Built from volcanic lava, Linguaglossa is a nice little village you can use as your pit stop after your excursion to the cone of Etna. The main street is called the black lava cobblestones covered Via Roma and at the end of this street is a quaint 17th century church, Chiesa Madre Madonna della Grazie. This church opens onto Piazza Matrice. The other church in the village is the Chiesa di San Francesco de Paola. This church us built on a volcanic rock is has copious frescoes and plasterwork. Apart from the two churches, the other attractions in town are the 17th century Duomo Chiesa della SS. Annunziata, the pink stucco Il Municipio, or Town Hall, and the monument dedicated to the Italians dead in action during World War I on Piazza Municipio.

Visitor Information

The tourist office is on Piazza Annunziata 5. It is open daily from 9am to 12:30pm and 4 to 5:30pm. They’ve got the brochures and pamphlets that give you local information but what’s really interestingabout this particular tourist office is that they have on display features of the local geology.

Getting There

A bus from Giardini-Naxos leaves for Linguaglossa daily at 2:55pm. If you're driving from Taormina to Linguaglossa, take A18 south. After 12km (7 1/2 miles), take the exit marked Fiumefreddo. After 815m (2,674 ft.), turn left and follow SS120 into Linguaglossa.

Randazzo is another volcano town. It is west of Linguaglossa and was built of lava but luckily never destroyed by it. But the Allies bombed it during World Was II when the Germans occupied it as their last stronghold.

Visitor Information

The tourist office is on Via Corso Umberto I, 193. It is open daily from 9am to 1pm and 3 to 7pm.