Page 274 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Cappuccini monastery

April–Sept Tues–Sat 9am–1pm & 4–7pm, Sun 4–7pm; Oct–March Tues–Sat 9am–1pm & 3–6pm, Sun 3–6pm •
Donations requested

Signs in Savoca point you to the Cappuccini monastery, whose catacombs contain a
selection of gruesome mummified bodies. These are the remains of local lawyers,
doctors and the clergy: two hundred to three hundred years old, they stand in niches

dressed in their eighteenth-century finery, the skulls of less complete colleagues lining
the walls above. An added grotesque touch is the green paint with which the bodies
have been daubed, the work of vandals and hard to remove without damaging the
cadavers. Ask the custodian and you’ll probably be shown the church treasury as
well, which holds a small collection of liturgical books and seventeenth- and
eighteenth-century Bibles.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: SAVOCA

By bus Frequent Jonica buses (Mon–Sat only) connect Messina with Santa Teresa di
Riva, from where there are six connections daily to Savoca. From Taormina, take an

Interbus service to Santa Teresa and change there for Savoca and Casalvecchio.

EATING AND DRINKING

Bar Vitelli Piazza Fossia 7 334 922 7227. Set in an appealing wood-panelled,
stone-flagged eighteenth-century building, this offbeat delight was used as the setting

for Michael Corleone’s betrothal to Apollonia in The Godfather. A few words of
Italian might nudge the woman behind the bar into recounting her memories of the
shoot – she’s something of an expert on all the Godfather films. There are numerous
mementoes of other episodes in the bar’s past inside, and tables under the pergola
outside. In summer, the signora will probably persuade you to sample her delicious
lemon granita, which she makes daily, along with a range of snacks. Daily, usually

8am–8.30pm.

< Back to Messina, Taormina and the northeast

Casalvecchio Siculo

2km from Savoca • Served by bus from Santa Teresa Riva via Savoca

The only road beyond Savoca along the ridge runs the 2km to CASALVECCHIO
SICULO, which has even better views of the valley from its terraces. There’s not

much to detain you here, except the quiet village atmosphere, but walk through
Casalvecchio and, after about 500m, a rough (signposted) road drops away to the left,
snaking down into a lush, citrus-planted valley. It’s about a twenty-minute hike to the