During the First Punic War (264–241 BC), Roman sailors reportedly discovered a submarine freshwater spring off this coastline, inspiring Acquedolci's literal name: "sweet waters". Long before becoming a modern town of 5,744 residents, it served as a mule-exchange stop on the ancient Consular Valeria road, earning a spot on the historic Peutinger Table map.
The current urban layout dates directly to 1922. When a devastating landslide struck nearby San Fratello, displaced locals relocated downhill to establish this settlement. Acquedolci remained a dependent district until securing full municipal status in 1969. Today, its cultural distinctness survives in the spoken word, with older residents still using a Gallo-Italic Sicilian dialect.
Palazzo del Municipio
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma · Pitone messinese
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Next up: Saint Benedict the Moor, the first black saint of the Catholic Church, Sunday 4 April
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 78 km away
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📅 Every year, on 4 April (liturgical date) and on 7 August, when the feast is celebrated solemnly
Acquedolci celebrates Saint Benedict the Moor on 4 April and, solemnly, on 7 August: born in San Fratello around 1524 to African slaves, he was the first black saint of the Catholic Church, and the parish dedicated to him is the only one in Europe bearing his name.
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 →A thin sheet of dough folded into a half-moon and fried, with escarole, tuma cheese, anchovies and black pepper inside: Messina’s street food, to eat hot straight from the rosticceria.
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 Acquedolci, but an easy day trip away.
