Page 175 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily

NOR THEASTERN SICIL Y  173

q Acireale
Road map F3. * 53,000. V Catania
Stazione, Centrale Piazza San Giovanni
XXIII. @ Messina–Catania. n Via
Scionti 15 (095-895 249). _ San
Sebastiano (Jan); Carnival, tra-
ditionally costumed procession (Good
Friday & Aug); Santa Venere (Jul).
Acireale stands on a lava terrace
overlooking the Ionian Sea in the
midst of citrus orchards. Since
Roman times it has been famous
as a spa town with sulphur baths.
The present name of the town
refers to the myth, sung by Virgil
and Ovid, of the cyclops
Polifemo, the shepherd Aci and
the nymph Galatea. It is the
largest town on the eastern side
of Mount Etna and has been
destroyed time and again by
eruptions and earthquakes. It
was finally rebuilt after the 1693
earthquake, emerging as a jewel
of Sicilian Baroque architecture.
The heart of town is Piazza
Duomo, with its cafés and ice- The Chiesa Madre at Zafferana Etnea, on the eastern slopes of Etna
cream parlours. Acireale is
dominated by its Cathedral, built w Zafferana Etnea permanent agricultural fair
in the late 1500s. The façade has Road map E3. * 8,000. @ AST bus which, besides selling local wine
two cusped bell towers covered from Catania (095-746 10 96). n Pro and produce, has old farm
with multicoloured Loco, Piazza L Sturzo 1 (095-708 28 25). implements on display.
majolica tiles. The
Baroque portal leads Famous for its honey, Zafferana Environs
to the vast interior Etnea lies on the eastern slopes Down the road towards
with its frescoed of Etna and is one of the towns Linguaglossa is Sant’Alfio, a
vaults. In the right- most often affected by recent town surrounded by vineyards
hand transept is the lava flows. The most destructive and known for the huge 2,000-
Cappella di Santa eruptions occurred in 1852, year-old tree called “Castagno
Venera, the patron when the lava reach ed the edge dei cento cavalli” (Chestnut tree
saint of the town. On of town, and in 1992. The heart of 100 horses). According to
the transept floor is a of Zafferana is its large tree- legend, the leaves of this
meri dian marked out lined main square, dominated famous tree once protected
in 1843 by a Danish by the Baroque Chiesa Madre. Queen Jeanne d’Anjou and her
astronomer. Piazza The square is also the home of a retinue of 100 knights.
Duomo also boasts
Baroque detail, the Palazzo I Malavoglia
Acireale Comunale, with a
Gothic door and a Published in 1881 in Milan,
fine wrought-iron bal cony, and I Malavoglia (The House by the
Santi Pietro e Paolo, built in the Medlar Tree) is a masterpiece
17th century. Close by is the by novelist Giovanni Verga (see
Teatro dei Pupi, known for its p26) and of Italian verismo. Set
puppet shows, and the on the Riviera dei Ciclopi at Aci
Pinacoteca dell’Accademia Trezza, it describes the harsh life
Zelantea, with works by local of fishermen and their constant
painter Pietro Vasta, whose struggle with the sea. The
paintings also appear in the Toscano family, “I Malavoglia”, The beach at Aci Trezza, the setting for
town’s churches. The main street, are “all good seafaring people, I Malavoglia (1881)
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, just the opposite of their
crosses squares such as Piazza nickname” (malavoglia means ill-will). In 1947 Luchino Visconti
Vigo, with Palazzo Pennisi di made a film inspired by the book, La Terra Trema.
Floristella and San Sebastiano.

172-173_EW_Sicily.indd 173 11/3/16 2:10 PM