Myth ties it to Acis, the shepherd loved by Galatea and killed by Polyphemus: his blood, they say, became the river that names the town. Acireale is the capital of Catanese Baroque in lava-and-white stone — Piazza Duomo and San Sebastiano above all — and of the carnival Sicilians rank the island's finest, its flowered floats parading twice a year.
Below runs the Timpa: a cliff-edge nature reserve with the old Chiazzette path descending to the fishing hamlet of Santa Maria la Scala. Granita with brioche, here, is a matter of identity.
Near Acireale
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
