San Leonardello: Garden Art, Cooking Classes and Local History

When planning a stay in San Leonardello, you can focus on three different interests: botanical design, Sicilian cooking and local history. Giarre also offers additional points of interest for rail travel and nature excursions. The following themes can help you shape your trip around what appeals to you most—art and plants, cooking or historical events.

Botanical Art and Plant Diversity

In the botanical park Radicepura, on the terrace dedicated to citrus fruits, you’ll find the mosaic Compito #1 by Adrian Paci. The work covers 140 square metres and is made of marble and lava stone. The park’s plant life also includes more than 3,000 mother plants that produce healthy, certified seeds and cuttings. Mother plants provide the starting material for propagation; alongside its designed garden art, the park is therefore also distinguished by a substantial plant collection. This is a different scale from the design: the mosaic is a single work with a specific title and material, while the mother plants form a large collection with a propagation function.

Sicilian Cuisine, from the Garden to the Class

Agriturismo San Leonardello offers cooking classes featuring traditional Sicilian recipes. Participants can pick vegetables and fruit from the garden and use them in the class. The process therefore runs from gathering the ingredients to using them in a recipe; the garden connection is part of the class. If you’re interested in Sicilian cuisine, the journey from garden produce to dish is a tangible aspect of what the class offers.

Local History and a Feast Day

The hills around San Leonardello were the setting for the Battle of San Leonardello in 1677. This dated event links local history with the landscape surrounding the town. Another connection to the community is Maria SS. della Libertà: the parish is located at Via Madonna della Libertà 30, 95014 San Leonardello di Giarre. The Blessed Virgin Mary della Libertà is the community’s patron saint and namesake. A local report from 2014 describes a celebration held each year on the Solemnity of All Saints in honour of the Blessed Virgin. The 2014 report documents a traditional procession with a festive float through the town’s streets. If you’d like to plan your trip around this occasion, check the current dates in advance.

Getting Around Giarre

For broader trip planning, Giarre is a point of interest in its own right. It is home to Giarre-Riposto railway station, on the Messina–Catania–Syracuse railway line. If you’re travelling by train, check the timetable for your travel dates. From Giarre, the main natural attractions of Mount Etna Park, as well as starting points for excursions and guided tours, are reachable within a few minutes by car. These two details help answer different questions: the station is on the railway line mentioned above, while the natural attractions and starting points are just a few minutes’ drive from Giarre. This lets you consider rail travel and excursion planning separately.

Discover more destinations: Nunziata, Vaccarizzo-Delfino, Ramacca, Nicolosi, Milo, Riposto, Pozzillo and Calatabiano.

For the wider travel overview: Catania.