In the heart of the Iblei Mountains, near the Valley of the river Anapo and Pantalica, today a Unesco heritage, there is the Restaurant Pizzeria La Castellina, an elegant establishment, surrounded by olive trees and the typical colours of the Sicilian countryside, built on ruins this former manor house belonged to the Sortino- Valguarnera family.
Following the terrible earthquake that struck the whole of Val di Noto in January 1693, a few members of the Palermo cadets were invited by the Marquis of Sortino, Pietro Gaetani, to move to the new site under construction. It seems that the first family to settle here was just what the noble Antonio Valguarnera needed, charged with overseeing the interests of Sortino Marquis.
In the second half of the Valguarnera they married into the family and the Sortino Mascalucia district feud remained for about a century causing a divide among the heirs. The early twentieth century the fief was reassembled under one owner: Aurelio Sortino Valguarnera. It was he who transformed this country residence into the structure that can be seen today and which, in 1939, he devoted himself to his wife Lina. Hence the name “Castellina”. Aurelio Sortino Valguarnera are the stylized initials and are inscribed in the shield that stands in the middle of the central tower.
Abandoned for decades, today, thanks to the love and dedication of the current owners who wanted to keep the original layout, the feud is back, a splendour offering customers a cosy fully integrated structure within the surrounding area.
