Under the town there is a hollow world: the Immacolatelle e Micio Conti reserve protects a system of lava tube caves, the tunnels Etna leaves behind when the outer crust of a flow cools while the lava inside keeps running.
The town is named after pope Gregory the Great, whose mother was Sicilian, and it was one of the thirteen casali of Catania: a comune of its own only since 1856, after being under Catania first and then under Aci Castello. All told it covers 552 hectares, one of the smallest territories on the island. The church of San Filippo d'Argirò was built in 1505 by Alvaro Paternò as a family chapel. There are 11,497 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint Gregory the Great, the pope who gave his name to one of Sicily's richest towns, Friday 3 September
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 11 km away
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📅 Every year, on 3 September
San Gregorio di Catania celebrates its patron, Pope Gregory the Great, on 3 September; the town bears the same pontiff's name, whose mother was of Sicilian origin, and was originally one of the thirteen «Casali di Catania».
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 Gregorio di Catania, but an easy day trip away.
