Aci Trezza

The Faraglioni dei Ciclopi are a group of basalt stacks standing just offshore, the largest around seventy metres, formed from an ancient submarine lava flow that predates the present Etna; their columnar structure is visible where the rock is broken. The Odyssey has Polyphemus, blinded by Odysseus, hurling rocks after the escaping ship, and these have been identified with them since antiquity. Lachea, the largest island, holds a small biological research station and a lizard subspecies found only there. Giovanni Verga set his novel I Malavoglia in the village, and the stacks and marine area are a protected reserve.

What you actually see

• The Cyclops stacks - basalt columns rising offshore, up to about 70 metres.
• Lachea island - a research station and an endemic lizard subspecies.
• The village harbour - a working fishing port below the stacks.
• The marine reserve - protected water around the stacks with regulated diving.

When to go

May to September for boat trips and swimming; the sea is exposed here and trips are cancelled in wind. Winter storms make the shore dramatic but inaccessible.

Honest expectations

Landing on the islands is restricted and requires permission. There is no sand, only rock platforms. Summer weekends fill the small waterfront.

Nearby

Catania lies south; Etna rises inland.