Area description for Villa Deodata

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Rates & avialability per week

Period	Price
High season 28 jun - 1 aug 2008	800.00 €
August 2 aug - 29 aug 2008	1100.00 €
High season 30 aug - 26 sept	750.00 €
Med season 27 sept - 31 oct	450.00 €
Low season 1 nov 2008 - 27 feb 2009	400.00 €

Rates & avialability per night

Period	Price
High season 28 jun - 1 aug 2008	130.00 €
High season 30 aug - 26 sept	120.00 €
Med season 27 sept - 31 oct	80.00 €
Low season 1 nov 2008 - 27 feb 2009	70.00 €

Rates & avialability per month

Period	Price
High season 28 jun - 1 aug 2008	3600.00 €
August 2 aug - 29 aug 2008	4000.00 €
High season 30 aug - 26 sept	2600.00 €
Med season 27 sept - 31 oct	1600.00 €
Low season 1 nov 2008 - 27 feb 2009	1400.00 €

Located only 1.5kms from the village of Sant'Ambrogio where one can shop at the minimarket, eat at the Pizzeria or seafood restaurant that is located in the centre of the village. The pebbly/sandy beach of Sant'Ambrogio is 2 kms from the house, there's free or paid parking nearby or you can park your car in the village and walk via the steps that lead to the beach (need to cross-over the SS113).

• extra costs of Euro 50.00 for final cleaning and Euro 5.00 per day for reverse clycle air conditioning.
• Linen, gas, electricity is included in the price

Reservations & Contacts

Villa Deodata/Ref: 6607
Owner Name	Ms Carmela Angela Ricciardello
Tel	+39 0921 999011
Tel	+39 3495763215
E-mail	Send E-mail
» Please read before contacting the owner
* Please, mention HolidayHomes.ORG

Note:

Cefalu

There is more than a slightly Arabic feel about the warren of streets in the centre of town, but it was the Normans who left the strongest mark on Cefalù, in particular in the cathedral with its striking four-square twin towers and honey coloured stone, which is the focal point of the town. Built by Roger I between 1131 and 1240, as an act of thanks after surviving a shipwreck nearby, the cathedral is one of the great Norman masterpieces. The interior is all soaring, clean lines and peace, and the eye is drawn immediately – as it is intended to – to the breath-taking mosaic Christ Pantocrator in the apse, which has been described as the one of the most perfect representations of the Redeemer in all Christian art. The cathedral’s columns are a prime example of the Sicily’s endless cultural interminglings, having been reused from a Roman Temple. Cefalù also boasts an interesting museum, the Museo Mandralisca which contains a variety of archeological and artistic artefacts, and part of the Palace of Roger II – the Osteria Magno.
CELEBRATIONS
January, 6: EPIPHANY
Generally a parade that follows Befana (an ugly old witch-like woman who gives presents to good children and coal to the bad ones) around the streets of the town.
February: CARNIVAL
Typical of this festival are masked parades, allegorical carts, and dances.
A particular culinary tradition is also associated with this event, the preparation of the so-called lasagni cacati, which is a plate of pasta with a sauce of sausage and fresh ricotta. Traditional Sicilian sweets are also eaten.

March, 19 S. GIUSEPPE
On the day of the festival itself there is a procession with an effigy of the Saint on a pallet (in dialect “ ‘a vara”), whilst on its eve fires known as the “Vampa di San Ciusieppe” are organised. The typical sweets of this occasion are the soft sfinci, simply made of flour and eggs and then fried before being covered in a kind of creamy ricotta.

April: EASTER
The religious traditions of Easter, starting with the Holy Week and Palm Sunday, are eagerly followed in Cefalù.
On Good Friday the touching Solenne Processione (“Solemn Procession”) winds through the city’s streets behind the sacred images of the dead Christ and Mary Our Lady in Sorrow.
Palm Sunday focuses on the usual blessing of olive branches and palms, with the latter woven together following an ancient tradition.
On Easter Monday (the so-called Pasquetta, “little Easter”) everyone gathers to “satari i vadduna” (jump the torrents), or just to ramble in the countryside.
The food on offer is rich and varied: bullock’s meat and grilled sausages are the protagonists, as well as artichokes, sardines and boiled eggs.
The locally produced wine – amber in colour and with a decisive taste – is in abundance. And, literally sweeter-than-sweet, the Easter sweets known as pupa cull’uovu are biscuits of various shapes (baskets, lamps, fish, doves) containing whole eggs. These baskets are covered with sugar and then decorated with coloured sugar known as riavulicchi.

May, second half: TROFEO FLORIO
The Historical Rally known as the “Trofeo Florio” is part of the European Historic Sporting Rally Championship and the Italian Rally Trophy. Participating teams come not only from Italy, but also from France, Germany, Czech Republic, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States. Furthermore, some members of the famous “English Historic Motor Racing” club also take part, including the well-known collector Jason Stuart Wright. The rally finishes on the city’s G. Giardina seafront road.

June, up to the 15th: CORPUS DOMINI
On the day itself a procession follows the SS. Sacrament, whilst on its eve one of the oldest popular traditions of Cefalu takes place, the “Fruottola” or Feast of Bread. This is a kind of profane procession which does not involve the clergy, composed of a cohort of floral arrangements preceded by the ancient flags of the Corporation of the viddani (“peasants”), a vestige of the old festival of the Guilds and Corporations which lasted eight days (an “Ottava”). The procession, which has many children, is led by the tammurinaru (“drummer”). Characteristic of the procession are the participants who hold a stick with a kind of ring of bread known as cucciddatu stuck on the end, il fercolo rappresentato da un ostensorio, and some trees from whose branches fruits hang, and elaborate compositions of plants and flowers of various themes, though the most common represent mietitori [harversters], donkeys, doves and even the Cathedral of Cefalù.

July, 2: SS. SALVATORE ALLA TORRE
Already the focus of the festival held to mark the Transfiguration, here he is celebrated with the attribution of the title SS. Salvatore alla Torre (“of the Tower”), known in dialect as Sarbaturi Nicu (Little Salvatore) or Sarbaturieddu (Salvatorello in Italian).

August, from the 2nd to the 6th: SS. SALVATORE
These five days witness Cefalù’s most important festival, dedicated once again to SS. Salvatore, who is in fact the city’s patron saint, and after whom the Cathedral is named.
During the afternoon of the 2nd of August a flag of SS. Salvatore is run up a flag-pole stuck on the roof of the cathedral, accompanied by banging of firecrackers and the playing of a band. There is no lack of festivity in the procession and the Solemn Mass in the Cathedral, two events in which not only citizens and the clergy take part, but also the military and civil authorities. Over this period the city is animated by a series of concerts and sporting events as well as the famous fireworks and festive street lights.
On the closing day of festivities, the 6th of August, a profane ritual linked to the sea takes place, the so-called 'ntinna a mari (“antenna on the sea”). A long pole – the “antenna” – is suspended over the water from the edge of the dock, and Cefalù’s best-balancing sailors compete to grab a flag hung from its furthest end.
The most particular dish of the event is the pasta a tianu (“al tegame” in Italian, “pan-fried”) flavoured with meat sauce, fried aubergines, abundant basil and pecorino cheese.

June-October: INITIATIVES
Throughout the summer a number of institutional events attract both the general public and visitors. Alongwith the city council’s initiatives are those of the businesses of some of the historic centre’s most important streets, who organise mostly gastronomic and musical events (there is no shortage of feasts, such as that dedicated to pesce azzurro (“blue-fish”: mackerel, sardines, anchovies and their ilk) in September, and the Beer Festival in the same month, or the new Festival of Ice-Cream in October, attended by both Italians and foreigners).

December, 8: L’ IMMACOLATA
The Immaculate, who has been another Patron of the city since 1954, is the protagonist of this religious festival characterized by an imposing procession following a representation of the Virgin Mary.

December, 13: S. LUCIA
This is the festival in memory of a miracle linked to the saint. It is said that in 1645 the Master Shoemaker Vincenzo Combi stayed late for work, and thus disrespected the abstinence from work one undertakes in respect of St. Lucia. It seems that as the shoemaker was punching holes in the sole of a shoe with his awl three drops of blood dripped from one of the holes.
The shoe mentioned above is preserved in the Church of S. Lucia and it is possible to see it during the Masses celebrated there every 13th of December (the Church can be found within the boundaries of the Club Med, and the Management allows the public to witness the display of the reliquiary via access from a path leading from the end of the seafront road G. Giardina).

December, 24-25: CHRISTMAS
During the Christmas period, other than the usual (but always splendid) Christmas lights, nativity scenes, decorations and events, Cefalù offers an incredibly ancient historical tradition: this is the Ninnariedda, a kind of Christmas carol performed in the city’s streets.
Amongst the typical foods are the unmissable catuobisi biscuits of pastry filled with dried fruit.

December, 31: S. SILVESTRO
New Year’s Eve is dedicated to children.
The evening’s protagonist is the Vecchia Strina, a shrivelled and toothless old hag who according to tradition comes down from the Rocca where she lives, and goes and distributes gifts to children. Whilst the old woman gives out her sweets, a dense crowd follows her around the city’s streets by the light of lanterns.

Cefalu

One of the jewels of the Sicilian coast, Cefalù is dramatically sited on a headland, under a great, sheltering, rocky outcrop. It is from these two features, the headland and head shaped rock, that Cefalù’s name is thought to derive, from the Greek Kephale, or head. In a prime coastal location it was settled by the Sikels, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs before the Normans arrived in the 11th Century and built the dramatic cathedral which gives the town its heart. Cefalù’s narrow streets, full of character and lined with shops and restaurants, and beautiful central square, invite holiday-mood meanderings. In more recent years it has become a very popular holiday resort, but it has retained a bustling fishing village atmosphere and a rare combination of outstanding monuments and beautiful sandy beaches.

Sicily

Visitors to Sicily are often overwhelmed by the richness of the history of this small island. Some of the best Greek archaeological sites are to be found here, as well as Roman catacombs and aqueducts, resplendent Byzantine mosaics, and stunning Arab and Norman architecture. Whilst its heartland, deforested by the Greeks to provide arable fields, is home to some of the poorest peasant lifestyles left in Western Europe. To get under the skin of Sicily you need to dissociate it from its modern character as a province of Italy, and explore each of the diverse cultures that have prized this fascinating island, for whom it has been seen as a precious jewel in the Mediterranean.

Maps of Sicily today will normally show its position only as a triangular island floating off the toe of the boot-shaped Italian peninsular. However, to really experience Sicily, you need to find a larger map, and see its strategic location relative to the whole of the European continent, and particularly to Greece to the east, Spain to the west, and North Africa to the south as well as to Italy to the north. Lapped by three seas, and with an ideal climate and diverse and fertile landscape where you can drive from snow peaks to orange groves in dazzling coastal sunshine in a few hours, it is easy to see why Sicily has proved so irresistible to its neighbours throughout its long history. Colonized by the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Saracens, Normans, Swabians, French, and Spanish, each new invading force found some way of reaping benefit from the wealth of the island, and each left its distinctive imprint, in its towns and cities, countryside, language and cuisine. Sicily is a true melting-pot of myriad, diverse cultures and unlike anywhere else in Europe.
Places of interest Palermo, Monreale, Segeste, Agrigento, Siracusa, Noto and Piazza Amerina. The climate in January the middle of winter the average temperatures on the coast is around the 10 deg.C. The hottest months are July and August where the temperature are around 33°C to 40°C