Overview
Sante Marie is a small village, nestled in an area of great beauty and cultural, artistic and gastronomic richness, surrounded by chestnut woods and a generous land. In the village you will have the opportunity to visit two unique museums of their kind: the Brigandage Museum and the Mu.M.A.
The brigandage exhibition-museum illustrates with documents, photos, letters and period weapons the phenomenon that characterized the area in the past. The capture, on 8 December 1861, right at the gates of Sante Marie in Casale Mastroddi, of the brigand Josè Borjes, a Catalan general sent to Italy to restore Francis II to the throne, is emblematic. Visiting the rooms of the museum you can take a closer look at all aspects of the pre- and post-unification period, through the clothing of the time, communications and armaments.
The Mu.M.A.- Multimedia Museum of Astrophysics, housed in the rooms of Palazzo Colelli, offers a modern exhibition where you can get closer to the beauty of the Cosmos guided by expert staff, for a journey into science.
We also suggest you a visit to the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, built in the 16th century. Inside it has Baroque style altars and several altarpieces; on the main altar there is a sixteenth-century polychrome terracotta statue of the Madonna and the organ dates back to the 18th century.
To live a unique experience, we invite you to reach the Grotta della Luppa Regional Nature Reserve, part of the "Appennino Parco d'Europa" sustainable development project. The Reserve is characterized by the presence of extensive woods, mostly chestnut groves, which have allowed the Municipality of Sante Marie to be part of the National Association of Chestnut Cities.
The "Chestnut Food and Wine Trail", a route marked by information panels through the chestnut groves and the local artisanal and food and wine traditions historically linked to them, passes inside it. You will also come across the Luppa cave, also called "sinkhole", a destination for expert speleologists, which can be visited with the help of a guide.
Why don't you immerse yourself in this autumnal nature, with its delicious flavours and bewitching colours?
Sitting down to eat in Sante Marie is an absolute must. A perfect menu might be tagliolini made with Solina wheat and white truffle, gnocchi made with turquoise potato and white truffle, lamb with fine black truffle. Then, of course, you cannot miss garnishing it all with some local chestnuts. Delicious, isn't it?