Fiumefreddo di Sicilia (; scn, Ciumifriddu) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

Metropolitan City of Catania The Metropolitan City of Catania ( it, Città metropolitana di Catania) is a metropolitan city in Sicily, southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Catania. It replaced the Province of Catania and comprises the city of Catania and other 57 munic ...

on the coast of the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including ...

on the island of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It shares its borders with the municipalities of

Calatabiano Calatabiano ( scn, Cattabbianu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in Sicily, southern Italy. Geography Calatabiano is located about 60 metres above the sea level. It is located about 42 kilometres northeast of C ...

to the north, Mascali to the south and

Piedimonte Etneo Piedimonte Etneo ( Sicilian: ''Piemunti'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about northeast of Catania. Piedimonte Etneo borders the following m ...

to the west. The commune gets its name from the Fiumefreddo River which runs alongside the territory of the comune. The word "fiumefreddo" means literally "cold river", a reference to the fact that the river is fed by snow melts from

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina ...

. Fiumefreddo di Sicilia is near the major Etna tourist centres. The SS120 to Mount Etna and

Randazzo Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta. Randazzo ( scn, Rannazzu) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It is situated at the northern foot of Mount Etna, c. northwest of Catania. It is the nearest ...

start from there. Fiumefreddo di Sicilia was so named to distinguish it from Fiumefreddo Bruzio, in the

Province of Cosenza The province of Cosenza ( it, provincia di Cosenza) is a province in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 '' comuni'', listed at list of communes of the Province of Cosenza. The province o ...

. Currently the town has almost 10,000 inhabitants.

Geography

Fiumefreddo stands along the SS 114 and A18, both roads running from Catania to Messina. Fiumefreddo di Sicilia is in the heart of a road and railway network, near

Taormina Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...

and

Acireale Acireale (; scn, Jaciriali, locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. ...

, not far from

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

and

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

. Fiumefreddo is bounded by the

to the East, by

to the North, by

to the West and by Mascali to the South. Its municipal territory is mainly flat, especially along the coast, where there is the Marina di Cottone beach, which is subject to very intense summer tourism. Fiumefreddo is so named after the river that runs through it, whose natural habitat, with its cold water, has allowed the development of typical river flora and fauna. In order to protect this particular natural environment, the Sicilian regional government, through a law D.A. n. 205185, has instituted a protected area, The Nature Reserve of The River Fiumefreddo. Free mandarines, oranges and cactus fruits close to the station from the trees to take.

History

Fiumefreddo originated in the 18th century around a 16th-century watchtower. It became an independent commune in 1801.

Main sights

*Church of Santissima Maria Immacolata *Church of Maria Santissima del Rosario (18th century) *Castello degli Schiavi ("Slaves' Castle"), an example of rural

Sicilian Baroque Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture which evolved on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the , when it was part of the Spanish Empire. The style is recognisable not only by its typical Baroque c ...

architecture. The building was used for several shots in the American movie ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'' (parts I and II). *Red Tower, a funerary building of Roman origins

Twin towns

* Oelsnitz,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, since 2002 * Aš,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, since 2002

Sources

References

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