Pedara is a small hill town in the Province of Catania, set at about 610 metres above sea level on the fertile slopes of Mount Etna. Its setting gives it the character of an Etna mountain borgo, with a quiet local rhythm and a position within the wider volcanic landscape, overlooked by Monte Troina and close to the territory of Etna Park.
The town’s earliest past is difficult to define with certainty, partly because eruptions and lava flows erased many traces of older settlement. Its better-documented history begins in the Norman period, when Pedara was associated with the vineyards of Catania. The ancient inhabited centre lay further north and was destroyed by the eruption of 1404; after further volcanic upheavals in the 15th century, the population shifted and the present old town took shape.
Pedara later developed as a feudal centre, sold in 1641 to Domenico Di Giovanni and then linked to the Di Giovanni and Alliata di Villafranca families. Today its identity is inseparable from Etna: a village marked by volcanic memory, mountain air and a history repeatedly redirected by the landscape around it.
Patron Saint:
Maria SS. dell’Annunziata – 2nd Sunday in September
Nearest Airport:
Catania (Fontanarossa) – (46 km, 00:42)
Neighboring Cities:
