Villa Trinità

How to reach

By car
From Messina: Highway A18 direction Catania, exit Gravina. Continue towards Mascalucia Etna, At the roundabout turn on left in Corso San Vito and after about 800mt turn on right in Corso Raffaello, that lead to Trinity Church. On its right there is the gate of the villa.

History

Excavating in Sicily almost inevitably produces splendid vestiges from the distant past. The Villa Trinità Garden on the slopes of Etna sits on a series of stratifications stretching far back in time: remains of the Hellenistic civilisation followed by Imperial Roman emerge from the land giving colour and substance to the garden. In 1382 a lava flow covered everything, preserving treasures from the past under its bulk. Some of these have resurfaced whilst tilling the land and breaking the lava in order to plant grapevines.

The present owner of La Trinità, Salvatore Bonajuto, agronomist and garden designer, has created a garden over roughly 3 hectares keeping any surviving elements from the past: the stone footpaths known as rasule, the irrigation channels (saie) and of course the lava, which is a protagonist throughout the park. The saie irrigation system makes a strong statement in the landscape and provides a legendary voice in the murmuring of its waters. A citrus grove still irrigated with this method and a vineyard bearing ancient local varieties of grape frame a botanical collection of plants from tropical climes, a garden within a garden since in Sicily ''garden'' is a citrus grove and ''villa'' means the ornamental garden. Strolling through the park one can admire palms, succulents, irises, exotic fruit bushes, a collection of citrus trees and the Mediterranean maquis, with a majestic Celtis australis, known as a ''stonebreaker''.

Amongst the areas of naturalistic interest is a patch of land with wild oak trees (Quercus pubescens), which once colonised the Etna slopes and a rocky outcrop, a natural lava basin which collects rainwater as a drinking trough for migrating cranes.

Villa Trinità Agriturismo

Agriturismo Villa Trinità is located on the southern slopes of Mount Etna in Mascalucia. Embraced by a botanical park, with lavas dating back to 1382 and ancient artefacts, including ancient saje still in use, the oasis in which it is immersed features a collection of organic citrus fruits, a vineyard of white grapes, organic fruit and a seasonal vegetable garden.

The agritourism offers accommodation in 2 rooms and 7 independent flats with kitchenette. Each unit is customised and furnished with the owner's artwork.

A rich breakfast with organic products, daily cleaning, and the use of the swimming pool with umbrellas are some of the typical Sicilian hospitality courtesies that you will experience during your stay.

Discover

The Bonajuto or Salvatorello Chapel is a Byzantine-era religious building in Catania dating from the 9th century AD. The chapel is located inside the Baroque-style Palazzo Bonajuto on Via Bonajuto 9\13, in Catania's popular Civita district. This monument in Catania has a square ground plan and a Greek cross shape, surmounted by a magnificent dome. Inside, the three apses ('cellae trichorae' or 'trefoil church') are similar to the Byzantine cube churches found in Sicily.
Today, the chapel is two metres below street level. The building, which shows evidence from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, has escaped the various eruptions and earthquakes that struck the city, including the devastating one of 1693.

The Bonajuto family took possession of the chapel from the 15th century and built their residence there in the following century. Until the Bonajuto settlement, the chapel was dedicated to the Holy Saviour, a denomination it probably kept until the 18th century.
In the 18th century, when the chapel underwent restoration and renovation of the entrance, it was visited by the French painter Jean Houel, who immortalised it in a painting that is preserved in the Hermitage in St Petersburg. The chapel was studied by Paolo Orsi and Sebastiano Agati in the 1930s. Today it can be visited and is often rented out for exhibitions and conferences.