La storia del B&B - La casa di Montalbano - Affittacamere a Punta Secca

"Facing a stupendously blue sea and a Saracen tower, motionless memory of perilous times, in an area warmed by an ever-living sun, stands La casa di Montalbano. Bright dawns and golden sunsets open and close the day of those who come to this site to enjoy hours of serenity" (Giuseppe Micciché).

Live a unique experience

The house was chosen by director Alberto Sironi in 1998 as the main location for the famous TV series. The B&B ‘La casa di Montalbano’, the accommodation business, on the other hand, is the brainchild of Ivana Micciché, owner of the tour operator Discovering Sicily, who, after having gained a long experience in the tourism sector outside the area, decided to return to her homeland and put all the experience she had accumulated at the service of the territory. In those years, the filming of ‘Il Commissario Montalbano’ began and the entire troupe, for the first time, made its entrance into the province of Ragusa. Until then, this strip of Sicily was not included in the regional tourist circuits and therefore unknown to most, despite the artistic and cultural magnificence present and with no less than 18 monuments that were declared World Heritage sites in 2002.

In the spring of 2003, Ivana Micciché asked the lucky owners to take over the management of the house with the intention of turning it into an accommodation business, starting a bed & breakfast. It was an immediate success. The news that such a charming and enchanting place, the dream of so many admirers and fans of Camilleri's pen and his Commissario, could be lived ‘di pirsona pirsonalmente’, staying even just one night, decreed its success. The fiction has been sold in 65 countries around the world and Punta Secca and the province of Ragusa have become among the most popular destinations for international tourism, restoring to this area of Sicily the fame and glory it deserved.

Here, time seems to stand still, away from the stress of the cities you can catch your breath, the hands of this small town are slow and marked by the sound of the sea. Further south of Tunis but in Italy, a place where history and Baroque architecture are complemented by the privilege of a still unspoilt natural environment with free beaches and a sea always kissed by the sun. We are in Sicily, at Punta Secca, a small seaside hamlet in the municipality of Santa Croce Camerina, in the province of Ragusa.

The house was originally a warehouse for salting sardines, acquired in 1904 directly from the state property. It is now a three-storey building of 110 square metres each, with the two famous verandas directly overlooking the sea. The smaller veranda on the ground floor belongs to the Montalbano holiday home, with its own entrance. The larger veranda on the upper floor belongs to the Bed&Breakfast La casa di Montalbano, with the entrance facing the new small square in honour of Andrea Camilleri. Four double/twin bedrooms, 3 of which have a sea view and are furnished with period furniture belonging to the family and all with en-suite bathrooms.

The famous terrace overlooks the enchanting sandy beach (a recurring image in the TV series), which due to its position resembles a boat suspended in the sea. An ideal place to enjoy the patient wait for sunsets with ever-changing colours and shapes every day, where the artist remains a mysterious
incognita. Questa sarà la location della vostra prima colazione, tra lo scricchiolio di un caldo cornetto e un caffè che non è mai abbastanza lungo per non staccare gli occhi dal mare. Marmellate siciliane, latte fresco, croissants, succhi, yogurt,pane, pancarrè, formaggio e pomodorini locali, dolcetti, cornflakes e frutta fresca contribuiranno a lasciare in voi il ricordi ed il sapore di una Sicilia accogliente e calorosa.

As admirers of the literary Montalbano know, the places used by Camilleri often have fictional names; however, the places in the fiction are almost all in south-eastern Sicily. The area in which Luca Zingaretti roams, playing the role of the Commissioner, is mainly concentrated in the Ragusano area, a destination for many curious people and lovers of the series, who go in search of the traces of Montalbano.