#milazzoèfattaascale

#milazzoèfattaascale, conceived from an idea by architect Domenico Mollura, is:

• an Italia Nostra project dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of Milazzo's Hillside District;

• a book of images and words inviting readers to discover - or rediscover - the routes and stairways linking the Spanish Quarter with Porta Sant'Anna (also known as Porta del Capo), and the traditional fishing village of Vaccarella with the western hillside of the town;

• a photographic exhibition exploring the "middle ground" between the Lower Town and the Fortified City;

• a series of illustrated information panels designed to help visitors find their way and rediscover streets and places whose names have gradually faded from memory;

• an invitation to approach the Fortified City not by the busiest roads, but along alternative historic routes, rediscovering ramps, stairways, narrow lanes, small squares, churches, monasteries, wayside shrines, archaeological sites, historic buildings and military fortifications;

• a vision that rejects mechanised access - such as escalators, considered unnecessary and destined to deteriorate over time - and large coach and car parks immediately adjacent to the Fortified City;

• an opportunity for visitors to discover, and for local residents to rediscover, the historic communities of the Ragusans, Catalans, Lombards and Genoese - communities that once functioned much like merchant colonies - together with the convents of Saint Francis of Paola, the Dominicans, the Benedictines and the Capuchins; the evocatively named streets of Roccazze, Sinagoga and Monastero; the historic Giardineria; the "new, well-planned neighbourhoods" of Via Montecastro and Vico del Re; and the magnificent views across both the eastern and western Tyrrhenian Sea.