Piraino

Piraino is a small historic hill village in the province of Messina, set high above Sicily’s northern coast with its marine hamlet, Gliaca di Piraino, stretching along the Costa Saracena. Its setting links the old borgo to the cliffs between Capo d’Orlando and Capo Calavà, with open views towards the Aeolian Islands and a clear contrast between the compact inland settlement and the livelier coastal edge.

The village is known for its ancient, fortified character: narrow lanes, closely built houses and a medieval layout that still gives Piraino a strong sense of enclosure and height. Its origins are described through different traditions, including an earlier settlement nucleus and a medieval Arab foundation, while its later identity was shaped by the Norman period and feudal rule under families such as the Lancia and the Denti.

Today, Piraino’s character lies in this layered hill-and-sea identity: a historic borgo with a coastal extension, strong local and religious memory, and a distinctive reputation as the “village of the two towers.”