Castelbuono, immersed in the luxuriant landscape of the Madonie.

The village of Castelbuono extends gently between valleys and hills a few kilometers from the Tyrrhenian Sea , immersed in the luxuriant landscape of the Madonie . The fortune of the town is due to the Ventimiglia family who settled there in 1316 building the castle , still today the fulcrum and symbol of Castelbuono. 

Today used as a Civic Museum , it hosts in the space in front, in August, “l'Aruccata di li Ventimiglia” , a costume party that commemorates the family of the same name.

Today used as a Civic Museum , it hosts in the space in front, in August, “l'Aruccata di li Ventimiglia” , a costume party that commemorates the family of the same name.

 Castelbuono with its oak and ash woods.

The urban expansion has found an important element in the axis that connects the castle to Piazza Margherita , the heart of the town, where there is a sixteenth-century fountain and the church called Matrice Vecchia.

The castle.

The castle is imposing with its square plan and corner towers and inside the Palatine Chapel is decorated with stuccoes executed in 1683 by the brothers Giuseppe and Giacomo Serpotta as well as the silver urn that contains the relics of the patron saint of Castelbuono, Sant ' Anna .
Castelbuono

The church.

Built in the 14th-15th century on the site of a pagan temple and dedicated to the Assumption , with four naves, the church is characterized on the outside by a beautiful Renaissance portico and a massive bell tower.

Inside, the grandiose polyptych of 1520 attributed to Pietro Ruzzolone and the numerous frescoes including the fourteenth-century ones depicting the Consecration of the Virgins are to be admired .

The Naturalistic Museum.

The Francesco Minà Palumbo Naturalistic Museum is housed in the former convent of Santa Venera and boasts important collections including minerals, fossils and a herbarium that collects the entire spontaneous flora of the Madonie .

Continuing on Via Umberto I you arrive at the church called Matrice Nuova , built in the seventeenth century and rebuilt following the damage of the earthquake of the early nineteenth century and rich in stucco.

From here you go up towards the late medieval church of San Francesco, remodelled in the 18th century, to arrive at the 16th century church of the Capuchin convent, inside which there are precious wooden sculptures and paintings from the 17th century.

The church dates back to the 14th century. The restorations have brought to light some elements of a previous construction of the thirteenth century. 

The building has undergone several alterations over time and currently mixes the Roman-Gothic, Catalan Gothic and Composite-Chiaramonte styles.

Finally, the adjoining library contains important ancient texts such as a collection of local natural history, with 500 tables depicting plants and birds.