Cefalù (gro) The brand new “Planetario del Parco delle Madionie” is located on the crest of the over 1800 meters high Monte Mufara and allows with its two huge telescopes deep insights into the universe.. From the densely forested Monte Mufara it is 15 kilometers as the crow flies to the picturesque town of Isnello, located over 1000 meters below, which was built in the Middle Ages around a probably Aragonese fort. Isnello lies about 20 kilometers south of Cefalù, the popular seaside resort on Sicily’s north coast. Cefalù and Isnello are rightly hoping for a powerful tourist boost from the Planetaium.
Nasa is also interested in space exploration.
The location of the new double observatory electrifies astronomers all over the world. On the one hand, there is the location in the extreme south of Europe, and on the other hand, the relative remoteness with little air and light pollution from densely populated centers. Even Nasa, the U.S. space agency, is vividly interested in the Sicilian planetarium, which is equipped with state-of-the-art technology. No wonder that providers of vacation homes and apartments recommend a visit to the planetarium, which is open to all guests of the region, as an attractive destination.
Place for experiments and education.
The new planetarium is an enticing destination not only for scientists and vacationers but also for school classes and student groups. The “Planetario del Parco delle Madonie”, moreover, is not only equipped with high-tech, but also very well equipped with didactic equipment. Even a Nobel Prize winner, the U.S. physicist Georges Fizgerald Smoot, who was honored with the highest prize of his guild in 2006, recently praised the planetarium of Isnello in the highest terms. Not least because the technical equipment makes it possible to communicate with the universe and, via the Internet, from Monte Mufara and from the heights of the Madonie (which is also a hiker’s paradise) worldwide.
Bobbin lace work on the altars of the churches.
Those who vacation in Sicily and visit the wooded Madonie, however, should not limit themselves to looking at the sky. The small town of Isnello with its approximately 1500 inhabitants is well worth seeing and awaits with lovingly run hotels and restaurants. A special feature is that in Isnello the art of lace making is still alive. The women of the Isnellesi, as the locals call themselves, are proud to make the precious, artistically designed altar cloths for their churches themselves, be it the cloths for the main church, the city’s cathedral, which is dedicated to San Nicolo di Bari, the city’s patron saint, or the cloths for the churches of San Michele and Rosario.