A few more from Sicily

A few morning hours on our last day in Sicily allowed us to make a couple of brief stops in additional locations.

We first drove up to Castelmola, a veritable balcony over Taormina. Here is the view towards Taormina from one of Castelmola’s terraces.


Castelmola is the tiniest of villages, literally one mountain road, a few side pedestrian passages, and several sweeping-view terraces at the edges. The remnants of this Roman arch show the way to the ruins of fortifications at the highest point of the village, dating back to the early 9th century.

We did not go up there. The rain was pouring hard – Sicily was shedding significant tears at our impending departure. I kept the camera mostly underneath the jacket and, therefore, have very little to offer in terms of visuals.



We then drove towards Catania with another brief stop in Acireale. It is a significantly larger town and certainly cannot be truly appreciated in just about an hour. The weather improved, allowing us to properly admire the ensemble around the central Piazza del Duomo.

The cathedral, dedicated to Maria Santissima Annunziata, is on the left side of the perspective. On the right-hand side is Basilica of Peter and Paul. Both in their current form were rebuilt after the same earthquake of 1693 that we have mentioned in the past.

Just a block away is another Baroque masterpiece, Basilica San Sebastiano, also rebuilt in the same timeframe.


In fact, there are plentiful Baroque details here or there in Acireale just as in Val di Noto. After all, Acireale is closer to Catania than any other towns with which the latter shares the WH honors.



And a couple of non-Baroque details.


Acireale will certainly feature as a lengthier stop on our itinerary whenever we return to Sicily.

But our time on this beautiful island came to an end. We drove to Catania airport and flew to Rome for a couple of days in the Eternal City.