The Riviera of the Cyclops, along which stretches the Literary Park named after Giovanni Verga (1840-1922), is well known thanks to the mythological tales handed down to us by the great poets of antiquity, Homer and Virgil. Legend has it that the three faraglioni, or rock stacks, on the coast of Acitrezza are the great rocks hurled down by Polyphemus after Ulysses as he fled in his ship. "The Cyclops' Archipelago" has become the picturesque scenario of a rite known in Sicilian dialect as "U pisci a mari" ("The fish in the sea"), a popular tradition linked to the celebrations in honour of St John the Baptist, the patron saint of Acitrezza, which are held every year on 24 June.

A pageant is performed representing the ancient art of swordfishing. This re-enactment reflects the culture of a population that is indissolubly tied to the sea, in a glimpse of daily life that in years gone by inspired the verism of Verga's novels. The visit to places recalling the author continues through other localities he described, including the Norman castle, which figures in the plot of the tale Stories of Trezza Castle, and goes on to Acitrezza, where one can visit the scenes of the gradual decline of the family described in I Malavoglia, a novel known in English as The House by the Medlar Tree: the actual house by the medlar tree, the little lanes, the square, the fountain, and the church. One can also visit locations where scenes were shot for Luchino Visconti's celebrated film La terra trema (The Earth Trembles), made with local actors - the fishermen of Trezza. There is no explicit reference in the credits to Verga or I Malavoglia, but the film is clearly inspired by the places and characters of Verga's novel.

The Sceneries of the Park