Bike Hotel in Agira, Mamà B&B

This is a brief guide to Agira and what to see and do in the evening, once you’ve completed your Sicily Divide stage and want to explore the surrounding village.

Agira is far more than just a technical stopover or a random place to land after climbing Mount Teja.

Agira is one of Sicily’s most ancient towns, continuously inhabited since prehistory and known as the birthplace of the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus. Its historical importance was such that it once minted its own coins. For the rider who stops here, Agira offers an authentic experience, far from the mass-tourism circuits. The best advice is to get lost on foot in the “Rocche” Arab quarter and explore the maze of churches: among the many, the Abbey of San Filippo (the town’s patron saint) and the Church of SS. Salvatore stand out. The latter guards a true rarity: the oldest stone Aron (Jewish Holy Ark) in Europe, dated 1454. A more recent and poignant historical curiosity is the Canadian War Cemetery, which holds the soldiers who fell during the Operation Husky landing in Sicily.

But above all, Agira is a mandatory stop for food. It is the undisputed home of the Cassatella di Agira, an unmistakable crescent-shaped pastry. Unlike Palermo’s cassata, the Agira version has a soft, rich filling of almonds, cocoa, toasted chickpea flour, sugar, and cinnamon, encased in a tender shortcrust pastry. It’s the perfect fuel to recharge your energy after a day in the saddle.