A last post about Sicily

Time to finish with my reports about my trip to Sicily and the Aeolian Islands.

Next stop was Palermo, capital of the Sicily region. Despite its mafia (Cosa Nostra) reputation it was a most pleasant experience, a beautiful city with smiling people.

As all over Italy, there is a very short distance between a church and another. Here they are often magnificent, with a mixture of Byzantine, Arabic, Norman, Gothic, Baroque… architecture. The interior decoration is often overwhelming. This is the cathedral.

The "Piazza Pretoria" with its fountain (by Francesco Camilliani, 1530-86), originally created in Tuscany, but bought by Palermo and erected here in 1584 - in history often referred to as the “fountain of shame” because of the nudities - and its neighbour "Piazza Bellini" are surrounded by the town hall and a number of churches including the Martorama and the San Cataldo with its red cupolas.

Here are some examples of the interior decorations (don’t ask me which one in which church).

Another remarkable church is the 12^th century "San Giovanni degli Erimiti", with its partial Arab influences.

The "Palazzo dei Normanni" was the royal palace for the Kings of Sicily (11the and 12^th century). It houses the "Capalla Palatina" with some incredible mosaics.

A central place, referred to as "Quattro Canti" is surrounded by four similarly decorated 17^th century buildings.

Here are some various photos, including of the opera house…

… and from more popular quarters …

… and from some night strolling.

Up the hills, overlooking Palermo is a little town, Monreale. Palermo was conquered by Arabs and became the capital of the Emirate of Sicily for some two hundred years, 9^th – 11^th centuries. Although it seems to have been a very tolerant regime, the Bishop of Palermo moved his seat here and when he moved back to Palermo, the Norman kings of Sicily, who took over after the Arabs, decided to build what was to become a cathedral - ready in 1182 - and the seat of the archbishop of Sicily. The interior, all in mosaics is a splendour.  

Back to the east coast with a visit to Taormina. The old village is situated some 250 m (800 ft) above sea level with some nice beaches which can be reached by cable cars. It’s today a leading tourist destination.

Once again, the present population was preceded by the Greek and the Romans. The “Teatro Greco” was modified by the Romans – the brick constructions. It’s beautifully situated with a view over Mount Etna (see also photo on top of the post).

My last destination was Catania, known for its seismic history, catastrophic earthquakes and several volcanic eruptions from Mount Etna.  The present cathedral was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1693. When Sicily was under Arab rulers, the Emirate of Sicily, the town had the name of “Medinat-al-Fil” – the City of the Elephant. The elephant can be found on the Piazza Duomo. It was obviously sculpted of volcanic stone during Roman times. It later got to support a transplanted Egyptian obelisk. Whatever the history is about this elephant, it may be interesting to know that the prehistoric fauna of Sicily included dwarf elephants.

The city centre contains many beautiful buildings. There are some nice parks, churches, markets… and some other historical landmarks which I did not have time to visit. 

    

More from Sicily

I thought I should concentrate to two or three posts regarding my trip to Sicily and the Aeolian Islands. Finally, there will be this one and one more.

I rented a car and made a limited tour of Sicily, starting with…

… Syracuse, known for its Greek history, amphitheaters … and for the place where Archimedes was born, lived and died. It was once one of the major cities in the Mediterranean world. The Greek period was followed by Roman and Byzantine dominations interrupted by Muslim influence. During the mediaeval period, like for the rest of Sicily, there was a permanent influence struggle between different European dynasties, followed by the integration in the unified Italy (1865).

It was around Syracuse that the allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) started in 1943.

The historic centre “Ortigia”, separated by the rest of the city by a canal, is dominated by the central place, Piazza de Duomo. The cathedral has still pillars from the time it was a Greek temple. During a first visit I was met by a very strong thunderstorm. I went back the following morning … under a blue sky.

On the hills behind the city centre, you can find what is left of an enormous Greek theatre (rebuilt by the Romans), a Roman amphitheatre…  An enormous cave, the “Ear of Dionysius”, so baptized by Caravaggio, once (built?) used as a water storage.

Further up the hill, behind a statue there are some old graves, supposed to be the burial place of Archimedes (287-212 BC).  I think we all learnt about him in school, but if you want to refresh your memory you can go here.  There is a very interesting Archimedes museum.

Next stop was at Caltagirone, especially known as a town of pottery. The origin of the name is acutally Arabic – “qai’at-al-jarar” – “Castle of the (potter) jars”.  The main landmark is the 142-step staircase, “Santa Maria del Monte” from 1608, with each step decorated with different ceramics.

Piazza Armerina…

… is actually best known for the nearby "Villa Romana del Casale", from the 4^th century, containing the world’s largest collection of Roman mosaics. It was covered by a landslide during the 12^th century. Excavations were made during the 20^th century and it has been partly roofed for protection. Especially known are the “bikini girls”, young women performing different sports.

I then drove down to the southern coast, to Agregento…

… renowned as the site  of the ancient Greek city Akragas. It was one of the richest and most famous Greek colonies, today known as the “Valle dei Templi” (Valley of the Temples).  They constitute some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside Greece. One of the temples is surprisingly intact, thanks to its conversion to a Christian church in 597 (see picture on top of the post).

A little valley behind the temples is worth a visit for its luxurious vegetation.

Also, definitely worth a visit is the archeological museum, which in a remarkable way shows a collection of the rich findings on the site.

Here you can see the view I had from my hotel room - on top the total view of three temples - the some zooming.