In Linguaglossa, Sophie McLean uncovers a palazzo transformed — part restoration, part creative laboratory — set against the ever-shifting drama of Mount Etna….
There is a quiet magic that covers the slopes of Mount Etna, as if an ancient god dwells within this still active volcano, sprinkling fairydust onto the ground below. Fragments of thousands of years of history are peppered onto the landscape through each plume of smoke, calling the past into the present, and reminding us that mother nature is an ever-active presence beyond what the human touch can only try to render as similarly, viscerally, real.
On the two occasions that I have set foot on these ancient soils, a significant other in my life has either departed or unexpectedly reappeared. People with whom I have shared life-defining history. These soils have also yet been a location for meeting characters-new, those who breathe life into in-the-moment joy, celebrating sides to different objects, ideas, cultures, and relationships.
Since 2023, there is a new concept on Etna that brings all of these things together, in past, present and future. In the north-east town of Linguaglossa, 550m above sea level, Palazzo Previtera is an historically-inspired project realised by Dr Alfio Puglisi and Mariella Principato. This 1649 Palazzo, once Alfio’s grandmother’s summer home, is today a ‘work-in-progress restoration’ described as a living museum, rooms and restaurant, tucked away behind crumbling streets of grandiosity and more simplistic rurality.
Through a lava stone archway, the Palazzo inside is an Aladdin’s cave of colour – modern touches brush with more historic items of furniture, fabric and facilities in rooms that have been gently renovated to serve guests of more modern disposition. Tassel-clad gold and ruby upholstery and solid ceramic bathrooms meet with fresco-decorated ceilings and hand printed wallpaper, while paintings of Puglisi ancestors chime with more abstract modern works of art that Alfio has personally curated. Principato is responsible for the architectural side of things, lending her philosophy hand to the rest of the interiors and hospitality at large.
Beyond the inner courtyard lies a beautiful hidden garden, served to its visitors across multiple layers meaning you never really get a handle on how large it actually is. Fruit trees bear kiwi fruit, pomegranate and papaya that feature on each morning’s charming breakfast menu, delivered from the historic blue and white 1930s kitchen, designed by Raymond Loewy for Franke. The large retro appliances remind me of my own grandmother’s well-preserved kitchen – hers with an accent of London-bus red instead.
There are six bedrooms, each themed around film, music or physical art, and are mostly modern, with two belonging to the older side of the house. Overlooking the garden are two newly built cottages, flanking a room housing the bar and the recent addition of an infinity plunge pool, with open views that gaze onto Mount Etna puffing away in the distance. From here the town’s seven church spires loom, glowing orange as the sun sets.
Evenings here offer an opportunity to dine at the Previtera restaurant, hosted in the ante-chamber that sits between chef’s table and the kitchen, and SARP – Alfio’s art gallery on the ground floor. Local ingredients form a frequently-changing blind tasting menu delivered by two young chefs – baseball-capped Alberto Carpinteri, and Japanese born, Kaita Osumimoto who together are creating their own unique culinary identity.
When I visited, four dishes included Horse meat carpaccio (a Sicilian speciality) with oyster mushroom, walnuts, blueberry and redcurrant; Tagliatelle with chicory, courtyard bottarga and burnt lemon; onglet – or hanger steak (authentically mistranslated as ‘diaphragm’) marinated in Shio Koji with smoked red pepper, and a Modica chocolate ice cream with almond crumble. There are a variety of menus all available to book through the website – starting at 50 Euros per person for under 35s and locals, to 80 Euros per person for the main set menu.
What seems to be a little elusive while dining is the wine list – but a glass of Zibbibo in Pithos 2022 from COS winery in Vittoria (southern Sicily) gives an introductory flavour of the wider wine cellar that I’m told will appear here soon. Alfio also tells me they will launch their own natural wine – a red and a white, made with nearby partners, early next year – a fitting homage perhaps to one of his ancestors, Antonio Previtera who co-created the first Etna DOC wine, named ‘Rabago’.
Fortunately there is plenty of opportunity to visit one of the many excellent, local wineries that dot the slopes of Etna, making waves among the wine world for the quality bottles that continue to be produced from this very specific micro-climate. Girolamo Russo, a short but infrequent train ride away, is my first stop where I meet with Danilo Andronico, a young Sicilian born winemaker, who has returned home after working for significant names in the wine-world such as Giacomo Conterno and Prunotto in Piedmont and Stag’s Leap in California.
Alongside owner Giuseppe Russo, this is his first year taking on harvest here, a very special place: “Etna is an island on an island” he says. In keeping with their own artistic support, beyond the brush strokes their grapes paint in the glass, Girolamo Russo hosts an annual wine and music festival which takes place each August attracting locals and visitors alike (tastings and tickets are bookable via their website).
Other activities of course include hiking Etna’s breathtaking slopes over rugged landscape, exploring the seven extinct craters and visiting the Acantara waterfalls. Culinary escapades include ‘beyond your comfort zone’ cooking classes hosted at the Palazzo and a number of nearby restaurants where local ingredients such as hazelnuts and fennel sausage carve out long-term flavourful muscle-memories. The breathtaking hilltop town of Taormina (made famous more recently thanks to the White Lotus) is also on your doorstep, a gateway to iridescent water, snorkelling and sailing adventures, as well as alfresco concerts hosted during the summer at the Teatro Antico.
Thirty-year-old Puglisi is ambitious in his long-term plans, with much more to come over the next ten years. Primarily though, he is keen to establish and further develop his patronage for the arts by hosting resident international artists to take advantage of his warehouse gallery space and local landscape – Gabriella Garcia is a recent featured talent here, and he welcomes new applications through various international art fairs throughout the year.
In a town where the local church bells chime every quarter of an hour, a stay here underlines how you never know when the past might strike to possibly colour your future.
Currently booking for Christmas and New Year, discover more at www.palazzoprevitera.com.
