What is Randazzo known for?

Churches, palazzi and walls built in black volcanic stone, the medieval town hewn from the material of the mountain beside it. Once divided into Latin, Greek and Lombard quarters with separate dialects and separate churches, a triple community at the foot of Etna. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and Constance of Aragon sheltered here in 1210 from the Palermo plague.

Randazzo is a comune in the province of Catania, Sicily region of Italy, about 59 kilometers from Catania.

Sicily · Catania

Randazzo

A medieval town in black lava stone at 750 meters on Etna's north foot, with three quarter churches for Latins, Greeks and Lombards.

750m

Elevation

59 km / 37 mi

Nearest hub (Catania)

10,186

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Why come

Randazzo sits at 750 meters on the northern foot of Etna, seventy kilometers northwest of Catania along the Alcantara valley. Byzantine in origin, Swabian and medieval in character, the town has three great churches that mark its three historic quarters, once inhabited by communities that spoke different tongues: the Latins in Santa Maria, the Greeks in San Nicolò, and the Lombards in San Martino. In 1210 Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and his young wife Constance of Aragon sheltered here from the plague in Palermo; Randazzo became, after Palermo and Messina, one of the most populous towns on the island. The architecture is lava: Santa Maria Assunta, begun in the thirteenth century, has a façade entirely in black volcanic stone with three polygonal apses shaped as towers and Catalan-Gothic side portals. The forty-one-meter bell tower of San Martino, called one of the most beautiful in Sicily, has stood since the thirteenth century.

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Gallery

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Known for

Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta
Thirteenth-century basilica in black lava stone with three polygonal apses shaped as towers and fifteenth-century Catalan-Gothic side portals.
Chiesa di San Martino
Church of Swabian origin from the thirteenth century with a forty-one-meter bell tower in four storeys, anchor of the Lombard quarter.
Chiesa di San Nicolò
Largest of the three quarter churches, repeatedly rebuilt; the fourteenth-century bell tower fell in the 1693 earthquake.
Centro storico medievale
Black-stone medieval old town along Via Umberto, with three quarter churches and palazzi of the once-trilingual community.
Etna north slope
Closest sizeable town to the volcano's summit, the trailhead for the northern ascent routes and the Etna DOC vineyards.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October is the open season. At 750 meters Randazzo stays cooler than the Catanese coast even in August; the harvest in the Etna Nord vineyards runs September into October. November through April is quiet; snow falls on the upper slopes through winter and the town gets occasional dustings. The medieval centro storico is most striking under a clean autumn sun, when the black lava walls take colour. Holy Week brings processions through the three quarter churches; the festa of San Nicolò on 6 December lights the largest of them.