Montalbano’s virtual tour: the places of the TV series in the South of Sicily

We all know the fictional town of Vigata as the place where Inspector Montalbano’s adventures take place.

“Vigata” is not a real town, but it is created from a lot of many different corners of beautiful South of Sicily’s cities and villages.

The most popular TV series, aired for the first time in 1999, was filmed in the area between the cities of Ragusa and Agrigento.

Episode after episode, Vigata starts to have the features of the Ragusa old town and of all the little villages that surround it.

In this virtual tour we will see all the places in which «Il commissario Montalbano» was filmed. It will be an useful guide if you are interested in spending some time walking through the streets in which the lucky TV series was set.

To discover the Montalbano’s places you don’t have to wait for summertime: you can explore that beautiful Sicilian area during all the year.

To reach it, you have to book one of the ferries for Sicily departing every month from the main Italian ports.

Tour nella Sicilia di Montalbano: i luoghi da vedere

• Punta Secca, Santa Croce Camerina: where the Montalbano’s house is located
• Vigata police station and Montelusa police Headquarters in Scicli
• Ibla district in Ragusa: where they filmed the exterior scenes
• Donnafugata castle is the Balduccio Sinagra’s locked house
• Montalbano’s places: corners of Sicily where time seems to stop

Punta Secca, Santa Croce Camerina: where the Montalbano’s house is located

The landscape you can see from Montalbano’s house is one of the most beautiful of all the TV series and it makes million of fans dream.

In the famous seaside area of Punta Secca, in Santa Croce Camerina town, Montalbano uses to relax swimming in the early morning or looking at the sunset that seems to be painted.
He dedicates time to his relationship with Livia walking with her on the seaside or having candlelight dinner in the terrace of his house.
In this location you can also see crime scenes like dead bodies’ discoveries.
Punta Secca is one of the most important location in every season of this TV series.
In the real life, the Montalbano’s house is a bed & breakfast even if during the past decades it was a famous Sicilian lawyer’s summer house in which a lot of important people spent some time, such as the writer Andrea Camilleri.

In the town of Santa Croce Camerina there are also the ruins of the Greek colony of Kamarina, dated 598 BC.

Vigata police station and Montelusa police Headquarters in Scicli

In the Baroque town of Scicli there are two more important buildings of the series «Il commissario Montalbano»:

• Vigata police station, which was created inside the Town Hall;
• Montelusa police Headquarters, which was created inside Icono palace.

Scicli is a wonderful town in the Val di Noto and it was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2002.

This is a perfect place where to spend a holiday discovering amazing monuments and churches.

Ibla district in Ragusa: where they filmed the exterior scenes

In the TV series «Il commissario Montalbano», Ragusa Ibla is the Vigata’s central square and here they filmed a lot of external scenes.

A keen eye can recognize Piazza Duomo and the San Giorgio’s Church as the main typical elements of the place.

This particular district of Ragusa is very populated and one of the most beautiful places in the South of Sicily.

Donnafugata castle is the Balduccio Sinagra’s locked house

Our virtual tour discovering the main Montalbano’s places goes on with the Donnafugata Castle.

In the TV series, fans know this building as the locked house of Balduccio Sinagra but, in the real life, this is one of the most beautiful Sicilian castles.

We highly recommend to visit it if you are planning to travel in the South of Sicily.

Montalbano’s places: corners of Sicily where time seems to stop

All the places we described are the main locations in which «Il commissario Montalbano» was filmed. They are visible in every single episode of the eight Seasons.

There are many other places of Sicily that we can see in this TV series: cities and town where the time seems to stop, recalling the typical atmosphere of Camilleri’s writings.

Beautiful and relaxing, the Montalbano’s places are visited every year by a lot of tourists passionate about the adventures of the Sicilian detective.