Savoca, whose name derives from plans called "sambuchi" (elder-trees), is a small town in the province of Messina. It was founded by Ruggero II in 1134 and developed around the "Stronghold of Pentefur" where, at the time of the Arabic domination, a castle called " Saracen castle" was built.
Do not miss to visit the Church Mother with a renaissance rose window on the portal, the Church of S. Michele with beautiful portals, in sandstone stone, of the first years of the 1500's, the Church of S. Nicolò, built in the XIV century, has the aspect of a fortress, the remains of the Castle Pentefuro or "Saraceno", a medieval house with a "double lancet window" constructed in the late five hundred that belonged to the Fleres families, Trischitta, Altadonna and today to the family Cantatore, and the Convent with the Church of the Cappuccini with the Catacombs containing the mummies of the notables, patricians and the Abbots.