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THE STRUCTURE
The Majore restaurant and workshop, where "pork is magnified" not by profession, but according to a serious gastronomic tradition dating back to 1896, overlook Via dei Martiri Ungheresi, one of the narrow streets that, still brimming with charm, crisscross the center of Chiaramonte Gulfi, perched on the eastern edge of the Iblei Mountains.
The same sense of restraint and good taste, conveyed by the Baroque reconstruction after the 1693 earthquake, is felt upon entering the Piazza del Duomo. A convivial square, a sunny lounge. The pomp and splendour of marble, stucco, velvet, silver, and crystal imaginable, however, is contained beyond the main door of Santa Maria La Nova, as in the city's other churches.
On the opposite side of the beautiful square, at number 4 Via Marconi, Casa Majore has opened. The restaurant, meat processing plant, and inn are all within walking distance. Casa Majore, housed in a 19th-century building, harks back to the family's history, with a kitchen and rooms above the restaurant.
Between the 1940s and 1950s , the Majore family offered seven rooms at the Albergo Stella on Via Martiri Ungheresi to travelers and notables—the magistrate, the elementary school principal, merchants, and passing officials. The spirit of the old hotel has been transferred to Via Marconi, with six new apartments: a studio, four one-bedroom apartments, and a three-bedroom apartment. All apartments are self-contained and have a kitchenette with an induction stove, refrigerator, microwave, and espresso machine. Breakfast is served at home, but for lunch and dinner, guests can dine at the Majore restaurant or order a menu, which, as is the house's custom, is delivered to their home. Each apartment is named after a local fruit: Lemon, Orange, Olive, Almond, Carob, and Pomegranate.
Sicily is the land of oranges, of flowering soil whose air, in spring, is all a fragrance. But what makes it a land worth seeing and unique in the world is the fact that from one end to the other it can be defined as a strange and divine museum of architecture.
(Guy De Maupassant)
Gallery
Sicilian spring begins in January, and as the plants bloom, it becomes a witch's garden: mint sprouts on the banks of the streams, the dead trees are garlanded with dog roses, even the brutal cactus puts forth tender flowers. So I'm not afraid of the arrival of winter: what better prospect than sitting in front of the fire and waiting for spring?
(Truman Capote)
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