Isnello: feasts and traditions

Isnello sits at 583 metres in the heart of Sicily's Madonie Mountains, in the province of Palermo, and has about 1,400 inhabitants; in Sicilian it is called Isineḍḍu. Around 90% of its land lies inside the Madonie Regional Park, among woods of holm oak, downy oak and cork oak, and the village is cut through by a stream running in a rocky gorge, the "Gola", which according to one theory gave the place its name.

The village was founded by Count Roger after the defeat of the Arabs and later came under the diocese of Cefalù, created by King Roger II. Over the following centuries the barony passed through several noble families, including the Santa Colomba, and in 1625 it was raised to a county; in 1788 the townspeople bought back the county's lands, ending the rule of the feudal lords. The ruins of the Norman castle still stand above the center. Among the churches are the mother church of San Nicolò, with stucco work from 1607 and an organ from 1625, Santa Maria Maggiore, with its majolica-tiled bell tower, and San Michele Arcangelo, with 14th- and 15th-century frescoes.

Since 2016 Isnello has been home to GAL Hassin, an international astronomy center with a planetarium, built here for the dark skies of the Madonie. The village is linked to Carlo Levi, who wrote about it in "Words Are Stones" (Le parole sono pietre), and to Pasquale Scimeca's film "Placido Rizzotto" (2000), shot largely in its streets. Its patron saint is Saint Nicholas of Bari, celebrated on 6 December; on Christmas Eve a huge bonfire, the Luminaria, is lit in Piazza Mazzini, and every November the village celebrates mountain food at the Sapori d'Autunno festival.