Voted the "most beautiful village in Italy" in 2016, Sambuca di Sicilia offers unforgettable views amidst oriental scents and colours
Ancient Arab streets, historic buildings, the memory of the Zabut amaze travellers with their atmosphere suspended in time In 1923, Zabut was renamed Sambuca di Sicilia at the behest of the Fascist party. A century later, a walk through "li sette vaneddi" (the seven gullies) still reveals the Saracen presence in the town. In this maze of narrow streets, damaged by the Belice earthquake and recently restored, the link with the past is still very much strong and alive: witness the colourful local ceramics on which the alley's Italian and Arabic names alternate.
Once past the Arab quarter, continuing the stroll through Sambuca's town centre, visitors come across several 15th-century palaces: Palazzo Panitteri is certainly the most famous.
Other places of interest not to be missed include the extraordinary nineteenth century theatre and the belvedere, on which the ancient castle of Zabut stood. A panoramic point from which you can admire the splendid Belice Valley with its vineyards, wine roads and the archaeological site of Mount Adranone.