Montallegro > Itinerary 1

Originally, the town of Montallegro was founded on the steep and rocky slopes of Monte Suso, which is the hill located right behind the modern town. Even today, the evocative ruins of the cliffside village are an irresistible invitation to imagine daily life in a place where silence now reigns but is still explorable with the help of expert staff. The inhabitants lived there until around the mid-1600s. When the pirate raids by the Turks along the coast diminished, the population moved downstream to the new urban settlement. Over a thousand tools from the rural tradition of the ancient village are now exhibited in the Museum of Peasant Civilization. Not far from the town there is a natural oasis, Laghetto Gorgo, well known to birdwatchers because it is the natural habitat of many varieties of migrant birds such as cormorants, coots, grebes, pelicans and rare red herons. Amongst the reeds the rare ‘marshy’ tortoise may even be spotted. Moving on towards the coast, just a few kilometers ahead, the beautiful bay of Bovo Marina awaits: a marvelous beach that to the east reaches the Torre Salsa Natural Reserve and to the west joins with that of Eraclea Minoa before flowing at the foot of the white rocky spur of Capo Bianco: less famous than the Scala dei Turchi but certainly no less enchanting.