On 25 September 1534 baron Antonino Gravina signed a contract with a group of Albanian refugees of Greek rite: thirty families would come to rebuild the burnt village and farm the fief, and in exchange within three years they would have houses.
The Albanians came, but here — unlike the other Arbëreshë colonies in Sicily — they lost rite, language and customs within a few generations: they had brought no priest. The town stands at 490 metres below the Ganzaria mountain, whose name comes from the Arabic and means, more or less, the place of the wild boars. There are 3,463 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
Compare hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes on Booking.com for your dates.
Next up: Saint Michael the Archangel, patron with a seven-hour Good Friday procession, Sunday 5 September
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 60 km away
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of September
San Michele di Ganzaria celebrates Saint Michael the Archangel on the first Sunday of September; on Good Friday the procession called «Signuri ô Munti» is held, lasting about seven hours and accompanied by the town band's funeral marches.
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 Michele di Ganzaria, but an easy day trip away.
