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Sant’Opolo
Length of the trail:
300 m with a difference in altitude of 70 m (to the source 100 m)
Walking time:
30 min (to source 10 min)
Difficulty level:
Medium (up to easy source)
The district of S. Opolo gives its name to a naturalistic path that connects the plateau of the promontory to the coast below. Along the Via Addolorata, past the homonymous church, we enter the Via Bevaceto; from here the first crossroad on the right leads to the entrance of the path. It is an old mule track that the inhabitants of the Cape used to reach the stretch of coast below; ends in a space in front of a famous restaurant on the sea, which stands at the place of one of the six tuna traps of Milazzo.
Following the path, from its starting point you proceed for a hundred meters to a stone staircase that leads into a quadrangular space without cover. Here we find the source of Sant’Opolo; the water flows clear from a cinnamon in the wall, opposite to this there are two large washeries that were once used by the capiciani. In an atmosphere out of time, you can fully enjoy the lush nature, accompanied only by the flow of clear water from the source.
Going up you can decide to take a small road to the right; this one enters another street of Via Bevaceto that allows you to return to the starting point. Il Piaggia claims that the “contrada di S. Opolo” is so called because in ancient times there was a medieval church named after the deacon from Catania, Sant’Euplio Martire, which was destroyed in the seventeenth century. The historian Perdichizzi had already narrated about the history of the ancient place of prayer. The presence of the spring is evidenced by a Spanish map of the eighteenth century, in which it reads “Fuente de S. Opolo es manantial que da bastante agua”.
Isgrò C. Guida alla natura di Capo Milazzo, Milazzo 2016
