If you are a fan of the Italian Montalbano TV series (Inspector Montalbano in the UK and Detective Montalbano in the USA), I am sure you are impressed by the filming locations. All the places are real, are located in Sicily, and can be visited. Where is Montalbano Filmed? Most of the exterior shooting takes place in the province of Ragusa. However, over 15 episodes have scenes filmed in the Sicilian provinces of Agrigento, Trapani, Siracusa, and Messina. We dedicated this post and many others to explaining how we visited all these famous locations and the map we used for our trip to Sicily. This post is your free tourist guide to all the attractions where Montalbano is filmed in Sicily, including the interactive Montalbano Sicily map. Let’s start!
Table of Contents
Where is Montalbano Filmed
Before we start, let’s clarify that the famous TV series is based on a series of murder mystery fiction books (a genre called giallo novels) written by the Sicilian writer Andrea Camilleri, who assigned a fictitious name to well-known towns and cities in the southwest of Sicily, where he was born.
In the books, Montalbano’s stories, set mainly in Vigata and occasionally in Montelusa (both fictional towns), were adapted for television and filmed primarily in Ragusa province, among other locations in Sicily.
So, Where is Montalbano Filmed? Inspector Montalbano is entirely filmed in Sicily, Italy. The Sicilian provinces of Ragusa, Agrigento, Trapani, Siracusa, and Messina are where Montalbano was and is currently filmed in Italy. Within the province of Ragusa are the most important cities used during the shooting sessions.
Something entirely anecdotal about Inspector Montalbano is that there are no artificial sceneries, staging, or special effects.
Where Does Montalbano’s Story Take Place? As you can see in the map below, the story takes place in different places in Sicily. In the books, Montalbano’s stories take place in the southwest of Sicily (blue circle). However, Montalbano’s filming location is in Sicily’s southeast (red circle).
Montalbano Filming Locations Map of Sicily
To plan your trip, see the map with all the attractions of the Montalbano TV series. How long does visiting Sicily and where Montalbano is filmed take? Plan your Montalbano tour. This map will help you see which areas and distances of Montalbano filming locations you want to know. In addition, we refer to places accessible for people with mobility difficulties. We know that sometimes visiting Sicily is not easy.
Here are all the places where Montalbano is filmed in Sicily (Map).
Where is Inspector Montalbano Filmed in Sicily
Precisely in Sicily, where is Montalbano filmed? Ragusa Superiore, Ragusa Ibla, Scicli, and Punta Secca are frequent scenarios of Salvo’s investigations, Police Station, and beach house.
The Police Station and Montelusa’s Headquaters, where Montalbano’s boss holds the office, are located inside the Town Hall of Scicli, and tourists can visit the stages. Although it is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm, times or days may vary, and it is advisable to contact the Scicli Museum System directly.
On the other hand, Montalbano’s beach house is located inside a bed&breakfast (that used to be a house and previously a fish factory) in Punta Secca, close to Marina di Ragusa. In the stories adapted to the TV, Punta Secca is Marinella, where Montalbano’s house is located. The lighthouse of Marinella is also in Punta Secca, province of Ragusa.
Recommended Post: Where Does Inspector Montalbano Live and How to Get There
Modica, Donnalucata, Sampieri, Ispica, Comiso, Scoglitti, Pozzallo, and Vittoria are recurring scenes, all located within the province of Ragusa.
It is possible to see Salvo Montalbano go to a specific town or another in Sicily, located a couple of hours away from each other, where he conducts his police investigation, depending on the episode.
Inspector Montalbano’s filming locations are real, and tourists can quickly get to know them and access them all by their means. The only part that is not real is the names of some locations that are fiction from the books.
Where is Montalbano Filmed in Ragusa
Where is Montalbano filmed in Ragusa? Montalbano is filmed in Scicli, Punta Secca, Ragusa Superiore, Ragusa Inferiore (Ragusa Ibla), Comiso, Vittoria, Sampieri, Chiaramonti Gulfi, Donnafugata, Scoglitti, Modica, Pozzallo, and Ispica.
In Ragusa Superiore and Ragusa Ibla, these are the places where Montalbano is filmed:
- Piazza San Giovanni and Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista di Ragusa
- Old Bridge of Ragusa (Ponte Vecchio)
- Piazza del Popolo in Ragusa
- The Palazzo Delle Poste and the Comune of Ragusa
- House of Michela Manganaro
- Church of Santa Maria Delle Scale and the staircase with the panoramic view of Ragusa Ibla
- The Cave Gonfalone
- Cave of the Trabacche
- Cathedral of San Giorgio of Ragusa Ibla
- Circolo di Conversazione of Ragusa Ibla
- Ibleo Garden
Montalbano in Scicli
Besides the Vigata Police Station and Montelusa Headquarters, more locations in Scicli where Montalbano is filmed are the following places:
- The Church of San Bartolomeo, the Palazzo Iacono and the Palazzo Fava
- The Spadaro Palace in Scicli is the room of the Mayor of Vigata
- The antique pharmacy Cartia di Scicli located just around the corner from the Church of San Bartolomeo
Montalbano police station is located inside the City Hall (Municipality) of Scicli, in Ragusa, Sicily (in Italian, Comune di Scicli). It can be visited when there is no filming period.
Where is Montalbano’s Police Station? If you want to visit the Vigata Police Station stage, use this address in your GPS “Via Francesco Mormino Penna, 2 (97018) Scicli RG, Italy” or refers to our Interactive Montalbano Sicily Map in Google Maps.
More Places in Punta Secca
Besides Montalbano’s house and the lighthouse, Enzo’s restaurant is a real location in Punta Secca where tourists can enjoy Montalbano’s recipes at Enzo a Mare.
- Arancini (Learn What is an Arancini?)
- Pasta with sardines, Linguine with squid ink, Mussel soup, and more Montalbano fish recipes are available on this website. Just follow the link to our post.
- Cannolo with ricotta “Cannoli” (plural)
- Pasta with broccoli
- Montalbano Pasta Ncasciata
- Sicilian “Caponata”, a garnish for dishes based on aubergine, tomatoes, onions, and olives sautéed in olive oil.
Salvo Montalbano sharing his table with Giovanni Zuccotti (aka John Zuch) played by Dominic Chianese, at Enzo’s restaurant in the episode “A Diary from 1943”.
Do you know that you can visit and spend the night at Montalbano’s house? One of the most common questions we receive from our readers is Where is Montalbano’s house? Montalbano’s house address is Corso Aldo Moro, 44 (97017) Punta Secca RG, Italy
Montalbano in Modica
In Modica, some of the locations where Montalbano is filmed include the Cathedral of San Giorgio, the Cathedral of San Pietro, and the facade of the Palazzo Polara. Also, in Montalbano’s opening credits the huge viaduct Ponte Guerrieri of Modica is a repetitive scene.
Where is Inspector Montalbano Filmed in Siracusa
Here is a complete list of places where Montalbano is filmed in the province of Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily.
- The railway station of Siracusa
- Piazza Duomo in Siracusa downtown
- Palazzo Vermexio and Palazzo Beneventano in Siracusa
- Church of Montevergine in Noto
- Palazzo Nicolaci in Noto
- The Cathedral of San Nicolò and the Palazzo Ducezio in Noto
- Some spots in Portopalo di Capo Passero
- The coast promenade in Marzamemi
Follow the link to see all about Montalbano Sicily Map & Guide in our most recent post with all the Montalbano Locations.
Where Was Montalbano Filmed
Where Was Montalbano Filmed? Although each episode shares common locations, such as Montalbano’s house in Punta Secca and the Vigata Police Station in Scicli, the investigations carried out by Inspector Montalbano can take him to one or another city. Thus, we see different places in Sicily where Montalbano was filmed.
The use of authentic and evocative Sicilian scenery has significantly contributed to the success of the Montalbano TV series, offering viewers an immersion in the culture and atmosphere of the region. However, Vigata and Montelusa are fictional cities.
In the first episode, “The Snack Thief” the cave with houses where we see Montalbano go to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Karima is a natural cave located in the province of Trapani, in the town of Custonaci, known as the Grotta Mangiapane. Likewise, in the same episode, when Montalbano is investigating the alibis of one of the suspects, he is in the Scoglitti’s bus stops on the provincial road SP102 just a 30-minute’ drive from Ragusa city (and a couple of hours from Trapani).
In contrast, in the episode “A Trip to Tindari“, the story takes Montalbano to Tindari, Messina, located at the other end of Sicily, close to Mount Etna. And the film set was located in Tindari, with a majestic exterior view of the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna.
Also, Montalbano was filmed in Siracusa. While more recently, we saw Salvo and Antonia in Siracusa’s railway station in the episode “The Catalanotti Method“, cities such as Noto and Marzamemi in the province of Siracusa are also recurrent scenes of different episodes that surprise the viewer with their baroque constructions.
Likewise, many scenes of the episode “The Mud Pyramid” were filmed in Noto.
A scene from Montalbano’s episode “According to Protocol” was filmed in the Temple of Juno, one of the archeological temples inside the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.
Favignana and Levanzo Islands, San Vito Lo Capo, and Scopello are Trapani locations where Montalbano is filmed in Sicily with scenes in many episodes.
For those of you (like me) who are in love with The Sopranos, the famous actor who played Junior Soprano, Dominic Chianese, is one of the characters of Inspector Montalbano in the episode “A Diary from 1943”. In that episode, Dominic Chianese and Luca Zingaretti share several scenes. One scene takes place in Enzo’s trattoria in Punta Secca, where we learn some of the story behind Giovanni Zuccotti (aka John Zuch). Another scene was filmed inside the Giardino Ibleo in Ragusa Ibla, at the War Memorial.
The town of Chiaramonte Gulfi, located in the province of Ragusa, is one of Montalbano’s filming locations in the episode “The Mystery of the Terracotta Dog“.
In the episode “The Shape of Water“, Montalbano was filmed in the Fornace Penna (the famous Mànnara di Montalbano), located in the coastal town of Sampieri, in the province of Ragusa, Sicily. Sampieri was also a location in the episode “Track of Sand“.
Ragusa Ibla is one of Montalbano’s filming locations, where the episode “The Voice of the Violin” was filmed during the funeral scenes.
Is there an episode of Montalbano that you have yet to see or would like to see again? Watch Inspector Montalbano Online Free English Subtitles
Final Conclusion About Where Is Montalbano Filmed and Where It Was
Where Is Montalbano Filmed in Sicily? Since 1999, Ragusa Superiore, Ragusa Ibla (also known as Ragusa inferior), Scicli, and Punta Secca are the most important cities where Inspector Montalbano is filmed. The towns of Modica, Donnalucata, Sampieri, Ispica, Comiso, Scoglitti, Pozzallo, and Vittoria are also recurring scenes, all located within the province of Ragusa. All episodes have backgrounds in those locations, so viewers feel familiar when visiting these cities. These places are only a few minutes’ drive inside the province of Ragusa in Sicily, Italy. Moreover, it is also filmed in different locations of Agrigento, Trapani, Siracusa, and Messina.
Some of the most famous locations are the Grotta Mangiapane, San Vito Lo Capo, and the Favignana and Levanzo Islands in the Sicilian province of Trapani. The Temple of Juno and the Stair of the Turks, in Agrigento, are also where Montalbano is filmed.
Syracuse, Noto, and Marzamemi are other places where Inspector Montalbano is filmed in Sicily.
Ragusa is Vigata and is a surprising city, not only for its baroque and extravagant architectural style and culinary appeal but also for the variety of ruins and funerary architecture worth visiting in the surrounding area, such as the Cava Gonfalone and the Grotta dei Trabacche.
We hope that you can enjoy all the locations where Montalbano is filmed and that you organize a nice trip to Sicily. We are sure the map will be extremely useful to find them and help you plan your trip to all the attractions of Montalbano and the information you need to enter.
Throughout this article, you may notice that this post is not only to talk about where Montalbano was filmed but also to mention where Montalbano is filmed nowadays. It’s important to say this because two new Montalbano episodes are still left to finish filming and release. After the blow that the Covid-19 pandemic has given to the cast of Inspector Montalbano, with a change of director and part of the cast, after the mentor’s death, Camilleri, two last books deserve to be brought to the screen. And it is mainly the last book, revealed post-mortem, Riccardino, which brings closure to the police stories of Salvo Montalbano. That is why it is so essential for all the fans around the world.
In 2022 Montalbano’s famous house was used as a film set, and again this year. Sicily was also frequented again by Montalbano’s crew. And Luca Zingaretti has been seen a couple of times in 2023 in Sicily. So, we know something good is cooking. As soon as we have the new filming locations, we will update the map so you can continue to travel around Italy and find out where Inspector Montalbano is filmed in Sicily.
We hope that this article which intends to summarize Where is Inspector Montalbano Filmed in Sicily episode by episode, will be useful for you to plan your trip and visit in person every fabulous town and city that appears in the TV series Montalbano.
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