Masseria Rocca di Gonato recommends you to discover some suggestive sites.
Castelbuono
The origin of Castelbuono can be found in the Ventimiglia family, The Counts of Geraci, who at the beginning of 1300 decided to build a castle (still existing) on the hillock overlooking the ancient byzantine farmhouse in “ Ypsigro”.
A few kilometres from the sea, Castelbuono started to develop at the foot of the Madonie Regional Park among a pleasant valley already inhabited during the Neolithic period and full of Greek, Roman, Arabic and Byzantine memories.
To visit: The Castle of Ventimiglia Familiy ( City Museum), The Church of Matrice Vecchia, The Church “Matrice Nuova”, the fountain of Venus Ciprea.
Cefalù
The name derives from the Greek town called Kephaloidion, at the end of Vth century B.C. it was a native and flourishing site thanks to the relations with the populations that lived or transited in Sicily.
Cefalù is located on the northern coast of Sicily, about 70 kilometres from Palermo, at the foot of a rocky headland. It is considered one of the biggest seaside resort of the entire region; despite its city context, each year Cefalù attracts an important number of local, national and foreign tourists, and during the summer season, the population reaches three times its normal number and as a consequence the main squares and streets become crowded.
Cefalù belongs to the Madonie Regional Park and it is part of the most beautiful Italian village Club.
To visit: The Cathedral and its cloister, The Mandralisca Museum and Library, The Laundry Middle Ages, The Rocca and Temple of Diana, The Sanctuary of Gibilmanna.
Il Parco delle Madonie
Plant life is the main inhabitant in the Park.
It is a botanical paradise and has mountains that reach 1,979 metres high; it contains about half of 2600 species living in Sicily and roughly 150 out of 200 endemism. It is possible to see some amazing panoramas from different points like The Mount Etna, The Nebrodi National Park and the Aeolian Islands, pink shaded by the sunset and the dawn by giving them a fabulous aspect.
The existence of a naturalist, historic and artistic heritage is remarkable.
The territory is marked by the existence of a large number of religious buildings, monasteries, cloisters and rocky churches and the majority is located on the top of the mountains.
Forsaken along the rivers, mills and old manor farms often built above the Roman farmhouses ruins, give us proof of a culture which is able to live in harmony with nature.
Within The Madonie Regional Park, there are the most ancients rocks of Sicily set up during the Triassic period.
The highest and most spectacular summits of the mountain range are Pizzo Carbonara ( 1979 metres), San Salvatore Mountain ( 1912 metres), Monte Ferro ( 1906 metres), Monte Ouacella ( 1869 metres) and Monte dei Cervi ( 1656 metres).
Even if they belong to the same mountain range they all have their own characteristic. Whether curved or sharp, whether protected by flora or bared, they decorate the territory by outlining valleys, plateau, highlands, crags and slightly rolling ridges.
Inside the Madonie Park, which fills only 2 % of the Island surface, there is more than half of the Sicilian plant species like many endemism.