Savoca

HISTORY. Savoca is a charming village at 300 meters above sea level, surrounded by the torrents Savoca and Agrò, apparently founded by Count Ruggero II in 1134. However, before 1000 it seems that the area was inhabited by a community of uncertain origin , “the Pentefur” that gave its name to the neighborhood where today stands the fortress. The origin of the name is probably connected to sambucu (in dialect “savucu“), a plant that thrives in all the territory. In middle age, Savoca consisted of a castle, a wall, two doors (now there is only one), but the town outside the walls developed only in ‘400. In the following centuries, Savoca continued to develop the town, but it was only in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that the city grow. Great importance for the town, certainly, had the Dominicans, who introduced here the cult of Saint Lucia. But among other religious communities, it should be remembered also the Jewish community – dating back to 1492- which had its own synagogue “in the center and in the best place”. In the early 1800s, the village had a decline. The various political clashes with the reigning power, contributed to the loss of autonomy of Savoca, that became municipality again only in 1948.

PERCORSO STORICO MONUMENTALE. A suggestive walk to discover the village could start from the gate of the city, through which you enter the old town. Here you find the ancient Town Hall, the Palace Archimandrite, the Church of San Michele, the Church of St. Nicholas and the High Church, dating back to the twelfth century. You should also visit Mount Calvario, ancient hermitage that the Jesuits turned to church in 1736 and where there is the Way of the Cross, with stations excavated in the rock. A path starting from the Capuchin Monastery and that continues through the streets of the old town until you reach the top of Mount Calvary, where stands the church dedicated to the “Beata Vergine dei sette dolori e della Santa Croce”.

Finally, don’t forget to head to the famous Bar Vitelli, where the director Francis Ford Coppola shot some scenes of the Godfather in 1971 and where, of course, you’ll breathe the real essence of Sicily.