Trecastagni

Trecastagni is one of the highest towns in the Etna area, located at the border between the metropolitan area of Catania and the Etna Park. It is a land rich in natural beauty, with many volcanic cones surrounding it: Monte Ilice, Monte Gorna, Monte S. Nicolò, Tre Monti, and Monte Serra. Monte Ilice is the largest and once even had a cable car that transported fruit from the mountain's interior to the summit. It is here that Giovanni Verga set his novel "Storia di una capinera" in an old farmstead.

At the height of Monte Gorna stands the Eremo Sant'Emilia, a small tower with a lava stone battlement, while approximately halfway between Monte Gorna and Monte Ilice, you can see the Grotta Comune, a lava cavity that gives its name to the entire surrounding area.

The terrain's steep incline makes Trecastagni a particularly panoramic town: from here, the coastline seems endless, stretching from Calabria to the Gulf of Augusta.

Its name may have originated from the ancient presence of three large chestnut trees, of which there is no memory; another hypothesis is that it comes from "Tre Casti Agni" (three lambs), referring to the three martyr brothers Alfio, Cirino, and Filadelfo, co-patrons of the town.

There are many alleys, viewpoints, churches, and bourgeois palaces along Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Sicilia, which make the atmosphere of Trecastagni magical, especially on summer evenings. In the surrounding areas, the countryside, orchards, and forests of chestnut trees, oaks, and holm oaks make you feel immersed in the nature of Etna. As you go higher, the vegetation is interrupted in several places, a testimony to the ancient lava flows that have occurred over time.

As for folklore, the most important event is undoubtedly the festival in honor of the brothers Alfio, Filadelfo, and Cirino, which takes place throughout the month of May and peaks during the week of May 10th, the day of the Liturgical Feast.

The Chestnut Festival, on the other hand, takes place on weekends in October, a celebration of local craftsmanship, typical products, and festivities with musical groups and parades of Sicilian carts.