Description of the attraction
Savoca and Castelvecchio Siculo are two small mountain villages located in the Agro Valley in Sicily. The first is famous for its museum of mummies, which attracts tourists here who want to tickle their nerves. In addition, it was here that some scenes of Francis Ford Coppola's iconic film The Godfather were filmed. In Savoca, whose population is only 1,650 people, there are three churches at once - San Michele, San Nicolo and the so-called Chiesa Madre, built in the Norman era and "breathing" a very special atmosphere. In good weather, the streets of the village offer a wonderful view of the Agro Valley with its hills. It is especially good to admire the landscape while sitting at the table of the Bar Vitelli, famous all over the world for the aforementioned film. It is also worth visiting the Museum of Mummies, located in the old Capuchin monastery. The first mummies were made in 1700 and the last in 1876. Bare skulls and parts of skeletons peek out of niches - patterned, ruffled clothing can still be seen. Some dead aristocrats "wear" elegant shoes with silver buckles on their bony legs.
Not far from Savoca, at an altitude of 400 meters above sea level, there is another lovely village - Castelvecchio Siculo. Today about a thousand people live here. The main attraction of Castelvecchio is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, built of red, black and white stones and rebuilt after the 1117 earthquake. The structure clearly shows the features of both Norman and Arab and Byzantine architecture. Another interesting church in the village is the Church of San Onofrio, dedicated to a local saint. It was built in the 17th century, but was seriously damaged during the 1908 earthquake. In honor of Saint Onophrius, a religious festival is held in Castelvecchio in September. During it, you can see an unusual performance: a man dressed in a camel costume makes his way through the village - the poor animal is kicked, teased and booed until it resigns itself to the stomp of a human round dance. The camel tamer personifies nothing more than the village of Castelvecchio itself, and the poor animal is the neighboring Savoca, on which Castelvecchio depended until 1793.
If you go along the alley to the right of the main road leading from the sea, you can find yourself at the fountain - it is painted with scenes from the everyday life of Castelvecchio's past. Once upon a time, three jets gushed from the fountain: the upper one was for drinking, the other was intended for laundresses, and from the third they took water for animals.
