Sicilian Winery

Sicilian Wines

The mild climate, the configuration of the land, the closeness to the sea where grape-wines grow up provide an unrivalled taste to SICILIAN WINES.

A tradition stretching back over millennia has placed SICILIAN WINES among the most well known and appreciated wines all over the world. Grapes had been rising spontaneously in Sicily since the tertiary period. The Phoenicians merchandised SICILIAN WINES in the Mediterranean; the Greeks optimized vine growing and the Romans exported SICILIAN WINES all over their Empire. Julius Caesar’s and Pliny the Elder’s appreciations of SICILIAN WINES are still today famous.

In this tour of discovery of SICILIAN WINES Uzeda Viaggi suggests you the visit of the largest and historical Sicilian wineries, where the vineyard landscape is matchless for its terrace cultivation overlooking the sea, its palmenti – traditional stone wineries with massive wood lever presses – and its farmhouses. Here tradition meets modern and it will leave you breathless.

Day 1

Palermo and Monreale

Arrival to Palermo airport, hotel accommodation and breakfast. Morning dedicated to the discover of Palermo historical centre. The Capital City of the island is an extraordinary town of art with different monuments that bear witness to the various historical periods: the Cathedral, the Palatine Chapel, the Norman Royal Palace.
In the afternoon tour of Monreale: Cathedral with a precious Cloister. Dinner and night in hotel in Palermo.

Day 2

Erice

Breakfast in hotel, transfer to Erice and tour of the suggestive little Medieval town, built on top of a mount of the same name, 750 meters above sea level. Stop in a typical confectionery to taste the local pastries made according to the traditional recipes of the cloistered nuns.
In the afternoon visit of the local “Cantine Fazio” for testing their Sicilian wines. Dinner and night in hotel in Marsala.

Day 3

Mozia and Marsala

Breakfast in hotel and transfer to the pier for the island of San Pantaleo, today’s name for the ancient Motya (meaning “spinning mill”), where Phoenicians founded a thriving settlement. It is due to an Englishman, Joseph Whitaker, the “rediscovery” of the island. Whitaker’s excavations brought to light the town walls with towers and gateways, an open-air sanctuary – the “tophet” where used to be laid the remains of human sacrifices -, a necropolis and the cothon – a dry dock for repairing ships. You can also visit the nineteenth century Villa Whitaker, now a museum. Following visit to one of the several salt pans within the protected area of the Islands Stagnone. Afterwards a visit with wine testing to the renowned Cantine Florio in Marsala. Dinner and night in hotel.

Day 4

Selinunte and Sambuca di Sicilia

Breakfast in hotel. Tour of Selinunte, the name comes from the Greek “Selinon” which designated a kind of wild parsley growing copiously in the area. The town was founded by Megara Hyblaea during the seventh century BC. Selinunte boasts the widest archaeological site in the Mediterranean area.
At the end transfer to Sambuca di Sicilia to visit the renowned Cantina Planeta and have a wine tasting.
In the afternoon transfer to Agrigento. Dinner and night in hotel.

Day 5

Among Greeks and Romans: Valle dei Templi and Villa Romana del Casale

Breakfast in hotel. Tour of the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples): The place is not a proper valley but rather a mountain plateau along which, during the fifth and sixth centuries BC, where built a series of temples, evidence of the welfare the town enjoyed at that time. Notably visit the Tempio di Zeus Olimpico (Temple of Olympian Zeus), Castore e Polluce (Castor and Pollux), the Tempio di Ercole (Temple of Hercules) and the Temple of the Concordia (Temple of the Concorde), which is very well preserved.
Prosecution to Piazza Armerina and visit of Villa Romana del Casale (a Roman Imperial Villa). The building dates back to the third-fourth century AD and it was first used as a country house and then as a hunting residence. Its importance is due to the well preserved status of the place and above all to the mosaics which floor all rooms.
Transfer to Catania in the evening. Dinner and night in hotel.

Day 6

Siracusa and Avola

Breakfast in hotel, transfer to Syracuse, one of the most important cities of the Greek period. Tour of the Archaeological Area: the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre, the Ear of Dionysius. Then tour of the historical city centre on the island Ortigia: Piazza del Duomo (Duomo Square) with its Sicilian Baroque façade of the Cathedral, which includes a Greek temple of the fifth century B.C. dedicated to Athena. In the near church Badia of Santa Lucia there is one of Caravaggio’s dramatic work: the Seppellimento di Santa Lucia (Burial of St. Lucy).
In the afternoon you reach Avola and visit the Cantine Assennato for a Sicilian wine testing. Dinner and night in hotel in Catania.

Day 7

Etna and Taormina, the Ionian Pearl

Breakfast in hotel. Excursion to Mt. Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe and the second most active volcano in the world, today “a Muntagna” (“the Mountain”), as it is locally called, is 3,330 m high and a surface area of 1,570 sq km. You will reach the southern slopes of the volcano till 2,000 above sea level. Afterwards you will visit the Cantina Murgo in Santa Venerina for a wine testing.
In the afternoon tour of Taormina, the old Tauromenion, founded in 358 BC. The town lies on a hill terrace overlooking the Ionian coast with the majestic and spectacular Etna as a backdrop. Taormina, praised by several poets and famous writers - notably W. Goethe - in the past centuries, is still one of the most exclusive international tourist destinations. The main monuments are: Palazzo Corvaja, at the entrance of the town, with its 15th century facade showing a series of two-mullioned windows; the Cathedral of the 13th century, the Greek-Roman Theatre. Dinner and night at the hotel in Catania.

Day 8

Catania and departure

Breakfast in hotel. Tour of the historical centre of Catania, a Baroque city in Eastern Sicily. Visit of the Cathedral, built for the first time during the second half of the 11th century, rebuilt in 1169 and again after the earthquake in 1693. The façade, composed of two tiers of columns, is one of G.B. Vaccarini’s best works. Piazza Duomo is on the site of the mediaeval Platea Magna but was enlarged after the earthquake of 1693. Via Crociferi is one of the most beautiful and monumental way of the city where you can find a series of churches and baroque buildings, notably the church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict), the church of San Giuliano (St. Julian)and the former Collegio Gesuitico. Via Etnea, the high street, is rich of churches, squares, baroque and 19th century buildings.
Transfer to Catania airport and departure.

Sicilian Winery

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Group Tour

Sicily Escape

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Uzeda Viaggi