Madonie and Natural Reserves

Madonie Regional Natural Park

The undisputed star of the Madonie Regional Natural Park is the flora. A botanical paradise with peaks reaching 1,979 metres above sea level, it is home to more than half of the 2,600 species found in Sicily and to approximately 150 of the 200 species found uniquely in this area (endemics). The most famous is the Abies Nebrodensis, and here there are 29 of these fir trees of only about 50 existing in the entire world.

The fauna present here includes 65% of the nesting birds and all the mammals present in Sicily. The area’s geology and landscape are also very important. From several vantage points it is possible to observe extraordinary views of landscapes as far away as Mount Etna, the Nebrodi Mountains and the Aeolian Islands.

Every detail is painted on the canvas of Nature: the sunrises and sunsets are tinged with such beautiful colours that at times they take on an almost unreal appearance.

The Madonie Regional Park can be reached by car from Villa Dafne in about 20 minutes.

Cooking Lessons

If you love the Sicilian cuisine and would like to learn to prepare with traditional methods, then you are in the right place!

Our cooking lessons are conducted by the chef (who is also the pastry chef) of Villa Dafne's restaurant and his staff. An unforgettable learning experience about the secrets of traditional Sicilian cuisine.

We provide products, raw materials and our experience, it is up to you to bring passion and enthusiasm!

The cheeses

Villa Dafne is an agro-livestock company that for more than three generations has cultivated crops and raised animals with full respect for the land, animals and people.

The Mascarella brothers are specialists in cheese production, and the business is run in a fully sustainable way in order to constantly protect the territory’s ecosystem and ensure that its products are healthy and of top quality.

Meats and sausages

The Meats
 
The meats used at Villa Dafne come from our own livestock: the butcher carefully prepares selected cuts of veal, lamb and pork, which our chef then uses to prepare the various menus.
Our freshly cut meat: suckling lamb, roast beef and veal chops, veal steaks and stew, roasts and braised veal, pork steaks, leg of pork, fresh sausage.
Our Preparations: roulades, sandwiches, burgers, kebabs, stuffed sausage, pork fillet, peasant-style suckling lamb, braised veal with wild herbs, leg of pork with Sicilian citrus fruit.