The town was called San Ferdinando, after the king who in 1849 had put it together by joining two shore villages. Then Garibaldi passed through: in 1860, thanking them for a donation, he wrote «Nizza» — his own city — and in 1863 that became the name by decree.
By the 1849 decree the new comune received 241 hectares of woodland from Fiumedinisi, which to this day form a detached island of hillside: the Bosco San Ferdinando, larger than the coastal strip where the town stands. In 1929 Nizza was downgraded to a hamlet of Roccalumera, and got its town hall back only on Christmas Day 1948. There are 3,723 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma · Pitone messinese
Compare hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes on Booking.com for your dates.
Next up: Saint Joseph, patron «aeque principalis» together with the Madonna Assumed into Heaven, Friday 19 March
Nearest airport: Reggio Calabria, 23 km away
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on 19 March; the co-equal patroness is the Madonna Assumed into Heaven, celebrated on 15 August
Nizza di Sicilia celebrates Saint Joseph on 19 March, patron «aeque principalis» of the town together with the Madonna Assumed into Heaven, whose feast instead culminates with the procession of 15 August and descends from the ancient Sagra di Treaire.
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 Nizza di Sicilia, but an easy day trip away.
