Giarre ( scn, Giarri) 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 ...

'' (municipality) 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 ...

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

. The town is located about southeast of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

and around north of

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 ...

Geography

Giarre is bounded by the municipalities of

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. ...

Mascali Mascali ( Sicilian: ''Màscali'') 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 Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second ...

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine *'' Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * ''Milo'' (video game), a first-person adventure-puzzle computer ga ...

Riposto Riposto ( scn, Ripostu) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Catania area of southern Italy. The small seafront town is located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Catania. History Riposto is both historically and literally connec ...

Sant'Alfio Saint Alphys (in Italian: Sant'Alfio) or ( scn, Sant'Arfiu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, about east of Palermo and about north of Catania. Saint Alphys borders the following mu ...

Santa Venerina Santa Venerina ( Sicilian: ''Santa Vinirina'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northeast of Catania. Santa Venerina borders the foll ...

and

Zafferana Etnea Zafferana Etnea (; scn, Zafarana ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Catania. The municipality of Zafferana Etnea contains the ...

. It forms a conurbation with the coastal town of Riposto.

History

Some historians suppose that the ancient Greek city of Kallipolis was situated in the same territory of the present-day town of Giarre, but nowadays there is no relevant proof of it. Since the late 16th century until 1815 Giarre was a village of the county of

. During the fascist era Giarre was joined to

under the name of Jonia, but separated again in 1945.

Main sights

The neo-classical cathedral, begun in 1794, is dedicated to the Spaniard St. Isidore, patron of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Other sights include: *Oratory of St. Filippo Neri (18th century) *Sanctuary of ''Maria Santissima della Strada'', the oldest church in the town (dating to 1081). Today little remains of the original medieval structure, having been replaced by a neoclassicist edifice. *Museum of Uses and Customs of the Etna people *Mediterraneum Aquarium Giarre has attracted attention for its numerous unfinished buildings and amenities, initiated with public money in the 1990s but never used. A small number have been converted to other uses, including a

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park ( British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a bui ...

; residents also see the prospect of some tourism, as the town has come to be regarded as the centre of this style of

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

.Italy planning fiasco: New ruins litter Sicily
(retrieved 22 May 2012)

Twin towns

Cismon del Grappa Cismon del Grappa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is east of SS47 state road. Twin towns Cismon del Grappa is twinned with: * Giarre Giarre ( scn, Giarri) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropol ...

, Italy, since 1969

References

External links