Pantano is located in the Commune of Rometta (Me), 5 km from the homonymous motorway crossing of the Messina-Palermo highway and under the provincial road linking Rometta Mare to Rometta Monti.

The village is composed of about forty buildings, developed in two arrays along the ground level lines. Pantano’s origins date back to the XV century, and it has been inhabited until the first half of 1900. The importance of the settlement has led various Corporations to back up its restoration.

The building material used was stones, with the  opus misto technique. Along the main path “a ciappe di pietra” [made with big blocks of stone], it is possible to catch a glimpse of the ancient millstone which still preserves its original structure. Passing an arch, we reach the little square overlooked by the Madonna of the Graces Church, still open to worship twice a year (May – July). Turning right we direct our steps along a charming path, where it is possible to catch a glimpse of the ancient life in every house, until we reach the wash-tub which was the local women’s meeting point. From here it is possible to distinguish the carruggio and admire the ruins of the tower called “of the nurse”. Going ahead we reach the panoramic point where we can admire the surrounding mountains and amid them the sea and the Eolian Islands.

As the village’s traditions represent the innermost peculiarities of the environment from both a historical and sociological point of view, they stand as a collective cultural heritage.

Historical archive

The Commune of Rometta's historical archive is an interesting source of information for those  who wish to get news and curiosities about the town’s past. It is the case of Act Grecs de S. Maria di Messina- Enquéte sur le Populations Grecques d’Italie et de Sicile (XIe-XIVe S.) by André Guillou. A chapter of the book is about a juridical text written in Greek, but probably translated from Latin, related to the assignment of a vineyard and of some fruit-trees by Balda, a component of the Latin Nuns of Messina’s diocese, to John Calabro, a townsman of Rapano. The payment he had to give in return was of 1 tarion and 10 kokkia every year. The scholar informs us that the original text is a parchment kept in Paris’ National Library and heavily damaged by humidity; it was composed of two parts, the second of which is lost. However from the text, dating 1304, it is possible to get a glimpse of the local society: it was written in Greek because John Calabro probably spoke that language, contrary to Balda who spoke Latin. The majority of  the other characters cited in the document limited their signing to a cross, being incapable of writing. Also, their names have such linguistic characteristics as made Guillou think they could well be Greeks of Sicily or of Calabria. The text depicts a rural society, with a low instruction level but still influenced by the different cultures which at different times  rooted in the territory, also proving the existence of Rapano and St. Andrea’s settlements yet in the Medieval era.