On 5 December, in front of the mother church, they light the Bamparizzu: a great bonfire in honour of Saint Nicholas, which the town has kept up for centuries, on the eve of the feast. Above stands the count's castle, the Castelnuovo that gave its name to the principality and that Alexandre Dumas wrote about as he passed through.
The comune, by contrast, is recent and composite: it was born in 1929 by putting together Bauso, Calvaruso and Saponara-Villafranca, plus two hamlets taken from Messina; in 1952 Saponara went off on its own again. The coat of arms shows a lion holding a sprig of flowering cotton, with the motto Potentior. Between hills and sea, there are 8,748 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma · Pitone messinese
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Next up: Saint Nicholas of Bari and the «Bamparizzu», the boat dragged barefoot through town, Sunday 6 December
Nearest airport: Reggio Calabria, 26 km away
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📅 Every year, on 5 and 6 December, with the «Bamparizzu»
Villafranca Tirrena celebrates Saint Nicholas of Bari on 6 December; on the eve, 5 December, the old tradition of the «Bamparizzu» is renewed: boys dressed as fishermen drag a flower-decked boat barefoot from the harbour to Piazza Castello, as a sign of good fortune.
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 Villafranca Tirrena, but an easy day trip away.
