{"id":68534,"date":"2015-03-04T17:23:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T16:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/?p=68534"},"modified":"2026-10-14T11:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T10:08:23","slug":"savoca-and-the-abbey-of-st-peter-and-paul-of-agro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/en\/savoca-and-the-abbey-of-st-peter-and-paul-of-agro","title":{"rendered":"Savoca and the Abbey of St Peter and Paul of Agr\u00f2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Together with Forza d’Agr\u00f2, a remarkable stop north of Taormina<\/a>, known in particular for having served as the setting for several scenes of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather<\/em>, is the medieval village of Savoca<\/strong>. It is listed among the “most beautiful villages in Italy”, and a few kilometres away lies an Arab-Norman abbey full of charm, the Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul of Agr\u00f2<\/strong>, situated upstream of the valley of the same name.<\/p>\n

Savoca: one of the most beautiful villages in Italy<\/h2>\n

Savoca<\/strong> is a village of Arab origin perched on a ridge, dominated by the ruins of its medieval castle. Popular tradition attributes seven faces to it, in reference to the variety of its panoramas: the Ionian Sea, the rugged coast of Calabria, Etna, the Peloritani mountains.
Its picturesque charm earned it its inclusion among the “most beautiful villages in Italy”, with its steep houses, ancient cisterns carved into the rock, medieval cobbled alleyways, 17th-century votive niches, and fragments of Byzantine walls still visible near via San Michele. <\/p>\n

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Route through Savoca<\/h3>\n

At the foot of the historic centre, near a panoramic terrace and a small square, the bar Vitelli<\/strong> was used by Coppola for the filming of the Godfather<\/em>. It has been preserved as it was at the time.
The town was fortified in the Middle Ages; people entered it through two gates, one of which still survives, the Porta della Citt\u00e0 dating from the 14the<\/sup> century, with its pointed arch, once topped by a stone coat of arms bearing the arms of the Trimarchi family (from the small square before it: via Pentifuri, then 30 metres to the left, via S. Michele).<\/p>\n\n\n