Tourist information - Cefalu
Among the Mediterranean's undiscovered jewels. The epitome of picturesque grandeur. Excellent descriptions of this captivating seaside town beneath a steep mountain are being said. Cefalu has a beach, winding, narrow, medieval streets, and exquisite restaurants overlooking a rocky coast. All beneath the ever-present gaze of the Norman-Arab-Byzantine cathedral, one of the greatest churches of southern Europe. Nestled between the Madonie Mountains and the sea, Cefalù's mountain features the ruins of a large fortress with an ancient Sicanian-Greek temple. The scene from the summit is inspiring.
On the northern coast, 75 kilometers east of Palermo, from which it's about forty-five minutes by car, much longer on an express train, Cefalù (with the accent on the last syllable) is a medieval town built on the site of an ancient Sicanian and Greek settlement. Actually, its name derives from the Greek word for a cape; the ancient city was called Cephaloedion. Aside from a few archeological items in the local museum, everything that remains of these ancient cultures today is a small structure, the Temple of Diana, on the mountain overlooking the town. the foundation of this simple enclosure is considered to be among the oldest structures still standing in Sicily. Though the fortress itself crumbled ancient times, the battlements atop the mountain were built during the Norman rule of the island in the eleventh and 12th centuries. Many segments of this outer wall are restorations; most are original. For the stout hearted, the summit, with its outstanding view of the town, cathedral, mountains and sea, is definitely worth the climb. (Only Taormina's seaside view rivals this coastal vista.) Viewed at night from the coast to the west, the illuminated mountain and cathedral make for an inspiring site, evoking a lot of the city's medieval grandeur.
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