The town was called San Giovanni de Nemore, of the wood. Then, in 1444, Etna's lava came down this far and stopped in a point in front of a shrine holding an image of Saint John: since then the name has been the one everybody knows, la Punta.
At the sanctuary of the Ravanusa they tell another story: a girl who fainted while praying, given up for dead, and opened her eyes again — the Madonna «found». The 1693 earthquake razed the village, which then had twelve hundred inhabitants; a comune of its own since 1817, it now counts 22,049 residents, many arrived from Catania over the last thirty years. Carmen Consoli comes from here.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint John the Evangelist, patron of a cathedral whose litter goes out to the square, Sunday 27 December
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 12 km away
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📅 Every year, on 27 December and the first Sunday of September
San Giovanni la Punta celebrates Saint John the Evangelist on 27 December and the first Sunday of September; in the morning the saint's processional litter is carried to the cathedral's central altar, while in the evening it goes out accompanied by traditional fireworks.
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo inside a golden cone-shaped crust: in Catania it is masculine and pointed, and the quarrel with Palermo over the name is serious.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside San Giovanni la Punta, but an easy day trip away.
