Page 316 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

111 ( 095 326 666); Questura (for police) is at Via Manzoni 8, Piazza S. Nicolella (

095 736 7111).

Post office Main post office is close to the Villa Bellini at Via Etnea 215 (Mon–Fri
8am–6.30pm, Sat 8am–12.30pm).

< Back to Catania, Etna and around

Catania’s beach resorts

The main sandy beaches lie south of Catania, on the wide Golfo di Catania (Viale

Kennedy), but it’s actually the coast north of the city that’s the most popular resort
area. The lava streams from Etna have reached the sea many times over the centuries,
turning the coastline into an attractive mix of contorted black rocks and sheer coves,
excellent for swimming. Consequently, what was once a series of small fishing
villages is now a fair-sized strip of hotels, lidos and restaurants, idle in the winter but
swarming in summer with day-trippers. Incidentally, the prefix “Aci”, given to a

number of settlements here, derives from the local River Aci, said to have appeared
following the death of the herdsman Acis at the hands of the giant, one-eyed
Polyphemus, for having the temerity to fall in love with Galatea, with whom the giant
was also in love. The river is no longer identifiable.

The resorts

The first stop on trains heading north along the coast, OGNINA is a small suburb on
the northern outskirts of Catania, built on lava cliffs formed in the fifteenth century. It
holds a few restaurants, overlooking the little harbour, as well as a campsite.
Continuing up the coast, ACI CASTELLO, 9km from Catania, is a striking place, its
castle rising high above the sea in splinters from a volcanic rock crag. The base of the

rebel Roger di Lauria in 1297, it’s remarkably well preserved, despite many
threatening eruptions and the destruction wrought by Frederick II of Aragon, who took
the castle from Roger by erecting a wooden siege-engine adjacent. The ragged
coastline to the north is popular for sunbathing and swimming and, in summer, a
wooden boardwalk is built over the lava rocks (you pay a small fee to use the
changing rooms and showers).

You could always walk the couple of kilometres north along the rough coast from
Aci Castello to ACI TREZZA, the fishing village at the heart of nineteenth-century
Sicilian novelist Giovanni Verga’s masterpiece I Malavoglia. It is a pleasant resort,
with bars, gelaterie and seafood restaurants ranged along the lungomare.

THE SCOGLI DEI CICLOPI

Aci Castello marks the beginning of the so-called Riviera dei Ciclopi, named after