Hi, I'm Tamara Pulzello and I will be your guide during this trip! I will show you some villages of eastern Sicily: Palazzolo Acreide, Buccheri and Buscemi. I will show you not only some churches considered jewelers of the Sicilian Baroque, but also naturalistic areas such as that of the Iblei Mountains. Don't forget to taste some typical Sicilian dishes; I recommend the "con niuro" pasta, that is pasta seasoned with cuttlefish ink and the classic Sicilian cannoli cannot be missing. Have a nice trip! *Credits: This tour was made by Tamara Pulzello, as a multimedia tourist and storytelling project for the "Laboratory of formal technical writing (storytelling and gamification)", under the coordination of Prof. Elisa Bonacini, within the ITS 2-years COURSE "Higher Technician for the management of tourist accommodation facilities and cultural activities", 2019-2021, founded by the ITS Archimede Foundation at the CUMO Eastern Mediterranean University Consortium, in Noto (Syracuse).*
Welcome! I hope your flight was uneventful. After you have landed, rent a car and head to Palazzolo Acreide to have lunch and leave your luggage at the hotel. An exciting journey awaits you!
Welcome to Sicily. Rent a car and head directly to Dimora del Pero, in the center of Palazzolo Acreide!
After just over an hour you will arrive in [Palazzolo Acreide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzolo_Acreide), one of the villages that you can admire these days.
As soon as you arrive you can enjoy typical Sicilian dishes. I recommend you to taste the spaghetti with sea urchins. Buon appetito!
After you have rested, head to the [church of San Sebastiano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Sebastiano,_Palazzolo_Acreide) the largest church in Palazzolo.
After visiting the council church, go and see the Torre dell'Orologio in the Lenza district, one of the most characteristic areas of the village.
Another church that you cannot miss is the mother church of San Nicola. It is the oldest church in Palazzolo and is defined as "the most grandiose Norman temple with a square bell tower with ogival windows and an openwork crowning".
After a super busy day, you need a dessert! Go to the Bar Pasticceria Corsino and delight your palate with sweet Sicilian types. I recommend the Sicilian cassata or the classic ricotta cannolo.
After you have filled your stomach go to see the church of San Michele, which shows all the beauty of the eighteenth-century baroque.
Walk to the Villa Comunale. You can relax sitting on the benches or you can take a walk. Very characteristic is a part of the garden called "Viale delle Rimembranze" so called because in that place trees were planted in honor of the local war dead.
It's time for dinner! Go and eat in the Trattoria del Gallo, a fairly famous place even outside of Palazzolo. Have a good dinner!
Happy awakening traveler. During this day you will visit not only Palazzolo, but also the archaeological site of Akrai. Let's go!
The Museum of Noble Traditions has the ability to make you arouse emotions through its collections. The collections are housed in Palazzo Rizzarelli - Spadaro, a baroque building that takes its name from an ancient aristocratic family , coming from Scicli, near Ragusa, that had possessions between Giarratana, Vizzini, Francofonte and Palazzolo Acreide. During the Second World War the building was bombed and later restored. Have a good visit!
Leave Palazzolo and go to visit the Museum "I Luoghi del lavoro contadino". This is not a real museum but it is formed by eight environments that retrace the work and life of the people of the Iblei. You can visit the workshops of the blacksmith, shoemaker and carpenter, the millstone where the grapes were pressed and the oil mill. The visit continues in the "casa ro massaru", a typical home of the small landowner of the area.
Return to Palazzolo and visit the Antonino Uccello house-museum. The House Museum was created by Antonino Uccello, a passionate scholar of Sicilian popular culture. Uccello has collected and studied, for over thirty years, oral traditions, objects, work tools, artifacts of that peasant civilization that was disappearing in those years. You can see how some of the farmer's activities were carried out.
It's time for lunch! Go to the Vecchio Molino restaurant and fill your stomach and then... let's go to [Akrai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrai), one of the colonies of the Greek city of Syracuse!
Here we are in Akrai. The city of Akrai is the oldest of the Syracuse subcolonies. The first studies on the ancient city date back about to 1960 and essentially concerned the problem of identifying the site of the Greek city. You can visit the Akrai theater composed of the orchestra, the stage and the lower steps of the cavea, which were subsequently rebuilt up to the twelfth step. Do not miss to see the "bouleuterion", the building that housed the council of the Ancient Greek city (named *polis*) and to the south of the theater, the remains of an archaic temple probably dedicated to Aphrodite.
In the same Akrai area you must visit the Latomie dell’Intagliata, a stone quarry used by Christians and Byzantines as tombs and homes.
The day is not over yet! Take the car and head to the site of the "Santoni", a cult area dedicated to the goddess Cybele and datable to the third century B.C. This is an extraordinary place of ancient cults!
You must be very hungry. The name of the restaurant means "What there is", meaning that you will eat only fresh things! Here is a little corner of paradise. Relax and enjoy the evening and your dinner!
Welcome to Buccheri, a small village that rises in the valley between the slopes of Mount Lauro and Mount Tereo. During this day you will visit not only the most particular churches of the village but also the Iblei Mountains.
Have a hearty breakfast and leave for Buccheri. The day begins!
The day begins with a visit to the church of Santa Maria Maddalena which houses numerous treasures inside.
It is about eleven o'clock. Sit in the Montelauro bar and eat some desserts that never hurt!
After you have had your sweet break, go to the Church of Sant'Antonio Abate. It is majestic, rich, beautiful and the details to admire are so many that you don't realize how long it takes. Take your time and visit it calmly!
The Mother Church is dedicated to Sant'Ambrogio, patron saint of the city. Inside the church you can admire a painting dated 1766 depicting the Milanese saint baptizing Augustine, an artwork by Francesco Mignemi from Catania and a statue that depicts the Saint in ecclesiastical clothes in the act of blessing.
Go for lunch at the La Pineta Restaurant Pizzeria. You can taste typical Sicilian dishes or eat a pizza. Buon appetito!
The church is located at the entrance to the town. It is small but with a spectacular charm, and when you get to the top you can admire a panorama that can only be admired from there and from the Castle area.
The [Hyblaean plateau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyblaean_Mountains), known for its deep quarries carved by the dragging action of the waters flowing in the harmonious limestone, still retains the signs of a balanced relationship between man and nature. Maybe you don't know that one of the activities that historically characterized this land was that of the collection, conservation and marketing of snow! Do you think it's strange? In fact, in this place you can see the neviere, caves or cellars where in the past, in winter, snow was collected to be used in the hot season for cooling food and drinks. Have a good walk!
This church is a twelfth century Swabian jewel unknown to most people, it lies semi-ruined and abandoned in the countryside between Lentini and Buccheri. It is a very rare example of Gothic art scattered in the middle of the fields, but really worths a visit!
It's time to have dinner. Go to Da Antonio restaurant and enjoy his incredible plates!
Here we are in Buscemi. The town is located on the southern slope of Monte Vignitti located in the central part of the Iblei Mountains and is surrounded by the historical sites of ancient Akrai, Casmene and the Necropolis of Pantalica.
You have arrived at the last stage of your journey. Enjoy these last hours before your departure!
The first stop is the mother church of the town and is preceded by a wide lava stone staircase and overlooks Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
Vai mangiare qualche dolce della zona presso il Caffè Chic prima di continuare la passeggiata!
Go to this cave carved out of stone. If you are lucky you will be able to attend some event
Before going to eat, go to the Villa comunale, sit on a bench and relax for a while.
And here we are at the last meal in Sicily. I hope you enjoyed all Sicilian delicacies. Good lunch!
Take the car and exit Buscemi. Go see the rock church of San Pietro, a Byzantine architectural jewel that was later transformed into a fortification sheepfold against the assaults of wolves.
A few kilometers away is the Requisenz Castle, the ancient bulwark of the town of Buscemi. It was built around 1355 probably by Guglielmo Ventimiglia baron of Buscemi. Later it passed to the Requisenz, lords of Pantelleria, thanks to the marriage between two members of the families.