery, grand stone stair ways, and individual artists’ shops. One of these is Giovanni D’Angelo’s pottery shop.
At the top of a grand stone stair way, which leads to the baroque baronial Palazzo Carpinello, is the glass studio of local artist Enzo. All are reopening after lunch for business. The men slip into the barber shops for a shave and children are buying hot chips from the rosticcerie opposite the town hall building.
The bells of the main church, Santa Maria Maggiore ring out the Angelus over the village and the doors are open for mass. The glorious Flemish triptych of the Madonna can be seen in the side aisle. It is one of many art treasures found in the churches of Polizzi Generosa.
In Polizzi almost everyone takes a passeggiata, the Sicilian ritual evening stroll. This involves walking slowly arm in arm up and down the main street stopping to chat, have a drink and to “do business”. In Polizzi it is nearly sacred and probably one of Sicily’s best. It is an intriguing spectacle as the people walk up and down many times from Piazza Umberto to Piano Trinita at the end of Via Garibaldi. Here there is a view of the Imera valley below and the Madonie Mountains.
Bar Cristallo one of the bars on Via Garibaldi is open. Gasparino who owns the bar with Alfredo, is dressed in a red jacket and a tie. His counter fridge is filled with homemade gelati- pistachio, jasmine, and cherry, to serve the Polizzani as they make their passeggiata later in the evening before dinner. The main street and piazzas are alive by 7.30pm with men arm in arm, children on bicycles and the young who are promised romance and friendship.
At 9pm ( in Summer) the passeggiata has finished and the Polizzani return home to eat together. Greetings of “buona cena” can be heard.
One of Polizzi’s many slow food restaurants AI Templari is open for dinner. Going through a stone doorway and into a secret garden the tables are set in an outdoor room. AI Templari is full of people dining and the owner Giuseppe greets all with “buona sera“. Locals are often there celebrating.
The wild seasonal produce picked that morning in the mountains outside Polizzi Generosa does often dictate what is served at the town's restaurants and what the locals eat; such as Pasta with wild asparagus.
Regaleali's Bianco wine from local wine producer Regaleali in Sclafani Bagni, 35 minutes from Polizzi is a crisp white wine and is perfect with wild asparagus pasta. A simple dinner and a bowl of locally picked fruit followed by a cannolo and Averna, a Sicilian digestivo often finish a meal in one of Polizzi's restaurants.
The rituals of the afternoon in Polizzi Generosa are a constant and 'soul affirming'.
Salve,
Suzanne
Edited August 2015 This was previoulsy called "An Afternoon in Polizzi". Ai Templari restaurant is now closed.
