Belvedere Garden of Acireale
Villa Belvedere, named after Vittorio Emanuele III, is the largest public garden in the city of Acireale. Built in 1848, it immediately took the name of Belvedere for the splendid panorama that can be enjoyed looking out from its balcony at the end of the main avenue: facing the sea, below, the "Timpa" on which Acireale stands; behind Etna. The main avenue is adorned with six busts of illustrious Acesi from the 1800s and 1900s. A large rotunda is used in the summer for musical events. Inside there is a large conference area and a modern amphitheater. To enrich the splendid Villa of Acireale there is also what remains of the historic Café Chantant Eden, in Moorish style, where concerts and operettas were performed. Here, in 1905, Acireale saw the first cinematographic film projected and currently, during the summer, the open-air cinema is set up. It is possible to admire the ancient marble fountain from the church of San Rocco and the lava cave that forms a natural basin with goldfish. But the most important work is undoubtedly the basin with the marble group of Aci and Galatea, taken from a chalk found at the Zelantea Art Gallery, which recalls the myth of Aci and Galatea < / a>. The Villa and the garden today appear as an interesting union between the Italian style of the central avenue and side flower beds and the English landscape, with the creation of paths full of romantic suggestions.
