Nicolosi
Catania

Nicolosi is a characteristic hilly village situated 700 metres above the sea-level, on the southern side of the Aetna, just 15 Km from Catania and not so far away from the beautiful Taormina. In its outskirts there are Zafferana, Pedara, Trecastagni, Bronte, Adrano and other typical small villages of the volcanic hinterland rich in art, tradition and folklore. The locality of Nicolosi, considered as the "door of the Aetna" because always bound to the volcano's life, represents a very good starting point for a guided tour of the craters and it is also the seat of a very frequented skiing resort: with its 20 Km long tracks it offers the pretty unique opportunity to make downhill runs inside a scenery of incomparable beauty, simultaneously admiring in the distance the sea and the gulf of Catania. Worth visiting are: the Chiesa Madre (Mother Church) with its baroque bell tower made out of lava stone, the Monastero Benedettino (Benedictine Monastery), the Museo Vulcanologico dell'Etna (Volcanologic Museum of the Aetna), the Mostra Mercato (Exhibition Fair) of the craftsmanship and folklore occurring in the month of August.