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Sicily, the
scented island
Palermo,
Messina,
Taormina,
Catania,
Siracusa,
Agrigento
 Greek, Carthaginian,
Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Anjevin,
Spanish and Italian . This is one way of describing
Sicily. But there is also the sunshine,,
and the warm hospitality of the people of this land
of lemon tree, which makes Sicily a delight for all
those who love beauty. We will start our visit in
Palermo,
(TOP)
standing in a magnificent position on the
edge of the orange and lemon tree-covered plain
called "Conca d'Oro" . We can take three different
tours of the
 city, The first starts at the junction
between Via Maqueda and Via Vittorio Emanuele, in a
beautiful
 Baroque square known as "Quattro Canti".
We will go to the nearby Piazza Pretoria, with the
monumental 16th c. Pretoria Fountain, and Piazza
Bellini, with three churches: S. Caterina (16th c.)
, S. Cataldo (12th c. with a fine interior, floor
and mosaic), and Martorana - a masterpiece of Norman
art (1143), with its original bell-tower and
splendid mosaics. Then we can see the Baroque Church
of S. Giuseppe dei Teatini, and then go to the
cathedral, begun in 1185 but restored continually
until the dawn of the 19th century. After
admiring the grandiose right-hand wall of the
Cathedral, we will go inside and see the many
sculptures and the majestic imperial and royal
tombs, including the tomb of Frederic II. The museum
of the "Tesoro", contains wrought gold, enamels and
illuminated manuscripts. Just a short walk away is
the huge Palazzo dei Normanni, originally built by
the Arabs, with the Royal Apartments and the
Palatine Chapel, Palermo's most magnificent monument
from the Norman period (12th c.) , with its
extraordinary decoration and architecture (wooden
Arabesque ceiling, 1143, 12th c. lectern stand and
Easter candle-holder, superb mosaics including
Christ in Glory surrounded by archangels, prophets
and the evangelists).
 The nearby Church of S.
Giovanni degli Eremiti, with its red domes, has a
beautiful cloister and garden full of exotic plants
that give us a taste of the Orient. The second
tour takes us along the Baroque Via Maqueda and
Piazza Verdi , dominated by the huge Teatro Massimo,
as far as the Archaeological Museum, one of the
Italy's richest and largest, known particularly for
the sculptures and carving unhearted at Selinunte.
We will visit the Baroque Church of S. Domenico and
the Oratories of the Rosario and S. Zita, both
beautiful stuccoed by Serpotta (17th-18th c.). Our
third walk begins with a visit to the Catalan-Gothic
And Renaissance Church of S. Maria della Catena, the
mediaeval Palazzo Chiaramonte standing in the huge
Piazza Marina, with Garibaldi Garden inside, full of
rare trees and plants. No far away in the Piazza S.
Spirito is the International Marionette Museum. We
end our tour in the Sicilian National Gallery (in
the magnificent Catalan-Gothic Palazzo Abatellis
designed by M. Carnelivari (15thth c. frescoes of
"The Triumph over Death", bust of Eleanor of Aragona
by Laurana, and the Annunciation by Antonello da
Messina, etc.), and the gardens in Villa Flora and
the "Orto Botanico", one of the Europe's most
important Botanical Gardens, founded in 1789. There
are many other major
 monuments, such as the Church
of Gesu', S. Spirito, S Giovanni dei lebbrosi (1070
AD) and the 13th century S. Francesco d'Assisi and
nearby the Oratory of S. Lorenzo (stuccoes by
Serpotta); Palazzo Aiutamicristo (15th c.),
the Shrine of S. Rosalia on Mt. Pellegrino, the Arab
Norman Palaces - "La Cuba" and "La Zisa"; the Friary
of the Cappuccini with its catacombs (not be missed
by enthusiasts of things macabre...); the splendid
Parco della Favorita with the 19th century Palazzina
Cinese and the Pitre` Ethnographic Museum. There are
several interesting excursions outside Palermo : the
seaside of Mondello, or Bagheria with its 17th-18th
century villas; or to Solunto (visiting the ruins
and the museum) or Piana degli Albanesi, an Albanian
settlement founded 11488 which is famous for the
richly embroidered folk costume. But one place that
cannot be missed is Monreale, with its incredible
12th century Cathedral, who's magnificent interior
is richly decorated with the most magnificent
mosaics - a gold mine, full of splendid colors whose
hypnotic beauty imply dazzles the eye - and the
adjacent ancient cloister with the columns and
capitals, all different, and its charming well. In
Messina
(TOP) there is the Cathedral, originally buit by the
Normans, the Fountain of Orion (16th c.), the
astronomical clock in the cathedral bell-tower where
we can see the mechanical men strike noon. The there
is the elegant Church od S. Annunziata dei Catalani
(12th-13th c.), the Museo Nazionale ( archaeology,
paintings, works by Antonello da Messina, Caravaggio,
Gagini, etc.) . Our next unforgettable town of
Taormina., (TOP)
where we can stand in the Greek Theatre and see Mt.
Etna and the sea in a splendid panorama, before
visiting the Cathedral and Palazzo Corvaia (15th c.)
. But the greatest pleasure in Taormina is to stroll
along the streets, walking up to the Castle, to
Castelmola and down to the pretty coastline around
Mazzaro` and Giardini Naxos. Driving trough the nice
town of Acireale (Baroque monuments, Folklore
Theatre where traditional Sicilian marionettes
perform at the "opera dei Pupi" ) , Aci Trezza,
(with its rocks, called the "Scogli dei Ciclopi"
because legend has is that the blinded Polyphemus
hurled them against the boat of Ulysses, used as the setting for Turner's famous landscape painting of
Ulysses deriding Polyphemus), and Aci Castello
(Norman Caste built on black lava stone), we reach
Catania, (TOP)
lying in a magnificent position surrounded by the
citrus groves on the southern
 slopes of Mt. Etna .
It is a city with sumptuous Baroque and noble
buildings; we can visit the Baroque City Hall, the
Cathedral, the Ursino Castle (built by Frederick II,
and now the Municipal Museum), the birthplace of
Vincenzo Bellini in Piazza S. Francesco (Museo
Belliniano), the nearby Roman Theatre and the Odeon.
Walking down one of the city's most monumental
streets, Via dei Crociferi, with the Churches of S.
Benedetto, S. Giuliano and S. Nicolo` (the largest
in Sicily), and Via Etnea, with its splendid palaces
, we reach the gardens of Villa Bellini. If we have
time, we must go up Etna. From Catania, we will
drive to Augusta with the nearby ruins of the Greek
town of Megara Hyblaea, and
Syracuse
(TOP)
(Siracusa), where some of the island's most
important ancient remains are to be seen, in a
setting of great natural beauty. There are at least
two tours we can make in this city, tha was famous
in the age of Magna Graecia,. We can visit on the
island of
 Ortygia, visiting Piazza Pancali with the
ruins of the Temple of Apollo, Piazza Archimede,
dedicated to the illustrious Archimedes, who was
born here , via Minerva and Piazza del Duomo, lined
with beautiful buildings and overlooked by the
Baroque style Cathedral, buil on the site of the
ancient Temple of Athena, whose Doric capitals, part
of the columns and architrave can still be seen on
the rght hand external wall of the cathedral. We
will linger at the Spring (Fonte) of Arethusa (the
subject of Shelley's Arethusa) hymned by Pindar and
Virgil, and visit the 13th c. Maniace Castle, as
well as the city's two splendid Museums ("Archeologico",
one of the best endowed in Italy and 'Nazionale' in
Palazzo Bellom), and the take a sstroll around the
mediaeval streets. Our second tour takes us to the
Greek city on the mainland, where we will see the
"Parco Archeologico della Neapoli", with the Roman
Amphitheatre, the Greek Theatre - where classical
drama is still performed - hewn out of the rock,
with a capacity of 15,000 people. The there is the
Latomia del Paradiso with the "Ear of Dionysius" (Orecchio
di Dionisio) - an enormous artificial cave with
unusual acoustic properties capable of amplifying
even the faintest sound, and the beautiful Cordari
Cave. We will also visit the Chapel and the
catacombs of S. Giovanni (4th-6th c.), the huge
Latomia dei Cappuccini, embellished with luxuriant
vegetation, and the Church of S. Lucia al Seplocro
(in the apse in Caravaggio's late masterpiece, "the
Burial of S. Lucia"). We recommend a trip up
to Eurialo Castle - the most beautiful
and complex Greek military construction in
existence, - and to Fonte Ciane- adeep circular
papyrus pond in a silent, solitary setting. Another
interesting tour could be to Palazzolo Acreide, with
its churches and buildings, and an archaeological
site (Greek Theatre , caves, and the strange 3rd c
BC roughly carved sculptures), which is Sicily's
most grandiose necropolis with over 5,000 caves hewn
out of the rock-face. We can go to Noto, with its
unusually arranged 18th century houses. From here we
drive to Ipsica (detour Via Cava d'Ispica), a valley
of great prehistoric and
 archaeological
interest), Modica (imposing 18th century Church of
S. Giorgio) and Ragusa - an interesting town on the
slopes of the Iblei mountains, divided into two
valves : Ragusa and Ragusa Ibla. In Ragusa there is
the splendid 18th century cathedral, the
archaeological museum, and the Church of S. Maria
delle Scale. Ragusa Ibla is famed for the beautiful
Church of S. Giorgio (Baroque facade and
neoclassical dome). Our nest stop is Gela , on the
site of the ancient prosperous Greek settlement,
with its excavations, the Archaeological Museum and
the fortifications of Capo Soprano. If we have time
we can go inland to visit Caltagirone, famed for its
terracotta and tiles, with its cathedral, 16th-17th
c. Palazzetto della Corte Capitaniale, and its many
churches, of which S. Giorgio has a Flemish painting
on wood attributed to Roger van der Weyden. Driving
through Mirabella Imbaccari we reach Piazza Armerina
with its churches and 14th c. castle, whose fame
mainly rest on the nerby archaeological zone of
Villa Romana del Casale, where excavations only
began in 1929. It was built at the end of the 3rd
century AD as a huge country villa and hunting
'lodge', and was lived in until the 12th century.
Its mosaic floors are superb, and depict hunting
scenes, 10 young girls in the Roman equivalent of
bikinis, and the Labours of Hercules. We soon come
to Lake Pergusa, where Persephone's abduction is
supposed to have taken place. Passing Enna, perched
high up over the fertile plain ( known as 'the
belvedere of sicily'), with a splendid Cathedral,
Alessi Museum, Lomardia Castle ad Frederick II's
Tower, we reach Caltanisetta (interesting Churches,
two museums - the Civico and the Folkoristico -
Pietrarossa Castle and the Abbey of S. Spirito, 2
miles away). And this brings us to
Agrigento , (TOP)
the city of the
"flowering almond", with a wealth of archaeological
monuments. Our first tour will take us round the
mediaeval and modern town: Piazzale Roma, Via Aetnea,
13th c. Church of S. Spirito, Piazza Purgatorio
named after the church (with fine statues attributed
to Serpotta), the municipal museum, the Gothic
Church of S.
 Maria
dei Greci, built on a Doric temple, and the
cathedral. The second tour takes us through the
archaeological zone: from Piazza Marconi to the
Valley of the Temples, visiting the church S. Biagio,
the Shrine in the rock dedicated to Demeter and
Persephone, the Greek fortifications, the Hellenic
Roman quarter, the Romanesque-Gothic church of s.
Nicola, and the National Archaeological Museum - one
of the Southern Italy's most important of its kind.
Next comes the Temple of Zeus, the Shrine of the
Gods of the Underworld, with the Temple of Castore
and Pollux (5th c. BC), the Temple of Hercules , and
Concord (the perfectly proportioned and best
preserved of all extant Greek temples) and the
Temple of Era (Juno) standing alone in
 splendid
solitude. We leave Agrigento for the ruins of
Eraclea Minoa, the spa resort of Sciacca, Menfi and
Selinunte (selinus) with its important
archaeological remains of a Greek city (6th-5th
centuries BC). Castelvetrano is our next port of
call, with the nearby Norman Church of SS. Trinita`
in Delia, the Mazara del Vallo (Phoenician origin,
with some fine churches), and Marsala , famed for
two totally different things: its dessert fine wine,
and the place where Garibaldi disembarked (visit the
Insula Romana and the ruins of the Punic Mozia on
the nearby island of S. Pantaleo). The History of
Trapani has left many marks on the city: The Baroque
Shrine of the Annunziata, the Churces of S. Agostino
and S. Maria di Gesu`, Palazzo della Giudecca 916th
c.) , the Pepoli Ntional Museum (archaeology,
painting, wrought gold and handicrafts from the 16th
and 17th centuries) . To return to Palermo we will
follow the rugged coastline, with its beautiful
views, or we can drive through the interior. But
there are just two more places we can visit Erice
and Segesta. Erice (6 miles from Trapani) is an
extraordinary mediaeval town perched high up, with a
most unusual atmosphere that one can take by
strolling through its narrow winding streets that
suddenly lead into little squares and flower-decked
courtyards, lovingly cared-for. We can see the
Gothic Curch of Matrice , the fine Museo Comunale
and the 12th century Venere Castle standing on the
 site
of the ancient acropolis. Segesta has a Theatre
built in the 3rd century BC which overlooks the
surrounding countryside from on high, and a splendid
Doric temple standing aloof and proud in a wonderful
natural setting which exudes a mysterious
atmosphere by moonlight. To conclude this fairly
complete visit to the Island of Sicily, we should go
and visit at least one of the small islands :
there is Ustica, a paradise for skin-divers (ferries
from Palermo), the Aeolian Islands (ferries from
Milazzo), the volcanic archipelago of Lipari,
Vulcano, Salina, Filicudi Alicudi, Panarea and
Stromboli, a natural paradise; then
there are the Egladi Islands (from Trapani):
Favignana, Levanzo, and Marettimo whose unrivalled
beauties include the caves and remains of ancient
fortifications; Lampedusa and Pantelleria (from
Trapani) with its varied and enchanting coastline
and pinewoods.
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