What is Nicolosi known for?

Southern gateway to the volcano, base camp for the Funivia dell'Etna at Rifugio Sapienza and the largest concentration of Etna guides in Sicily. Two-hundred-meter scoria cones above the town, formed by the 1669 eruption that buried part of Nicolosi and pushed lava all the way to Catania. Cittaslow member commune with Città dell'Olio and Città del Pane labels, mountain bread, Etna honey and southern slope olive groves.

Nicolosi is a comune in the province of Catania, Sicily region of Italy, about 22 kilometers from Catania.

Sicily · Catania

Nicolosi

The southern gateway to Etna at 698 meters, twice destroyed by the 1669 eruption, base camp for the volcano cable car at Rifugio Sapienza.

698m

Elevation

22 km / 14 mi

Nearest hub (Catania)

7,594

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Nicolosi sits at 698 meters on the southern slope of Etna, twelve kilometers north of Catania, where the road to Rifugio Sapienza and the volcano cable car begins. The town was founded in 1359 around the Benedictine monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena. In March 1669 a fissure opened above Nicolosi and Etna erupted for four months. Lava buried part of the town and pushed all the way to Catania harbor; what remained was rebuilt around the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, which the flow spared. The Monti Rossi above the town are the two-hundred-meter scoria cones the eruption left behind, first called Monte della Ruina and later renamed for their color. Today Nicolosi is a Cittaslow with the largest concentration of Etna outfitters and 4x4 guides in Sicily, and the Funivia dell'Etna rises from Rifugio Sapienza at 1,920 meters, twenty minutes uphill.

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Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Monti Rossi
Twin scoria cones rising two hundred meters above the town, formed by the 1669 eruption that buried part of Nicolosi and reached Catania harbor.
Funivia dell'Etna a Rifugio Sapienza
Cable car from Rifugio Sapienza at 1,920 meters up to 2,500 meters, twenty minutes uphill from Nicolosi, the start of the southern Etna ascent.
Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Mother church the 1669 lava flow spared, around which the town was rebuilt, partly restored after later seismic damage.
Museo Vulcanologico dell'Etna
Civic vulcanological museum on the road to the cable car, with eruption photographs, lava samples and seismograph readings from the southern Etna stations.
Parco dell'Etna
Regional and UNESCO-listed park surrounding the town, with the Schiena dell'Asino ridge and access to the south crater trails from Nicolosi north.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October are the working months on the southern Etna slope. Nicolosi at 698 meters runs five to seven degrees cooler than Catania; July and August are bearable here while the coast is not. The Funivia dell'Etna operates year-round, with snow at the cable car upper station from late November through April. Summit excursions are best between late May and early October, when the south flank is dry. Winter brings ski touring around the Sapienza area, snow-shoeing on the Schiena dell'Asino and the small Nicolosi-side ski lifts when the cover allows. The Sant'Antonio feast in mid-January is the main winter event, with bonfires through the town.