After a long run and the poll with forty borgos, the winner has been announced: Montalbano Elica, in the Messina area, has been chosen as the most beautiful Italian borgo. According to some, the name “Montalbano” comes from the Latin mons albus (white mount) and refers to the mountains usually whitened in summer by the snow; according to others, it would come from the Arabic al-bana, meaning “excellent place”. The name of Elicona river instead has Greek origin (elikon = winding, meandering) and appears in the 4th century BC.
The most significant historic architecture of the village is the castle which dominates a haphazard and tortuous medieval urban fabric, meandering up and down the alleyways, molding itself to the configuration of the rocky promontory. The little houses constructed in sandstone are filled with authentic history, although in certain places a sense of abandonment is felt which should disappear with the planned restoration works. Erected on pre-existing Byzantine and Arab structures, the upper part of the castle is comprised of a Norman-Suevian fortress, while the lower part is made up of a fortified Suevian-Aragonese palatium (palace).
If you want to learn more about the competition and the other borgos, visit the page www.borghitalia.it
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