The most beautiful villages in Italy form a network for slow tourism

   There is a beautiful Italy yet to be discovered which is making a substantial contribution to the revitalization of the Belpaese's tourism sector and which represents a new and different way of travelling.

This is the message launched during the XXIII national assembly of the "Most Beautiful Villages" which opened in Sambuca di Sicilia (Ag) in the presence of mayors and administrators from 345 Italian municipalities that are part of the association.

Small resilient communities able to act as a barrier to the depopulation of inland areas and to offer the visitor culture and beauty.

As the national president of the Fiorello Primi association underlined in his speech.

"The network of the most beautiful villages in Italy was born in 2001. The

    A role also underlined by the director of Enit Sandro Pappalardo, who underlined the added value represented by the Italian villages in what is defined as "experiential tourism" compared to the cities of art.

    Pappalardo recalled that on April 19th the agreement between Enit and the Association will be renewed for the purpose of promoting the most beautiful villages in Italy on international tourist circuits.

Another agreement was stipulated with the Union of Pro loco d'Italia, represented by the president Antonino La Spina, for "support to local administrations in the activity of territorial animation".

    The regional councilor for cultural heritage Francesco Paolo Scarpinato instead recalled how the association is strongly rooted in Sicily, where in the past four municipalities have won the title of "most beautiful village in Italy": Gangi, Petralia Soprana, Montalbano Elicona and Sambuca in 2016. "Just in these days - he added - we are celebrating the designation of Agrigento as Italian Capital of Culture in 2025 and the nearby Menfi as Italian City of Wine 2023. It is the victory of an entire territory that has been able to tell its story as happened right here in Sambuca".

    The reference is to the sale of houses for 1 euro in the historic center, which has recorded over a hundred purchases by foreigners, who have come from all over the world, who have chosen the village near Agrigento for their "buen retiro".

    "The Italy of beauty and hidden treasures restarts from our village - commented the mayor of Sambuca Leo Ciaccio - to tell of the objectives achieved and to share a possible development, on a human scale, and of slowness as a value for regaining possession of a territory".

It is no coincidence that the symbol of the town is a snail which represents the "slow" lifestyle of the villages.