Parco Museo Jalari

Parco Museo Jalari is a park of about 35 hectares with an ethnographic museum, stone sculptures and fountains in the Peloritani mountains above Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, in the province of Messina. It lies in the district of Maloto and is one of the “Luoghi FAI”, the places run by the Italian national trust FAI.

What is there to see at Parco Museo Jalari?

The museum is the core of the park: more than 15,000 objects are set out in 42 craftsmen's workshops. Unlike many collections they have not been taken out of their setting but are arranged so that the atmosphere and daily life of earlier times can be followed. Reconstructed trades include a carpenter's shop, a tailor, a smithy, a pottery, a cooper's workshop and the extraction of essential oils from citrus fruit.

Along the paths stand more than 2,000 stone sculptures and fountains, among them about 70 fountains. The paths have names such as “Garden of the Muses” and “Square of Encounters”. More than 40,000 trees grow on the grounds, together with old olive trees, citrus groves and Mediterranean plants.

Who created the park, and what does the name mean?

The park grew out of the work of the Pietrini and Giorgianni families. Mariano Pietrini made the sculptures and fountains and gave the park its underlying idea; his brother Salvatore designed the architecture and the layout of the paths. “Jalari” goes back to an Arabic word for “stone” and is the old name of the area. Stone is also the material the park is built from.

How do you plan a visit?

Admission is charged, and according to the Italian Ministry of Culture a reservation is required. Opening times and current prices are best asked directly at the park before the trip (as of 2026). The grounds also hold an agriturismo with a bistro serving Sicilian cooking with local ingredients, and rooms for conferences. Events take place through the year, for example a grape harvest festival.

After Messina, Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto is the most populous municipality in the Messina metropolitan area, and it reaches the Tyrrhenian coast. Anyone spending several days in the area can combine the park with a day on the Gulf of Tindari.