Petralia Sottana - Ancestral Town

Petralia Sottana is a medieval town perched atop a mountain in the Madonie region of central Sicily. Everything is made of stone — the houses nestled on top of each other along chaotically winding and steep cobblestone roads. Both of my grandparents were born here, as were their parents and so on. As part of my genealogical research we walked through the cemetery just below the town, hunting for relatives. We walked from there up into town to avoid driving the narrow cobbled steep streets. I discovered family addresses from old documents so we strolled the Pusterna and Casale quarters, thinking that my ancestors walked on these stones, used these fountains…