Riviera dei Ciclopi

Where nature meets myth, the volcano meets the sea, the memory meets the storytelling. The marine reserve “isole Ciclopi” covers a long stretch from the village of Acicastello to the town of Acireale, in an enchanting natural scenery overlooked by the imposing Mount Etna. It was established by a ministerial decree the 7th of December 1989 and it extends for the equivalent of 623 hectares from Punta Aguzza to Capo Molini.
The core of the reserve, just in front of the lovely fishing village of Acitrezza, is a small archipelago comprised of the Isola Lachea, the Great Faraglione and the Small Faraglione and by four other big rocks forming an arch. It is managed by the consortium “Isole dei Ciclopi”, composed by CUTGANA (university centre for the protection and management of the environment and the ecosystem) of the University of Catania and the Acicastello local authority.

A nice walk in the reserve...
In the small Ciclopi archipelago, from 1998 natural reserve, there are numerous varieties of plants.
It is possible to find, besides ornamental varieties recently introduced, the remarkable presence of some endemisms, such as the turnsole and the thistle, typical of Sicily and Southern Italy.
Besides many species of invertebrates, which have developed a strong resistance to the environmental conditions, there are birds, rodents and reptiles.

The areas of the reserve
As in all natural reserves, there are some simple rules to observe to preserve the environmental heritage that we want to keep intact for the future generations. The reserve is divided in three zones, each with a different protected status: zone “C” is a partial reserve, zone “B” is a general reserve and zone “A” is an integral reserve. It is possible to swim and sail in the first two, but it is necessary to ask permission to fish and scuba diving.

A bit of history...
According to recent archaeological studies, it is thought that the Isola Lachea was inhabited since the pre-historic age and visited regularly during the Roman and Byzantine eras.
It belonged for centuries to the Segrezia Acese, an office that administered on behalf of the Crown the Isola Lachea, assigned to the town of Aci, the modern Acireale. Towards the end of the XVII century it was taken over, together with the surrounding areas, by the Princes Riggio.

Places to discover...

Scuba diving...