Sicily Folk High School
Folk high school in Sicily
Welcome to Sicily Folk High School – a Danish folk high school abroad for adults
In 2023 we opened the doors to our folk high school in Sicily for the first time, far out in the countryside on an olive farm. We go in October, so that we can help the family who owns the farm we rent with the big olive harvest. We have also chosen October because it is then not too hot to hike.
For now, our courses in Sicily focus on hiking, culture and food.
At Sicily Folk High School we have chosen to stay in the lush south-eastern part of Sicily, at the foot of the Iblei mountains. The area is farmland planted with olive groves, vines, orange and lemon groves and endless plantations of almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios. The vast market gardens supply the rest of the island and the mainland with sun-ripened tomatoes, aubergines, fennel and courgettes, and many of the island's 200 different herbs grow on the slopes and in the valleys around the mountains.
We are in the Ragusa region, where some of Italy's most beautiful baroque towns lie like pearls on a string; including Ragusa Ibla and Scicli. We will experience those too. In this lovely area we have found a wonderful old wine and olive farm, which sets a genuine Sicilian mood for our week on the beautiful Mediterranean island.
We meet the family and we meet the cook, Anna, who makes the most wonderful food for us entirely from scratch, with homemade pasta in all sorts of forms.
Courses in Sicily
Photos from Sicily Folk High School
The weather in Sicily right now
This is how you stay at Sicily Folk High School
The folk high school's primary house – and the setting for our folk high school – is the family-owned, historic and very authentic Villa Zottopera, which lies just outside the small town of Roccazzo at the foot of Chiaramonte Gulfi and the Iblei Mountains. About 12 participants stay here, and we also have another lovely house, Terre Iblee, located 3 km away, which can accommodate 8 participants. Both houses have lovely outdoor areas with a pool and sun loungers, among other things.
Every morning the participants are collected at Terre Iblee to be driven in the folk high school's minibus to our shared activities at Zottopera. Most days start with morning exercises, singing, meals and talks here. Villa Zottopera is an olive and wine estate that produces extra virgin olive oil and several red and white wines.
Villa Zottopera was built more than 400 years ago as a walled baglio, which was the name for a larger Sicilian farm. In the past, many people lived within the farm's walls, working the land together and sustaining a small community. A priest, a policeman and farm labourers who worked in the fields lived here, as well as the landowner who ran the farm. 300 years ago the farm came into the ownership of the Rosso family, and today Alfredo, Giuseppe and Marcello Rosso head the estate.
The place is full of atmosphere in the garden, the chapel and the old cellars and barns where the olive oil was pressed and stored. Around the farm lies the olive grove with 2,500 olive trees, and the vines stand in neat rows with old Sicilian grape varieties such as Nero d'Avola and Frappato. The Rosso family work hard to continually refine their farming, and they frequently win international awards, especially for their organic extra virgin olive oil.
In the large garden the pool is surrounded by pines and palms, carob and orange trees, bougainvillea, jasmine bushes and flower pots with the season's blooms, as well as a kitchen garden where the cook Anna, who lives on the farm and prepares all our meals, grows vegetables for the kitchen.
