Inspector Montalbano is my favourite Italian TV series and was based on novels written by Andrea Camilleri. Many of the scenes were filmed in Ragusa. Vigata was the fictional Italian town where the TV series was based.
The novels were translated into more than thirty languages and the TV fiction was followed in 65 countries all over the world.
From 1999, the Montalbano series were filmed in the alleys of Ragusa, the squares of Ibla, the Hyblean Gardens, the Trabacche Cave and the Castle of Donnafugata
My mum and I used to watch the programme together on BBC 4, a British channel. It would start at 9pm on Saturday nights. The film provoked us into talking about aspects of both Sicilian and Italian society. The one we talked most profoundly about was the portrayal of women in the series which we believed reflected Italian society well. After visiting Sicily I feel its portrayal of Italian women has a strong ring of truth to it.
I like to start a 6am walk down the stairs to Iblea, Ragusa, searching for where the scenes from this film were shot.
