Cefalu

Cefalu (case version)

Location: Italy (northern coast of Sicily, 68km east of Palermo)

Village type: tents then huts.
Year of opening (CM): 1957.
Year of closing: 2005.

As a side note: For anyone interested in the history of Club Med, studying this village is particularly fascinating.

Just like Caprera, Cefalu, before being Mediterranean, will be Magical.

In 1951, the Magic Village association found a site in Sicily to open its second village.

The location that was found is on a rocky cape situated west of the bay of Cefalu, a town in Sicily with its traditional fishing port (wooden boats and barges) and a pretty cathedral.

The place is occupied by a property on which there is a 17th century building (Palazzo), a small chapel and some other ruins such as the remains of an old 16th century tower.
It also offers a real terrace over the whole bay of Cefalu dominated by the Rocca, the name given to the rock which overlooks the historic heart of the city, and closes the bay on the East side.

The village opened on June 13, 1951.

When Club Med took over the Magic Villages in 1956, Cefalù became part of the Trident complex. (The same happened to Caprera.)

The village opened under its new colors on June 1, 1957. The Trigano tents of the Magic Villages gave way to the Polynesian huts of the Club.

Guests can enjoy waterskiing, spearfishing, and camping in the Aeolian Islands. Sailing was introduced in 1959, judo in 1964, and later tennis. The resort has two annexes: Lipari and Salina. A full program of excursions is also available. Sicily is full of ancient and Byzantine treasures to discover.

In 1964, the village became a test site for what would later be called the forums. These forums, held once or twice a week, provided opportunities for exchange and dialogue between specialists (economics, astronomy, physics, cinema, writers) and the GMs (Geneva Masters). They disappeared in the mid-1980s.

Throughout its history, the village burned down several times. The fires were often deliberately set and not accidental. After each fire, the village was rebuilt. 

When it was last opened in 1991 (after a fire broke out), the huts were equipped with lighting! A first for the villages of huts.  

The journey

The first departure in the Club's colors took place from the Gare de Lyon in Paris on the morning of June 1, ¹⁹⁵⁷ , by special train. A stop was made in Naples on Sunday, and that evening passengers boarded a ship for Palermo.
That same year, the option of traveling by seaplane (Paris to Marseille by train) was also offered. Air travel connections were established in 1959. Members could choose their transfers or combine their modes of transport (for example, train and ship to the outbound journey, and plane to the return).

The fact that the village is also bordered by the Palarme-Messina railway line offers the advantage of allowing GM trains to stop at the small station built in 1961 at the village entrance, at the same time as the level crossing. This avoids the need for bus transfers from Palermo to the village. 

Village Chiefs

Jean Balandjian opened it in 1957, Tony Hatot replaced him the following year.
Mehdi Kamali closed the village at the end of summer 2005.

Did you know?

In 1953, the village was transformed into a film set during the filming of a Franco-Italian film, Le Village magique or Vacanze d'amore for the Italian version.

The film was directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, assisted by Pierre Granier-Deferre.
A young actor with a very promising future played the lead role: Robert Lamoureux.
The feature film was released in theaters in 1955 but did not make a significant mark on the history of cinema.
Having seen it, I can say it truly depicts life in the early villages. The journey, the stopover in Rome, the welcome upon arrival, life in the village… It's all there, even a love story!

A second film was shot in the village in 1970. It was "L'Explosion" (The Explosion), a lighthearted crime comedy written by Alphonse Boudard, starring Mylène Demongeot and Frédéric de Pasquale. Pierre Tornade and Paul Préboist were also in the cast. The film was released in 1971. It wasn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece either! Let's move on!

And today.

After many years of uncertainty, of announced and then cancelled start dates for work, of negotiations and discussions between different local stakeholders concerning the site, nature also intervened in 2016 with a forest fire that reached the village, the fire in the Pallazzo, the village transformation work finally began in early 2017.

The construction project lasts approximately 18 months. The new Club Med in Cefalù opens for the summer 2018 season.

The village of huts is gone; today the site is occupied by a 5-Trident Exclusive Collection resort.
The little Santa Lucia chapel is still there, thank goodness!

The first village chief in this new story is Barq Guessoum