Filicudi — the path to Zucco Grande
A mule track along the north-east flank leads to a village where three hundred people lived, nearly all of whom left for Australia. What remains is ruins, dry-stone terracing and two or three houses put back together.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Duration
- Sources range from 1 to 4 hours
- Elevation gain
- Not published by any reliable source
- Altitude
- About 270 m, but only one source says so
- Season
- March–June, September–November
Three hundred people, then Australia
Zucco Grande was a hamlet of Filicudi like many others: stone houses, terraces, capers and vines. About three hundred people lived there — the one figure every source we found agrees on — and then nearly all of them left for Australia. No source names a single event: no earthquake, no landslide, no eviction. Only emigration, which in the smaller islands did more damage than any eruption. On the date, though, the sources disagree: some write «in the 1950s», one says the 1960s, others «almost a century ago», which would mean the 1930s. We could not reach any archival source to settle it, and we would rather say so.
What actually remains
Ruins of houses, lanes overgrown with ferns, and above all dry-stone terracing: walls of stone on stone covering the mountainside, built to farm where there wasn't a metre of level ground. They are more striking than the houses. And it isn't all ruin: two or three dwellings have been restored, and people who walk through describe work in progress — somebody still comes back in summer. Which is why the path stays walkable: it isn't a dead place, it's an almost empty one.
The path, and why we give no numbers
You start from Valdichiesa and follow the old mule track north-east along the island's eastern flank; some start lower down, from Filicudi harbour. The length we find written is about two kilometres one way. For the rest, read the box above: this is a walk for a whole morning, not for the hour before the hydrofoil. One good thing we do know: Filicudi's paths are cleared every spring, and this one passes houses still used in summer, so it is kept open.
Where it continues, and where it doesn't
The path doesn't end at Zucco Grande. You can carry on to Vallone Fontana, where a spring sits inside a small grotto with maidenhair fern, and further to the Case Ficcarisi, more ruins above the Siccagni coast — a full day with that extension. A second path drops from Zucco Grande to the pebble beach of la Fossa. One thing worth stating, because it gets muddled online: there is no documented footpath from Zucco Grande to the Grotta del Bue Marino — that is on the opposite, western side, and you reach it by boat.
When to go, and what to bring
Not in summer: the path is exposed and shadeless, and in July and August the middle hours are a bad idea. Spring and autumn are the right seasons. Proper walking shoes, a hat, long trousers if the vegetation has grown. Carry your water: the only water on the route is the spring at Vallone Fontana, and no source states that it is drinkable. And look up at the cliffs on that side: a colony of Eleonora's falcons nests there. Help is far away on this island: it is not a place to improvise.
Reserve and UNESCO: what is actually protected
Filicudi has been a regional nature reserve since 25 July 1997 — «Isola di Filicudi e scogli Canna e Montenassari» — with the two sea stacks under the stricter integral regime. On the area the sources diverge: the Sicilian Region gives 635.93 hectares, the 1999 IUCN evaluation for UNESCO gave 562. Zucco Grande has its own designation: since 29 August 2017 it is a regional geosite of national interest — but the decree covers the volcanic rocks of the eruptive centre, not the village. And on UNESCO: the Aeolians have been World Heritage since 2000 as a natural site, under a single geological criterion, with an inscribed perimeter of 1,216 hectares across the whole archipelago — saying «the island is UNESCO» is convenient and inaccurate. The island →
The project to bring it back
In September 2024, from the 18th to the 22nd, Filicudi hosted a summer school run by the University of Catania with the Catania engineers' association, on exactly this: restoring traditional buildings for sustainable tourism, case study Zucco Grande. It began with the architecture professor Vincenzo Sapienza, and on 12 October 2024 seven student groups presented a masterplan imagining Zucco Grande as an albergo diffuso. Whether and when that happens, we don't know. Getting to Filicudi from here →
Frequently asked questions
What is Zucco Grande on Filicudi?
An abandoned hamlet on the north-east side of Filicudi. About three hundred people lived there and nearly all of them emigrated to Australia. Today there are the ruins of the houses, lanes overgrown with ferns, extensive dry-stone terracing and two or three dwellings restored by people who come back in summer. It can only be reached on foot.
When was Zucco Grande abandoned?
The sources disagree, and we would rather say so: some write the 1950s, one the 1960s, others «almost a century ago», which would mean the 1930s. We reached no archival source to settle it. On one thing they all agree: the cause was emigration, largely to Australia.
How long does it take to reach Zucco Grande?
It depends who is writing, and the spread is wide: one hour each way from Valdichiesa according to several sources, two hours there and back according to another, three hours, and three to four from the harbour. Difficulty is given as anything from «low to medium» to «medium-high». The length quoted is about two kilometres one way. Treat it as half a day.
Can you continue beyond Zucco Grande?
Yes, in two documented directions: on to Vallone Fontana, where a spring sits in a small grotto, and further to the Case Ficcarisi, which makes it a full day; and downhill to the pebble beach of la Fossa. There is no documented path towards the Grotta del Bue Marino, which lies on the opposite side of the island and is reached by boat.
Stay in Capo d'Orlando
A base in the centre — and everything else becomes a day trip.
The port for the Aeolians is 45 minutes away, the Nebrodi right behind. Breakfast served early for dawn departures.
Direct booking, no intermediaries · See the rooftop →
