The town grew because of malaria: down in the fief of Mojo the air was sick, and people preferred to climb this hillside, where it was better. It had been founded in 1626 by Giovanni Lanza, and two years later Malvagna was already a principality.
In 1928 the fascist regime joined Malvagna and Mojo into a single comune called Lanza; the two were separated again in 1947. Of the Lanza castle nothing is left: it was demolished, and part of the town hall stands in its place. What remains is the Franciscan convent of 1720, a pipe organ of 1822 and, outside the village, the Byzantine cuba. There are 794 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma · Pitone messinese
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Next up: Saint Anne, patron of a town with a rare Byzantine cuba, Sunday 25 July
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 51 km away
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📅 Every year, on the last Sunday of July
Malvagna celebrates Saint Anne on the last Sunday of July, in the mother church built around 1930 after the demolition of the old one; the town also preserves the Byzantine cuba, a rare trichora-plan building.
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 Malvagna, but an easy day trip away.
