Gratteri

Gratteri is a village of 853 people, 680 metres above sea level, on the northern side of the Madonie Park (Parco delle Madonie), 17 km from Cefalù. People call it the terrace over the Tyrrhenian: from its streets you see the coast as far as Monte San Calogero, above the gulf of Termini Imerese. Above the village is the Grotta Grattara, the cave of the Befana legend, and to the south the Norman ruins of the Abbazia di San Giorgio.

You come here for half a day from Cefalù, or for a summer festival: between July and September the village has food festivals, processions and an early music festival with twenty years of history.

Gratteri at a glance

The main figures, with sources at the bottom of the page.

Where	Northern side of the Madonie Park, above Cefalù
Altitude	680 m at the town hall (ISTAT)
Population	853 (ISTAT estimate, 1 January 2026)
Area	about 38 km²
From Cefalù	17 km, less than half an hour by car
Patron saint	San Giacomo (25 July and early September)
Don’t miss	Grotta Grattara, Abbazia di San Giorgio, Via Fiume

A short history

There are two theories about the name. The historian Francesco Maurolico linked it to a mountain called Cratos; others think of the Crati, the stream that comes down from Pizzo Dipilo and runs through the village. The name of the Grotta Grattara may have played its part too.

People were already here at the end of the Bronze Age: a hoard of axes and a ring was found in the area and is now in Palermo. Under the Normans the abbeys of Sant’Anastasia and San Giorgio were founded. The first known lord of Gratteri is a certain Guglielmo, mentioned in 1112; then came the Monforte and, from the fifteenth century, the long barony of the Ventimiglia.

The castle stood on the rock of San Vito. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was demolished and its stones were used for the new mother church. A gallery of pointed arches survives under the Matrice Vecchia.

Things to see in Gratteri

The Grotta Grattara

It is a large cave at the foot of Pizzo Dipilo, above the village. In the middle is a boulder hollowed into a basin by water dripping for centuries. You climb to it from the San Nicola plateau on a winding path through the pine wood.

The cave is also a story. According to the village tale it was the home of the Befana, a vecchia strina, who on the last night of the year came invisibly down the chimneys to fill the stockings of Gratteri’s children. The cave’s spring, with a dove above it, also appears on the town coat of arms. The park’s other caves are in our guide to Madonie gorges and caves.

The Abbazia di San Giorgio

South of the village, among oak woods, stand the walls of the church of an abbey founded around 1140 by Duke Roger. It was entrusted to the Premonstratensian canons, perhaps from a French canonry. The three-nave outline, the apses and the portal with Norman-style decoration survive. You reach it on an easy path of about 1.7 km from the upper part of the village.

The village churches

The Matrice Vecchia, dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo, was built by the Ventimiglia in the first half of the fourteenth century, next to the castle: one of its bells bears the date 1390. The Good Friday procession leaves from here.

The church of Santa Maria di Gesù dates back to the twelfth century and has belonged to the Franciscans since 1313; the convent next door is now the town hall. Inside is the Ventimiglia funerary monument in coloured marble. The fifteenth-century church of Sant’Andrea has a gilded wooden statue of the saint signed by Francesco Reyna in 1690. The church of San Giacomo, from 1686, holds the statue of the patron saint.

Via Fiume, the bridges and the clock tower

The Crati stream still flows under Via Fiume, dividing the old village from the new one. Along the street are the three medieval bridges and a cistern, the Fantina well, covered after the war to let cars through. From the small square of Ponte Silvio, the Salita Orologio, called Via dei Saraceni until 1900, leads up to the clock tower, one of the village’s symbols.

Near the small church of San Giacomo is u cabbubbu, a stone structure for collecting rainwater. In front of the mother church, in a small garden, stands the Fontana della Ninfa.

Things to do in and around Gratteri

• The two walks: to the Grotta Grattara and to the Abbazia di San Giorgio. From the abbey a path continues to Santa Maria del Pedale and Collesano.
• The sea: Cefalù is 17 km away. You can stay by the sea and come up to Gratteri for the day.
• Music: at the end of August, the Early Music Festival, with free concerts in the church and the square.
• Nearby villages: Isnello is 14 km away, Collesano 17.

More ideas on the page things to do in Gratteri.

When to go

Summer is the liveliest season: the small feast of San Giacomo on 25 July, food festivals in August, the music festival at the end of the month and the main feast in September. For walking to the cave and the abbey, spring and autumn are better. Holy Week is worth the trip for the Sulità. Check the weather in Gratteri before you go up.

How to get to Gratteri

From Cefalù take the SS113 towards Palermo and then the SP28, which climbs to the village. From Palermo take the A19 to Buonfornello and then the same road. Distances are calculated on OpenStreetMap.

From	Distance	Driving time
Cefalù	17 km	about 30 min
Palermo	68 km	about 1 h 15
Catania	179 km	about 2 h 30
Isnello	14 km	about 20 min
Collesano	17 km	about 30 min

We have not found official, up-to-date bus timetables for Gratteri: for now a car is best. Roadworks and closures are on the page about Madonie roads. For all roads and connections there is the guide on how to get to the Madonie.

What to eat in Gratteri

The village speciality is vastedda fritta, a leavened bread fried on the spot: it has its own festival in mid-August. The other is purpietta c’addauru, a meatball cooked in bay leaves, celebrated with the meatball festival at the Ganci Battaglia viewpoint. For other local produce, see our guide to Madonie food.

Festivals and events

• Sulità, on Good Friday: the procession of the four confraternities, introduced by the Spanish in 1612, leaves the Matrice Vecchia and crosses the village to the sound of drums.
• San Giacomo: small feast on 25 July, main feast in early September with the procession of the relic and the statue. Festival page.
• Vastedda fritta festival and meatballs in bay leaves festival, in August.
• Early Music Festival, the last week of August.

All dates are on the page about events in Gratteri.

Where to stay and where to eat

There are very few places to stay in the village: the one we know is in where to stay in Gratteri, together with tips for Cefalù and Isnello. Places to eat are in where to eat in Gratteri.