Five Sicilian beaches earn the Blue Flag 2012

We are pleased to announce that five Sicilian beaches have been awarded with the prestigious Blue Flag 2012: Menfi, Lipari, Ispica, Ragusa – Marina di Ragusa, Pozzallo. This year Fiumefreddo di Sicilia – Marina di Cottone lost it blue flag status.

The Blue Flag program works towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services.

Photo credits AstroAlbert

Featuring Milazzo, a town in the province of Messina

Milazzo (Sicilian: Milazzu, Latin: Mylae) is a town and comune in the province of Messina, Sicily, Italy.

The city is situated between two bays, one of Milazzo and the east to the west of Patti, in a strategic place in the north-eastern Sicily. Located 43 km from the provincial capital, is part of the metropolitan area of the Strait of Messina, and is the reference point of an area of over 200,000 inhabitants.

Originally a Greek city, and from 36 BC recognized as a Roman civitas, Milazzo is now a tourist destination and a great starting point for the Aeolian Islands, the Nebrodi Park, Tindari. There are numerous testimonies, the symbols of the ancient history of the city.

Plans are in progress to enter the castle, the fortified town and the ancient village in the sites of UNESCO. The promontory of Capo Milazzo became a marine reserve.

History

Several civilizations settled in Milazzo and left signs of their presence from the Neolithic age. In Homer’sOdyssey Milazzo is the place where Ulysses is shipwrecked and meets Polyphemus. Some people took the towns name as their last name “Milazzo”.

Historically, the town originated as the ancient Mylae, an outpost of Zancle, occupied before 648 BC, perhaps as early as 716 BC. It was taken by the Athenians in 426 BC. The people of Rhegium planted here the exiles from Naxos and Catana in 395 BC as a counterpoise to Dionysius the Elder’s foundation ofTyndaris; but Dionysius soon took it. In the bay Duilius won the first Roman naval victory over theCarthaginians (260 BC).

In 36 BC the naval battle of Mylae was fought offshore. The fleet of Octavian, commanded by Marcus Agrippa, engaged that of Sextus Pompey. While the battle was nearly a draw, Sextus could not replace his losses, and was thus weaker at the following battle of Naulochus (36 BC), where he was utterly defeated.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, under the Byzantines, the town became one of the first episcopal seats of Sicily. In the 7th century Milazzo was conquered by the Arabs, who built here the first nucleus of the castle. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen further fortified the town and created here a personal hunting park. The castle was later mostly rebuilt in the age of Charles V of Spain.

Milazzo was also the seat of a battle in 1718 between Spain and Austria, and of another fought by Giuseppe Garibaldi against the Kingdom of Two Sicilies during his Expedition of the Thousand.

Main Sights

• Castello di Milazzo
• Rock church of St. Anthony of Padua
• Sanctuary of St. Francis of Paola

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Photos by Marco Puglisi

Note: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from theWikipedia article “Metasyntactic variable” and Creative Commons by Commons Deed. This information was accurate when it was posted, but can change without notice. 

Tourist arrivals increase for Enna

In 2011 the Sicilian province of Enna recorded a 3% increase for domestic travelers and 6% for foreign arrivals. This positive trend has been fed by the return of the statue of Venus of Morgantina.

This fifth century B.C. statue of the goddess Venus was smuggled from Sicily and found at the J. Paul Getty Museum, which bought the piece for $18 million in 1988.

Thanks to an agreement between the previous Minister of Cultural Affairs, Francesco Rutelli, andthe director of the J.l Paul Getty Museum, Michael Brand, the disputed statue is on the way back home.

Photo by molovate on flickr.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Independent Puts the Sicilian City of Catania on the Tourist Map

Why spending 48 hours in Catania, Sicily? Here is the answer from the Independent.

Next weekend, the Sicilian city of Catania stages one of southern Italy’s biggest and most dramatic festivals, the Festa di Sant’Agata. Passions hit fever pitch as up to one million people take to the streets to celebrate the city’s patron saint and watch as her relics are paraded around town by teams of white-shirted devotees.

Festivities apart, Catania is a delight, with a stately Baroque centre, terrific street markets, great food and a bubbly nightlife. And winter is a good time to visit: temperatures are mild, about 15C; there are very few tourists around; and Mount Etna provides some thrilling views, its snow-capped summit rising menacingly over the city’s rooftops.

Read more at www.independent.co.uk

Introducing the Liberty Inn Bed & Breakfast

Liberty Inn Bed & Breakfast is a brand new bed & breakfast situated in downtown Milazzo (ME). It belongs to a friend from high school. He manages it. I had the opportunity to see this place  last summer and I was pleasantly surprised by its decor. The facade maintained the classic liberty style – which is cleverly reflected in the name of the B&B, while the interiors have been totally restructured and refurbished with the latest modern comforts. The Mediterranean Sea is at walking distance. Rooms are quiet, even though this B&B is close to bars, restaurants and an extremely entertaining nightlife. If you are in Milazzo or boarding for the Aeolian Islands, Liberty Inn Bed & Breakfast is a nice hidden gem.

Address: Via umberto I  n°163
98057 Milazzo (ME)-Italy
Tel: +39-389/4596390
Web site: www.libertyinn-bb.com

Sicily Unpacked: Intro

This is what the RadioTimes.com is writing about the 3 episode travel show Sicily Unpacked on BBC: Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli hop aboard a cute railway carriage and visit Mount Etna. Naturally, there are stops along the way and they call at a vineyard in the foothills, where Locatelli knocks up a tasty-looking dish of deep-fried vine leaves. Yum!

But this is an artistic as well as culinary journey, so the boys have a look at the saucy Roman mosaic of the so-called “bikini girls” in the Villa Romana del Casale and help with a little bit of restoration. 

It’s all rather lovely, and after yet another stop at yet another restaurant where the Michelin-starred chef makes a very witty tuna burger (really, it’s clever), Andrew and Giorgio agree that they’ve had a lovely time as their three-episode exploration ends.

 

Isola delle Femmine, between Myth and Reality

The stretch of road between Cinisi and Palermo astonishes travelers with beautiful sight of the azure Mediterranean sea. The coast is an alternation of sandy beaches and reefs that offer a spectacular view. Just off the coast you can admire the Isola delle Femmine (women’s island), a small beautiful island that gives its name to the town ashore.

Many legends have been inspired by the name of this small island Isola delle Femmine, inhabited solely by birds and rabbits. The ruins of an ancient tower recalls a fairy tale-scenery where imprisoned princesses await to be freed by brave knights.The first legend recalls that the island was a prison for just women in the past. However, no references have been found to prove this first supposition. Another ancient legend says that thirteen Turkish women accused of immoral behavior, were abandoned on the island by their husbands. After seven years, the husbands regretted having abandoned them and returned to save them.

Etymological studies explain that the word femmine – in dialect fimmini – has nothing to do with women. The word instead derives from the Arab word fim which means mouth or entrance and is referred to the canal between the island and the mainland. The island is uninhabited today. Because of its naturalistic importance, the Sicilian Region with the cooperation of LIPU (Italian Society for the Protection of Birds) institued The Oriented Nature Reserve Isola delle Femmine in 1997. In 2002 the coastline from Capo Gallo (near Mondello) to Isola delle Femmine was declared “Protected Marina Reserve”. The Nature Reserve has favored the preservation of a rich flora that includes 144 species of geo-botanic importance, several of which are in danger of extinction. The birdlife present on the island is particularly important: the Blue rock Thrush, the Mediterranean Herring Gull, the Crested Lark, the Stone-chat, the Buzzard and the Hoopoe all nest here, while migratory birds are regular visitors. The European Wild Rabbit, the field lizard, the Whip Snake and different species of butterflies also find their natural habitat on the small island. The marine flora and fauna are equally important. The variety of marine environments with meadows of Oceanic Posidonia indicate the sea waters are clean and unpolluted. Sandy and rocky seabeds are the ideal habitat for species as Octopi, Nudibranches, Snakelock Anemones, Groupers, Lobsters and Seafans.

The Nature Reserve is open all year round and guided nature walks are organized upon reservation.
For further information or reservations: riserva.isolafemmine@lipu.it

By Maria Lina Bommarito

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Tasca d’Almerita Best Italian Winery of the Year 2012

The British Are Warming Up to Sicily

This is what Jo Fernandez writes about Sicily on The Evening Standard and we like to think that the British have a soft spot for Sicily in their heart.

My first thought on arriving in Sicily was who needs the Caribbean? Azure waters, intense heat and cloudless blue skies were all just a two-hour flight away.

We then drove the hour from Palermo airport to Rocco Forte’s five-star Verdura Golf & Spa resort, which opened on the south coast of the island last year, named after the river alongside which it sits.

Italian architect Flavio Albanese took inspiration from Mexico, with the rooms arranged in low-rise, two-storey minimalist blocks in shades of mustard and terracotta, much like the surrounding hills scorched by the sun’s fierce rays.

Sicilian inspiration comes from the mosaics used in the bathrooms, polished concrete floors and romantic white canopied four-poster beds. And from two novels – the Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa and Beautiful Antonio by Vitaliano Brancati, both Sicilian authors.

Outside, the 60-metre, two-tiered pool is the resort centerpiece, surrounded by lush lawn, lofty palm trees and tanned Missoni bikini-clad women.

Further down is the hotel’s beach, with part of it essentially fake, the natural pebbles covered with imported sand. Pebbles would be just fine.

At this point I should mention the golf. Sir Rocco Forte chose golf architect Kyle Phillips (Kingsbarns in Scotland and The Grove in Hertfordshire), to design two championship 18-hole courses and a nine-hole, all set amid olive and orange groves next to the sparkling Med. Not being golfers we weaved around and across the course on bikes provided instead.

Breakfast could keep you going all day: long tables laden with perfect looking cakes, breads and pastries line the walls. Stylish glass carafes contain various juices and milk while waiters fetched frittata with fennel and mint or Sicilian sausages on rustic toast.

Zagara is the most formal restaurant. We nibbled on crudities and bread so soft that you didn’t need butter or olive oil.

An amuse bouche of a silver spoonful of guacamole with anchovy was followed by red mullet with greens and prawns on grilled aubergines for the adults. Our daughter had fried fish (“too salty”) with chips and grilled Mediterranean vegetables followed by Nutella (“yummy”) in a tiny dish flanked by butter biscuits. We preferred peach with puff pastry, star anise, cinnamon and ricotta ice cream.

This food was enticing but we couldn’t keep up – four drinks in the bar alone set us back €50. Seeking something more affordable we snuck away to the beautifully named fishing town of Sciacca, set between Selinunte and Agrigento. We found a medieval town with baroque churches as well as cheap but tasty fish and salad eaten on a clifftop restaurant overlooking the sea.

On our last night we ate fish again in the resort’s most popular restaurant, the Ibiza-style beachside Amare. We glimpsed two-star Michelin chef Fulvio Pierangelini looking like an older Marco Pierre White, dressed in a baggy jumper and trousers with just an apron as if in a country house kitchen cooking for friends.

Suddenly there was a buzz – Sir Rocco Forte himself glided in with a large glamorous entourage. And who could blame him for smiling?

This resort attracts and breeds money with clientele including Calvin Klein and Formula One ace Michael Schumacher. Staying in La Verdura is like gaining temporary access to a cosseted world.

We drove south west along the SS15 autostrada through squares of parched fields, to La Foresteria, a 14-room hotel set atop rolling vineyards reaching to the sea at Porto Palo near Menfi.

Run by the Planeta wine and olive oil producing family, who supply about two million bottles a year (half exported) they entered the world of agritourismo after visitors to their vineyard on the shores of Lake Arancio would ask where they could stay, adding Sicilian cookery courses to the pot. The food was exquisite, each course better than the one before.

Chef Angelo Pulmilia had been recommended by Fulvio Pierangelini, coincidentally.

Sat outside as the sun set we ate seared prawns with celery purée, sedanani pasta with sardines and breadcrumbs, fried saltfish with tomato confit and sweet and sour sauce and, finally, sage ice cream with tiny cubes of pineapple. All perfectly presented and accompanied by Planeta wines including a spicy Syrah.

We just had time on our last day to see the ancient Greek ruins at Selinunte, set high above the sandy beach. One of the most important archaeological sites in Europe holds graceful Doric temples and an acropolis.

Once a prosperous city where the Greeks would have feasted, it seemed a fitting last place to come on this island so rich in history, food and wine.

Gualtieri Sicaminò Meraviglia Italiana

Gualtieri Sicaminò recently has been awarded among the 15 unique Sicilian sites of the national project called Meraviglia Italiana for its well known religious feast San Nicola every last Sunday of August.

Gualtieri Sicaminò  is a small town in the Messina province with 2,257 inhabitants and an area of 1,436 hectares for a population density of 157 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Its main activity is agriculture and particularly the cultivation of citrus fruit, olives and wine-grapes.

The name of this town goes back to middle age from a the name of the feudatory whom it belonged to in the XIII century, Gualtiero Marino. Sicaminò comes from the Greek Sicaminòs, that means “mulberry”, a tree once present in the area.

Sightseeing

The Cathedral Church of St. Nicola was recently restored and keeps inside valuable paintings of the XVIII century; the Ponte Vecchio and the Church of St. Giuseppe.

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