Montelepre: feasts and traditions

Montelepre sits 342 metres above sea level on the slopes of Monte d'Oro, in the hills between Palermo and the Gulf of Castellammare. The area was already inhabited in classical times, but the town as it stands today dates from the 15th century: in 1429 the estate passed to Monreale Cathedral, and around 1435 Archbishop Giovanni Ventimiglia had a tower built to keep brigands at bay. The first settlers' houses grew up around the Torre Ventimiglia, which is still the town's best-known landmark.

Montelepre became a municipality in its own right in 1812. In 1848 Paolo Migliore founded a Carbonari society here, and some local men later joined Garibaldi on his march to Palermo. From the early 1900s many people emigrated to the United States and northern Europe, and in the first half of the century the town made national headlines as the birthplace of the bandit Salvatore Giuliano.

Today Montelepre has just over 5,600 residents, many of whom commute to Palermo. Its patron is the Santissimo Crocifisso (Holy Crucifix), celebrated on the last Sunday of June, and on Palm Sunday much of the town takes part in the Misteri procession. On Epiphany the local theatre association Atma runs the Sfincia Festival, devoted to the town's traditional sweet fritter.