The Church of St Nicola in Trecastagni can be seen from a long distance; it dominates a vast part of the underlying territory and its central bell tower looks like a finger pointing straight towards the sky.

This beautiful church has the most plainly seventeenth-century façade of the whole Sicily and it is located in a context of extreme beauty.

It has a monumental entrance stairway and a magnificent panorama: from Augusta and the plain of Catania, to Taormina and Calabria, from the summit of Etna, which from here seems very close and wonderful, to Mount Serra and the towns of Viagrande, San Giovanni La Punta, Valverde and San Gregorio.

The church dates back to the fifteenth century and was built in lava stone.

Inside it's simple and elegant; there are three naves separated by mighty pillars.

The side entrance has a beautiful portal that should have belonged to the oldest church that once stood in this place.

Because of its beauty, and because the beauty of everything that surrounds it, the church of St Nicola is often chosen as a place for marriages.

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