The place is considered an arrival and starting point for the observation and contemplation of an uncontaminated nature, an area where you can hike Vicaretto – Canne – Portella Mandarini and where you can camp. It is located along the route Castelbuono –Petralie where in 1100 the Basilian monks stopped by. Members of the Byzantine Knights order and followers of St Basil the Great, they laid the foundations of a convent. They dedicated themselves to the growing of vegetables, to the recovery of the woody area and to the realization of a cooper and bronze foundry deriving from a nearby territory called “ Cuprania”.

A first historic evidence comes from St Anthony of Padua who came in Sicily in 1222 for the second time. He left Patti to go to St Mauro, and from there he had to arrive in Cefalù to establish a convent. To reach Cefalù he chose a mountain route, which brought him to Gonato, belonging to the Madonie Empire in the County of Geraci. He called at Gonato in the Saints Cosma and Damian monastery; where in the surrounding areas there was the so-called “Martinetto” ,in other words, the cooper and bronze foundry. Still, from the life of St Anthony , we know that the monk once he arrived in the foundry he asked and got a bell for the convent of Cefalù.

After having received the heavy bell, in front of the wonder of everyone, the Saint put the cane into the hook and loaded it on his back and resumed his hike.
He followed a path through the fields heading to Ypsigro (former name of Castelbuono) towards the seaside town. Nowadays the bell is cherished in Cefalù in memory of the Saint pass.
Unfortunately we don’t have any other evidence of the history of Gonato’s domain.

Formerly, the farmer and shepherd homes were used as cereals and cheese deposit. According to some information received by some old shepherds and farmers (still today well-known in Gonato for the quality of their food) who used to work in the small village, and thanks to the memory of the elderly, it has been possible to identify and to recreate the former sizes of the houses in Gonato. Those houses have been overcome , two times in 1935 and in 1959, have been destroyed and a lot of debris coming from the mountains have demolished them, and also overfilled the basements which were used as stables.

The memory of the elderly should not be underestimated regarding the long period stays and the number supported during the agrarian campaigns. The specific median orographic position compared to Petralie and Castelbuono, required the abode obligation and consequently the shelter obligation.
It is important as well to remember that suitable stalls were required for animals. Due to those reasons and to the changing nature over the years and according to photographical proofs, some significant structural interventions have been realized.

The balcony of the main building of the first floor gives us testimony of the existence of domestic staff. The almost destroyed over sized ancient oven indicates the huge quantity of bread produced for the needs of the domestic staff.

The landform of the surrounding areas is characterized by wide plateaux used as vegetable gardens thanks to the existence of running water. So, we can assume that on one hand an extended area was used for the seedbeds and for the storage of plantation but in the other hand we still have some unknown areas.

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