Ionian Coast - Sicily - page 336

AROUND MESSINA
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Ganzirri
From Messina the coast curves around to Sicily's most northeasterly point, Punta del Faro
(also called Capo Peloro), just 3km across the water from the Italian mainland. South of the
cape is the lakeside town of Ganzirri, a popular summer hang-out and pretty setting for a
fish dinner. Mussels are the local speciality - they're cultivated in the salty lake waters -
and La Napoletana ( 090 39 10 32; Via Lago Grande 29; meals €30-35; Thu-Tue) is a good place to try
them. A family-run restaurant housed in a neoclassical villa, it specialises in local seafood,
so expect plenty of mussels, clams, swordfish and stoccafisso (stockfish).
On the other side of the cape, Mortelle is the area's most popular summer resort, where the
Messinese go to sunbathe and hang out.
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Savoca
Sandwiched between the Peloritani mountains and the sea, the SS114 hugs the coast as it
heads south towards Taormina. It's a slow drive, past never-ending towns that merge one
into another, but with the sparkling blue sea to keep you company it's not unpleasant. (You
can cover the same ground much more quickly on the elevated A18 autostrada.) For a
change of scene take a detour to the tiny, trapped-in-time village of Savoca, high in the hills
4km inland from Santa Teresa di Riva.
Surrounded by encroaching green peaks, the village seems unchanged since medieval
times, with its gated walls, rustic stone cottages and haunting churches. It even has its own
catacombs (admission by donation; 9am-noon Tue-Sat, 3-7pm Tue-Sun) , beneath a Cappucini monas-
tery, where the macabre bodies of a few mummified bigwigs stand in a series of wall
niches.
The village's main claim to fame is its association with The Godfather film - Michael
Corleone's marriage to Apollonia was filmed here. One of the locations used was Bar Vitelli ,
a rustic bar located by the village entrance and a lovely spot for a cool lemon granita