Petralia Sottana

Petralia Sottana (Pitralìa Suttana) is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in the island of Sicily, Southern Italy. The main characters in Emanuele Crialese's 2006 film of Sicilian immigration to America, Nuovomondo, come from the town of Petralia.

Geography
The Madonie Mountains cover the commune. Petralia Sottana hosts the headquarters of the Madonie Regional Natural Park, in which is included a significant amount of its municipal territory.

The commune is on the border between the Metropolitan City of Palermo and the Province of Caltanissetta. It is bounded by the communes of Alimena, Blufi, Caltanissetta, Castelbuono, Castellana Sicula, Geraci Siculo, Isnello, Marianopoli, Petralia Soprana, Polizzi Generosa, Resuttano, Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Villalba.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms shows three lilies, referring to Lilium Petrae (Stone lily), a possible etymology of the town name.

Main sights

 * Maria Santissima Assunta (Chiesa Madre or Mother Church), known from the 9th century. Of the original building, only a portal in Gothic-Catalan style has survived. The current structure, with a nave and two aisles on the basilica plan, was built in 1633–1680. The sacristy houses a rare bronze lampstand dating back to the Arab conquest of Sicily, with an inscription in Kufic characters
 * San Francesco d'Assisi: 17th century church
 * Santissima Trinità: (1531) church formerly attached to abbey
 * Palazzo del Giglio: current town hall
 * ''Santa Maria alla Fontana
 * Museo Civico Antonio Collisani: Civic museum with archeological and geological-paleontological collections
 * Grotta del Vecchiuzzo, a prehistoric cave where archeological finds dating back to the Late Neolithic were discovered
 * Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Alto

People

 * Luciano Chiara, mathematician
 * Giuseppe Colosi, zoologist
 * Antonio Pucci, racing driver
 * Cesare Terranova, judge and politician killed by the Mafia