ETIMOLOGY AND HISTORY

According to historical tradition, the village was originally called Montana. Later the name was changed into Montano to be called, eventually, Montano Antilia.The etymology of the name Montano is quite understandable as the country is located at 766 m above sea level and, on the southwestern slope of Mount Gelbison.As for "Antilia", however, it would seem that the name derives from the union of two Greek words "ante" and "elios": the meaning is “in front of the sun”The lack of historical documentation in the territory has not made it possible the reconstruction of the origins of the village. The local tradition, in fact, states that the origins of Montano Antilia are linked to the Romans who would have conquered the hill to attack the Greek colonies in southern Italy.This legend is confirmed by the archaeological research which allowed the discovery, in Piano Bombace, of a Roman necropolis. It seems that, because of the ravages of the Saracens on the coast, the town has been moved higher up giving origin to the village of Montana that arose as a farming village above a small spring. The first "pagliare", in fact, were built on top of a source that turned into a public washhouse, called "Funtana vecchia”.With the arrival of the Normans in the eleventh century, the territory of the village was organized through the construction of gardens, intersected by stone walls.Montano developed as an urban center in the twelfth century.Until 1727 it was a farming village in the employ of Cuccaro Vetere and then become an autonomous village, as a fief of Monforte. In 1828 from Montano began the Filadelfi revolt led by Canon De Luca, the municipal clerk Pietro Bianchi and his wife Alessandrina Tambasco Bianchi.The current old town keeps alive the architectural features of the past that visitors can recognize in its urban layout. The focus is represented , in fact, by the Church at the center of the village from which narrow streets and houses close to each other depart, as a vivid evidence of the ancient settlement.

The palaces of the families who controlled the village are still visible and have not affected the urban setting of the town which, as mentioned, has preserved its urban characteristics. These complexes, built between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, still maintain intact their architectural features, with the structures divided into two complementary parts: the ground floor and the upper floor. The first still presents the functional traits of food’s conservation: cells and coopers in the North; barns, wood, stables and pigsties in the south side. On the top floor there are the reception rooms, bedrooms and kitchens. In the ancient village there is also the architecture of the SS Annunziata, built in 1466, with a Latin cross plant with a single nave, which underwent restoration in 1700.In the Church visitors can admire the the eighteenth century frescoes representing the Annunciation, St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ in the Jordan River and St. Vincent Ferrer. In 2013, they added a valuable series of paintings by the contemporary artist Stefano Trapani.It is worth mentioning the bell tower, with a majolica clock located in the central square of San Nicola. Among the precious pieces of architecture in the old town there is also the Monforte building, the chapels of St. Anne, St. Anthony and St. Sebastian and the Holy Stairs built in the '600 and located in the upper part of the village.The population has always had a steady relationship with the surrounding area, used for agriculture. The products include chestnuts, cheeses and cured meats. The country also boasts ancient craft traditions that have been kept alive by local craftsmen: in particular, the art of wood carving that is practiced especially in the nearby village of Massicelle.The town has very beautiful natural areas, like the tourist and natural itinerary "Ponte di Mastromicco-Casale Carosiello" which allow visitors to see places of uncontamined nature and to rediscover the traces of the intervention of Italian-Greek monks, visible in the ancient watermills.