CORLEONE, THE CITY WHOSE TRUE ESSENCE SHOULD BE (RE)DISCOVERED

Tired of the bad reputation it has endured for decades, the small Sicilian town of Corleone shakes its cumbersome past off in order to face the future head-on: the strongpoints it may rely on are the incredible landscape, the gorgeous architecture and an active and courageous citizenship

Human beings live by clichés; when spoken, some are referred to as if they were universal proverbs, using figures of speech and ways of thinking that represent shared values and can therefore be uttered just as any other claim. Others, on the other hand, represent extreme over-simplifications, trivializations, and the act of choosing, out of a myriad of available elements, terms of reference that, when combined, are aimed at diminishing, and bringing the (perhaps more famous) negative to the light rather than the extensive positive. The citizens of Corleone, an Italian town in the province of Palermo, in Sicily, are quite familiar with this. The chronicles at first, and then the film industry, have linked this town’s reputation to a seemingly unbreakable bond with the criminal activities of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia. Throughout the twentieth century these practices have been widely documented in mafia-related court cases, however they have been made much more famous by Hollywood. The film industry has in fact focused on stereotypes of the Sicilian Mafia with the character of Don Vito Corleone, erroneously believed to have actually existed. For many years the consequential equivalence has led not to take the town of Corleone into consideration other than to include it in talks about the mob, organized crime and the like.

Those who only listen to these sort of talks, however, miss out on a great deal. Corleone is a town that does not deny its past. It has however done, and is still

doing, everything in its power to give itself a bright present and future. The town is also able to gift others of this splendor thanks to its natural, and non-natural, characteristics, to the temperament of its nearly 11 thousand inhabitants and to the tireless “undisclosed” activity of the Antimafia.

Located in an inland mountain area, the entrance of the town is in the midst of the beautiful Ficuzza forest, one of Sicily’s most beautiful woodlands. The forest extends for about 5,000 hectares and is dominated by the Rocca Busambra massif, which continues to provide a home to the golden eagle. In the woodlands of Ficuzza, which connect the same-named hamlet to Corleone, nature lovers may enjoy the spectacle of the Gole del Drago canyon with its Mediterranean scrub, the rocks shaped by the water flow of the Frattina stream and the lush vegetation. Within the Corleone area, steps away from the old town center, is the enchanting Natural Park of the Cascata delle Due Rocche waterfall. Comfortably seated on the park’s ancient square boulders, in the shade of mulberry, walnut and ash trees, one can observe the enchanting view of the waterfall made ever more magical by the rainbows that appear in the mist generated by the water.

The park takes its name from the city’s twin rock formations, the Sottana to the west and the Soprana to

the east. Tall and isolated, these cliffs have become a true symbol of Corleone. On the Soprana you find the Castello Soprano, a castle built in the 9th century and which the Arabs used as a watchtower to protect the city. The lookout turret at the top is called Torre Saracena, although its dating is quite uncertain. A medieval complex used to rise on the Rocca Sottana, the remains of which are those that at one time were probably its surrounding walls. Around 1845 the structure was reconstructed by the Bourbons, turned into a prison and used for such purposes until 1968. Today, it has been refashioned into a Franciscan monastery where the Frati Minori Rinnovati friars live.

There are several historical buildings worth visiting: among the religious ones are the churches of Chiesa Madre and of Sant’agostino, where the “coretto” room is adorned with splendid paintings and the altar is Baroque. Baroque, after all, is the style with which Corleone presents itself to visitors: the old and well preserved historical nucleus, has narrow streets and small houses that have typical “pot-bellied” balconies with wrought iron railings. Lastly, but certainly worth mentioning, is the remarkable local craftsmanship: to this day lace, crochet works and embroideries are skillfully and lovingly knitted by local women, in the same manner as they have inherited from their grandmothers, and as they themselves will pass on to future generations.