Pozzallo
Known for its endless long sandy beaches, Pozzallo is a small town on the south coast of Sicily that comes alive in the summer when Italians arrive there to have a good time, and during the winter it is a place to kick back and relax.
Packed with hotels, B&Bs (recommendations: B&B Scilla e Cariddi and Hotel Villa Ada), cafes, restaurants, bars and shops this is a place to lounge on the beach by day, and hang out in the evening. It’s a lively place in the best sense: it’s not inhabited by wandering drunks, rather Italians taking a stroll, sipping on an aperitivo, or sampling some of the local produce such as scacce, a closed pizza bread filled with tomatoes, cheese, aubergines or fish. At weekends during the summer there are numerous activities to watch, listen to, and take part in: concerts and food festivals such as that celebrating the Sicilian dessert, cannolo (ricotta stuffed pastry).
Yet most of all, this is a place to enjoy the beach. Pozzallo is known throughout Italy for its clean seas and beaches that have received the Blu Flag award from the Foundation for Environmental Education. This is given to beaches that meet strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety. Eight beaches in Sicily have been awarded the Blu Flag, four of which are located in Pozzallo. For the more active, it’s also a place to go diving or wind and kite surfing.
The town also has some wonderful Liberty architecture, wide boulevards, swaying palm trees, and a sense of history. The name Pozzallo probably derives from an old well in the area, called Puzzaddu in Sicilian dialect. From the end of the fourteenth century it belonged to the Count of Modica, Giovanni Bernardo Cabrera, who built the splendid 98-foot-high Cabrera Tower in 1429 to defend the town from frequent attacks by pirates.
Pozzallo is an ideal spot to visit the surrounding Baroque Pearl towns of Noto, Modica, Ragusa, Caltagirone, Scicli, Palazzolo Acreide, Catania and Militello, and is 75 miles from Catania airport. It is also a major port, and the island’s link to Malta, which is about 90 minutes’ away via a catamaran service.
Contact: Town Hall, Piazza Municipio, 97016 Pozzallo, Ragusa, Sicily, Italy. Tel: +39 0932 794111. Email: info@pozzallo.it.
Useful links
B&B Scilla e Cariddi
Hotel Villa Ada
The Baroque Pearls of the Val di Noto
Added 2008/10/24 @ 15:13:45
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