Monte della Madonna: sanctuary, castle and lighthouse
The headland that gives the town its profile. Above, a sanctuary of 1600 built on the ruins of a castle; below, a lighthouse of 1904 flashing twice every twelve seconds. How to climb, what you see, and when to do it.
The shape you recognise from far off
Arriving from any direction, the first thing you see of Capo d'Orlando is the headland: a sandstone rock breaking away from the coast, with a white church on top and a red lighthouse at its foot. From a distance the sanctuary seems to hang in mid-air, because of the way the rock falls away beneath it. It's the town's emblem, and also the point from which the geography of everything else makes sense.
1598: the night of the Raffa brothers
The story people here tell begins one October night in 1598. The Raffa brothers, guardians of the castle then watching the headland against pirate raids, heard noises on the open ground before the tower. By tradition San Cono, patron saint of Naso, appeared to them and left a small statue of the Madonna in their keeping. The figure was taken to Naso — Capo d'Orlando came under it at the time — but a series of earthquakes, harmless as they were, convinced people it should return to where it had been found. San Cono and the other feasts →
1600: twenty thousand people
Bishop Francesco Velardi della Conca instructed Count Girolamo Joppolo to build a church on the summit, at the spot tradition had indicated. The work took under a year, and on 22 October 1600 the sanctuary received the Madonna: the chronicles record a procession of over twenty thousand people who came from all over Sicily. That date is still the patron saint's feast, and every year people climb the same stairway at dawn.
The castle that became a presbytery
Of the castle, ruins remain beside the church. Legend attributes its construction to Charlemagne, in honour of the paladin Orlando; documented history tells instead of a military post badly damaged by a siege in the 15th century. When the sanctuary was built, the ruins weren't demolished but absorbed into the buildings for priests and pilgrims. Which is why, walking around the church, you pass from seventeenth-century walls to much older ones without noticing.
What's inside
The church has a single nave with three chapels. On the high altar stands a silver copy of the statue: the original was stolen on the night of 11 December 1925 and never recovered; the copy was made the following year. There are also two paintings by Gaspare Camarda, a seventeenth-century Sicilian artist: The Adoration of the Shepherds and The Crucifix between two praying monks. A word of warning: the church isn't always open, and more than one visitor has complained about it. If getting inside matters to you, check the mass times before climbing.
The stairway, and how many steps there really are
You climb on foot only, up a stairway punctuated by the bronze relief stations of the Via Crucis, with flat landings and benches to catch your breath. On the number of steps the sources disagree: some say 230, others «over three hundred», one counts 304. We have no way of settling it, and we'd rather say so than pick one at random — what matters is that it's about ten minutes of continuous climbing, hard in the heat and trivial in cool weather. On the height too, sources vary between eighty and a hundred metres.
What you see from up there
East, the bay of San Gregorio with its sea stacks, and beyond it Capo Calavà towards Gioiosa Marea. West, the coast running on towards Sant'Agata and, on clear days, the rock of Cefalù. Ahead, the Aeolian Islands. And below, the town from above, with the harbour and the two bays opening on either side of the headland. The climb passes through real Mediterranean scrub: myrtle, rosemary, wild fennel, caper, mastic.
The lighthouse, at the foot of the mount
Below the rock stands the lighthouse, the other half of the emblem. Built in 1904, it is an octagonal masonry tower ten metres high, red terracotta with white trim, attached to the keeper's house. The light sits twenty-seven metres above sea level and shows two long white flashes every twelve seconds, visible up to sixteen nautical miles, some thirty kilometres. It's an active light: from the sea at night, it still marks this stretch of the Tyrrhenian.
When to climb
Early morning or late afternoon. At midday in summer the stairway is exposed and shadeless, and you feel it. At dawn the sun comes from the east, from the San Gregorio side, and lights the coast; at sunset the light strikes the mount from the side and the Aeolians sharpen. Bring water, wear closed shoes — the steps are uneven — and allow a good half hour for the climb, a pause and the way down. The six sunset spots →
Frequently asked questions
How many steps lead up to the Sanctuary in Capo d'Orlando?
Sources disagree: some say 230 steps, others over three hundred, one counts 304. In practice it's about ten minutes of continuous climbing up a stairway marked by the stations of the Via Crucis, with landings and benches along the way.
Can you drive up Monte della Madonna?
The sanctuary is reached on foot only, by the stairway. It is the same route used for the procession on 22 October, the patron saint's feast day.
When was the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima built?
In 1600, at the behest of Count Girolamo Joppolo on the instruction of Bishop Francesco Velardi della Conca, beside the castle ruins. It was completed in under a year and on 22 October 1600 received the statue of the Madonna, with a procession of over twenty thousand people.
What can you see from Monte della Madonna?
East, the bay of San Gregorio and Capo Calavà; west, the coast towards Sant'Agata and, on clear days, the rock of Cefalù. Ahead lie the Aeolian Islands, and below the town with its harbour and the two bays either side of the headland.
When was the Capo d'Orlando lighthouse built?
In 1904. It is an octagonal masonry tower ten metres high; the light stands twenty-seven metres above sea level and shows two long white flashes every twelve seconds, visible up to sixteen nautical miles.
Keep reading
«Sapore di sale» was written here
The definitive Italian summer song wasn't born on the Tuscan coast. It was written in Capo d'Orlando in 1963, during a month Gino Paoli hadn't planned to spend here — and which changed his mind about where he wanted to live.
Villa Piccolo, the house of The Leopard
Three siblings who might have stepped out of a novel, a poet discovered by Montale because of a postage error, and a room where Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote looking at the island that would give his prince his name. Fifteen minutes from the centre.
Capo d'Orlando on foot: three walks
«We have two hours — where should we go?» is the question we're asked most. Three routes you can walk without a car: the centre, the seafront out to the lighthouse and the lagoon, and the harbour circuit up to Scafa.
Related destinations: Capo d'Orlando.
Stay in Capo d'Orlando
A base in the centre — and everything else becomes a day trip.
The port for the Aeolians is 45 minutes away, the Nebrodi right behind. Breakfast served early for dawn departures.
Direct booking, no intermediaries · See the rooftop →