Seasons1 of 4
One source dates this chestnut to roughly 1,800 years old; a second confirms only that it is over a thousand, without putting a number on it. Either way it has been growing on Etna's slope above Sant'Alfio for a very long time, five hundred metres up the same path from the tree everyone comes for. It carries two names, and neither is entirely flattering. Castagno della Nave, the Ship's Chestnut, describes the base, which flares out at the ground like a hull. Locals also call it arusbigghiasonnu, roughly wakes-you-from-sleep, for the racket the hundreds of birds roosting in its crown make at dusk. The tree stands on private land, but right at the edge of the path, and the source describing it calls it clearly visible without stepping onto the property. No fee, no gate to pass, and no need to leave the route up to the Hundred-Horse Chestnut. Reached the same way as its more famous neighbour: about an hour by car from Taormina, then on foot the last five hundred metres. Like most old chestnuts on this slope, it still drops chestnuts every October.
From people who stood here
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Getting there
beside the path up from the Hundred-Horse Chestnut, about 500m further uphill, on the Sant'Alfio/Mascali boundary
You can recognise it by its base, which flares out like a ship's hull. It stands right at the edge of the path, about 500 metres uphill from the Hundred-Horse Chestnut, not set back in a garden.
Stands on private land, but directly at the edge of the path up from the Hundred-Horse Chestnut, described by the source as clearly visible without entering the property. Free, no ticket.
Same trip as the Hundred-Horse Chestnut, about 500m further along the same path. Roughly an hour by car from Taormina; no practical public transport.
In bloomIn fruit
October, when the chestnuts come down
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.
- In the official register: Elenco degli alberi monumentali d'Italia, Regione Siciliana entry (D.D.G. n. 2856 of 13/10/2025), no. 01/F004/CT/19
- etnanatura.it
- go-etna.it