​Monterosso Almo, a small village of around 3000 inhabitants in the heart of the Iblei Mountains, is included in the circuit of the "Most beautiful villages in Italy". And it's no coincidence... Here the air is good, life is on a human scale and in the small town centre, among churches, alleys and monuments, its inhabitants live a reality interwoven with human relationships and ancient traditions. An atmosphere that struck directors of the caliber of Tornatore and Sciarra who chose Monterosso Almo as the ideal film set for successful films such as "L'uomo delle Stelle" and "La Stanza dello Scirocco".
​In the main square, called “U Chianu” (The Plan) in dialect, the elegant Church of S. Giovanni Battista converges, with a pyramid-shaped façade that reaches 22 meters in height and inside a spectacular breathtaking vault that illuminates the entire central nave in ivory white. Palazzo Cocuzza, now home to the Civic Museum, dominates the entire square with its grandeur, as the family of the same name once did with its numerous possessions in the surrounding area. Senator Federico Cocuzza, at the beginning of the last century, put together all his forces and his influence to create a new stretch of railway that started from Syracuse, bifurcated at the Giarratana crossroads to reach Ragusa or Caltagirone, passing near Monterosso. Today, some tunnels, small abandoned stations and a planned project to make it into an unprecedented trekking route remain of that railway.
​Small alleys, courtyards, stairways and ancient arched passages lead us to the oldest district of the town, called "Matrice". Here stands the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693, which overlooks the characteristic Piazza S. Antonio and has two unusual semicircles outside with stone seats that seem to lovingly guard the façade. On the opposite side of the square, at the end of a spectacular staircase, we find the imposing Mother Church, which also collapsed in 1693 and was rebuilt. Its neo-Gothic style facade with mullioned windows and portal is particularly beautiful. From the churchyard in front of the church you can admire a suggestive panorama of the valley below.
​But the history of Monterosso Almo has even more ancient roots, dating back to the Copper Age, as evidenced by the Hypogeum of Calaforno, the oldest in the Val di Noto with its 35 rooms, and the settlements of Monte Casasia dating back to the VII century BC.
​Monterosso Almo is also the ideal place to immerse yourself in a food and wine experience that offers genuine flavours, the fruit of ancient peasant traditions, such as cavateddi, cherries, bread and scacce, mushrooms, sausages and wild boar meat. It is a particular variety of almond that has found its ideal habitat here, on the slopes of the Iblei Mountains.