Odds and Ends of Sicily

 Sicily
Nov 252019
 

November 23, 2019

The Ear of Dionysus

When the painter Michelangelo da Caravaggio, fled from Malta, he sought refuge in Syracuse and was welcomed by fellow painter Mario Minniti. During this time, 1608,  Caravaggio visited the latomìe (quarries) and apparently he named this cave the Ear of Dionysus.   It refers, not to the Greek God, but to the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse. According to legend (possibly one created by Caravaggio), Dionysius used the cave as a prison for political dissidents, and by means of the perfect acoustics eavesdropped on the plans and secrets of his captives. Another more gruesome legend claims that Dionysius carved the cave in its shape so that it would amplify the screams of prisoners being tortured in it.

There is a strong possibility that this feature is actually of natural origin. It lies on the downslope side of a substantial hill so it could well be a ‘slot’ canyon cut by rainwater run-off in prehistoric times.

The Cathedral of Cefalù

The Cathedral is one of nine structures included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale.  Unfortunately, it closed on November 1st for restoration work, so I was unable to get a look inside.

The cathedral was erected in 1131 in the Norman architectural style. According to tradition, the building was erected after a vow made to the Holy Saviour by the King of Sicily, Roger II, after he escaped from a storm and landed on the city’s beach.

The façade is characterized by two large Norman towers with mullioned windows, each surmounted by a small spire added in the 15th century. Each spire is different: one has a square plan surrounded by flame-shaped merlons, the latter symbolizing the Papal authority and the miter; the other has an octagonal plan and Ghibelline merlons, symbolizing the royal and temporal power.

The 15th-century portico has three arches, the two outer being pointed, supported by four columns and vaulting ribs.

LAVATOIA (Medieval Wash-house)

A wide staircase made of lava and lumachella stone with a slight spiraling pattern leads to a public wash-house.

A sign reads: “Here flows Cefalino, more salubrious than any other river, purer than silver, colder than snow”.

According to legend, the river Cefalino comes from the pain of a nymph who, after killing her unfaithful lover, regretted her actions, drowning the old wash-house of Cefalù in tears.

In 1514 the wash-house was demolished and rebuilt furthere out of the city walls. At that time the river flowed uncovered alongside the wash-house. It was covered in the 17th century. This slight modification allowed the river to flow straight into the sea through a set of pipes and out of a small opening.

Restoration work, leaving the wash-house as we see it today was completed in 1991.

Twenty-two cast-iron mouths, of which fifteen are shaped like lion heads, are laid out along the walls of the wash-house.

The Elephants of Catania


The Elephant of Catania, the city’s symbol is surrounded by tales and myths. Some say there once lived flocks of dwarf elephants at the foot of Mount Etna. Others say it is in memory of the wizard Eliodoro from the 8th century, who could turn into an elephant or at least shape a magical elephant out of clay to carry him back and forth between Catania and Constantinople. Still, others argue that the elephant stands as a symbol of the victory Catania won over Libya however Catania was known as elephant town prior to the Arab occupation. And then there are those who believe that the local elephant myth comes from an antique circus.  The people of Catania have used elephants as a good-luck charm to protect them against outbreaks of Etna since the 1200s.

No matter the truth, elephants in general and the U Liotru landmark are very important to the town of Syracusa

The Fontana dell’Elefante sits in one of the most important squares in town.  It is a black elephant with an obelisk on its back sitting atop a marble fountain. A globe, cross, palm leaf, olive branch, and the abbreviation MSSHDPL * crowns the obelisk.

The whole construction was created by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini around 1736.

An art installation in the square

* MSSHDPL supposedly stands for “Mente sana e sincera, per l’onore di Dio e per la sua liberazione della patria,” which translates into something like “A healthy and sincere mind in honor of God and for the liberation of the homeland.”

The Moor’s Head

In the thirteenth century, the Spaniards of Aragon were the first who referred to colored Sicilian ceramic objects as “maiolica”, because the firing and glazing techniques were similar to those used in the Balearic Islands of Majorca.

Legend has it that in the 11th century, during the Moor’s domination in Sicily a beautiful and honorable young girl living in the Kalsa, the Arabic district of Palermo fell in love with a Moor merchant who was passing by.  The love was mutual.

It was perfect until when she discovered he already had a wife. In a fit of jealousy, she cut off his head and used it as a vase to grow her basil

People passing by saw her flourishing plant of basil so they began to forge colorful clay heads pots hoping for such equally healthy basil.

Today there are several varieties of ceramic heads, but the traditional ones show a black man and a beautiful girl.

Two Wheel Carts

I am sure there are two-wheel carts to be seen during festivals, but today they are relegated to tourist items and candy dispensers.

These carts are one of the island’s most recognized folk icons and they are called  “caretto siciliano”, an ornately decorated horse- or donkey-drawn cart, which emerged in the early 1800s as a practical means of transportation. The cart’s colorful and intricate illustrations of historical events, literary works, and religious subjects helped impart knowledge to a population that was often illiterate.

After the fall of the Roman Empire and the subsequent deterioration of road networks, the two-wheeled cart became almost unusable.

 

The Trinacria

Sicily was known by the Romans as Trinacrium, meaning “star with three points.”

The word Trinacria means triangle and refers to the shape of the island. The symbol is the head of Medusa surrounded by three bent running legs and three stalks of wheat. The triangular shape first showed up in the center of the Sicilian flag during WWII and symbolized a plan to help Sicily become independent and a free republic. The symbol was first used on Syracusan coins in the fourth century B.C.

The three bent running legs represent the three capes of Sicily: Peloro (Punta del Faro, Messina – northeast), Passero (Syracuse – south) and Lilibeo (Marsala – west). The three stalks of wheat represent the fertility of the land (the breadbasket of Italy). The Medusa head in the middle of the Trinacria implies protection by Athena, the patron goddess of Sicily.

Wandering

Wandering the streets of Syracusa one night we ran into this lovely woman who is an art restorer.  She asked us in to see her work, it is beautiful and I felt so thrilled she wanted to share her art with us.

 

Street lights in Ortigia, Syracusa

The Amenano fountain in Catania gets its name from the Amenano river that flows underground. It was built in 1837 in Carrara marble by Tito Angelini, the fountain figuratively represents the river.

Many concrete pillbox bunkers still remain along the coastline of Sicily. These were used by the Italians and Germans to defend themselves during WWII.  This is near Butera, Sicily.

The cantoniere houses are properties owned by the state and managed by ANAS (National Autonomous Road Company). They are characterized by the typical Pompeian red color. They take their name from the ” roadmen “, the road maintenance workers who, for service reasons, needed to stay in the workplace. Often they were occupied by men simply counting the cars that traveled on the road.  Most are now simply to store road equipment.

 

 

Mount Etna

 Sicily
Nov 232019
 

November 22, 2019

A private tour with Davide, guide extraordinaire of Mount Etna Tours, was one of the most fascinating ways to spend a day in this extraordinary place.

Mount Etna is a stratovolcano. Stratovolcanoes are also called composite volcanoes because they are built of layers of alternating lava flow, ash, and blocks of unmelted stone. They are larger than cinder cones. Stratovolcanoes result from a conduit system of vents leading from a magma reservoir beneath the surface. When dormant, they typically have steep concave sides.

Stratovolcanoes can erupt with great violence. Pressure builds in the magma chamber as gases, under immense heat and pressure, are dissolved in the liquid rock. When the magma reaches the conduits the pressure is released and the gases explode, like soda spewing out of a soda can that you shook up and opened suddenly. Because they form in a system of underground conduits, stratovolcanoes may blow out the sides of the cone as well as the summit crater.

Stratovolcanoes are considered the most violent.

The restaurant at the ski resort destroyed by a lava flow in 2002, this loss caused a crash of the economy of this area that still has not recovered.

The reddish rock is lava, the black is actually compressed ash.  The ash is rated by its size. Cenere is the smallest ash, Sabia is much like sand, the black stone shown above is Lapilli Stone, these are followed by Scorie and  Blocchi

The Northside of Mount Etna

The first known record of an eruption at Etna is that of the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (born 90 BCE died 30BCE).

In 396 BCE, an eruption of Etna reportedly thwarted the Carthaginians in their attempt to advance on Syracuse during the Second Sicilian War.

A particularly violent explosive eruption occurred in 122 BCE and caused heavy tephra (rock fragments) to fall to the southeast, including the town of Catania, where many roofs collapsed. To help with reconstruction after the devastating effects of the eruption, the Roman government exempted the population of Catania from paying taxes for ten years.

The Roman poet Virgil gave what was probably a first-hand description of an eruption in the Aeneid.

During the first 1500 years CE, many eruptions went unrecorded (or records have been lost); among the more significant are: (1) an eruption in about 1030 CE near Monte Ilice  (2) an eruption in about 1160 (or 1224), on the south-southeast flank near the village of Mascalucia, whose lava flow reached the sea just to the north of Catania.

Rabban Bar Sauma, a Chinese traveler to the West, recorded the eruption of Etna on June 18, 1287

Etna’s most destructive eruption since 122 BCE started on March 11, 1669, and produced lava flows that destroyed at least 10 villages on its southern flank before reaching the city walls of the town of Catania five weeks later. The lava was largely diverted into the sea by the city walls, filling the harbor of Catania. A small portion of lava eventually broke through a section of the city walls on the western side of Catania and destroyed a few buildings before stopping in the rear of the Benedictine monastery, without reaching the center of the town.

Steam venting from one of the calderas

A study on the damage and fatalities caused by eruptions of Etna in historical times reveals that only 77 human deaths are attributable with certainty to eruptions of Etna, most recently in 1987 when two tourists were killed by a sudden explosion near the summit.  The thousands of deaths reported during this time should be attributed to the earthquakes rather than the eruption of Mt. Etna.

A large lava flow from an eruption in 1928 led to the destruction of a population center for the first time since the 1669 eruption. The village of Mascali was almost completely destroyed in two days. Only a church and a few surrounding buildings survived. During the last days of the eruption, the flow interrupted the Messina-Catania railway line and destroyed the train station of Mascali. The event was used by Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime for propaganda purposes. Mussolini called on all of the neighboring villages to help with the evacuation, aid, and rebuilding operations and then presented this as a model of fascist planning. Mascali was rebuilt on a new site, and its church contains the Italian fascist symbol of the torch, placed above the statue of Jesus Christ.

Other major 20th-century eruptions occurred in 1949, 1971, 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1991–1993. In 1971, lava buried the Etna Observatory (built in the late 19th century), destroyed the first generation of the Etna cable-car, and seriously threatened several small villages on Etna’s east flank.

In March 1981, the town of Randazzo on the northwestern flank of Etna narrowly escaped destruction by unusually fast-moving lava flows. That eruption was remarkably similar to one in 1928 that destroyed Mascali. The 1991–1993 eruption saw the town of Zafferana threatened by a lava flow, but successful diversion efforts saved the town with the loss of only one building.

In 2002–2003, a large eruption threw up a huge column of ash that could easily be seen from space and fell as far away as Libya, 370 miles south across the Mediterranean Sea.

From January 2011 to February 2012, the summit craters of Etna were the site of intense activity. Frequent eruptions and ash columns forced the authorities to shut down the Catania airport on several occasions.

An eruption on March 16, 2017, injured 10 people, including a BBC News television crew, after magma exploded upon contact with the snow.

An eruption on December 24, 2018, following a dike intrusion at shallow depth, spewed ash into the air, forcing the closure of airspace around Mount Etna. Two days later, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake shook the nearby city of Catania, damaging buildings and injuring four people.  There were over 600 earthquakes and due to those, over 200 people were displaced and have yet to return to their homes.

This is not a complete list of Etna’s explosions, simply the more dramatic ones.

This is where they are measuring soil radon as a potential tracer of tectonic and volcanic activity

The lava temperature on Mt. Etna is 900 degrees centigrade while on Hawaii it is 1400 degrees centigrade, so the lava moves much slower here on Mt. Etna due to its lower temperature.

Pines and Birch are the primary trees in the area.

The growth that is seen on the mountain is found where ever there is ash and seeds can begin to germinate.

The birch, Betula Aetnensis, or Birch of Etna, can only be found on Mount Etna.

How it landed here is unclear and the subject of many a discussion.  It is possible that they originated during the last glaciation or in the post ice age and due to the difficulty of finding other suitable climatic conditions, they have remained confined to Etna.

Etna Astragalus Siculus are the low lying plants found on the ground in circular patterns around Mt. Etna.

The blue in the middle of the photo is copper sulfite and was on the walk up one of the extinct craters

A hole in an extinct caldera that is about 10 feet deep. It was a result of a sudden outrush of lava, most likely due to seismic activity in the immediate area.

The lichen near the hole shown above. Lichen is the first thing to take hold on the lava flows

Standing atop an extinct crater looking out to the sea.

Lava flows from the 2002 explosion

Two very old craters

The sky was so clear one could see Stromboli. It is in the center of the photo and has a steam plume coming out of its top. Stromboli has been in a state of nearly continuous, mild eruption since early Roman times. At night, sailors in the Mediterranean can see the glow from the fiery molten material. Therefore,  Stromboli has been called “the lighthouse of the Mediterranean.

Mount Etna peeking out over the bell towers of the Church of Santa Maria della Provvidenza in the town of Zafferana

The city seal of Zafferana showing the explosion of Mount Etna in 1792

The bronze doors of the cathedral depict a scene from the eruption of 1792 where, according to legend, Santa Maria della Provvidenza helped to stop the flow of lava.

While the volcanic activity of Etna is impressive, the volcanic activity of the entire area is changing.  In 2019 geophysicists found 6 underwater volcanoes previously unknown.

 

An interesting little clip of the 1923 disaster:

Caravaggio in Sicily

 Sicily
Nov 222019
 

Caravaggio left Malta and was on the run for the second time in his life. He found his way to Sicily, most likely in a circuitous route to evade those that were pursuing him.

He finally stopped in Syracuse and spent time with his friend Mario Minniti.

When Caravaggio arrived relationships between religious authorities and the senate had improved and there was a desire to renovate the churches and monasteries of Syracuse. The church Santa Lucia alla Badia wanted a painting of the martyr of St Lucy who was a native of Syracuse and who better to paint it than a renown Italian artist.

It is possible that he started painting soon after arriving in Syracuse. Despite its size, he finished it within a month or so, most likely availing himself of Mario Minniti’s studio.

For The Burial of St. Lucy, Caravaggio painted the moment just after St. Lucy received communion and died. This was a continuation of his desire to paint, even saints, as human beings, and at the same time convey the brutality of Lucy’s martyrdom.

Another friend made while in Syracuse was Vincenzo Mirabella. Mirabella accounts in his book Dichiarazioni della pianta delle antiche Siracuse, how he took Caravaggio to see one of the oldest sites of Syracuse, the latomìe (quarries). It is told that Caravaggio named the large cave, the Ear of Dionysus. It refers, not to the Greek God, but to the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse. According to legend (possibly one created by Caravaggio), Dionysius used the cave as a prison for political dissidents, and by means of the perfect acoustics eavesdropped on the plans and secrets of his captives. Another more gruesome legend claims that Dionysius carved the cave in its shape so that it would amplify the screams of prisoners being tortured in it.

Caravaggio most likely felt the pressure of those pursuing him as he departed almost immediately for Messina.

Here he found favor in a town that took a shine to outcasts and painted the last two of his known paintings, The Adoration of the Shepards and the Raising of Lazarus.

The Raising of Lazarus

Both of these paintings show Caravaggio was one of the greatest painters in European history. His compositions were deeply intimate and emotional. At the same time, his brilliant use of lighting turned his canvases into spaces with the powerful intensity of a lit stage. He often painted characters that were not normally painted and emphasized things that were not normally emphasized. His desire to paint his scenes truthfully and objectively was radical for his time. He tried to paint things as they were and had no qualms about emphasizing the broken, transient, and flawed nature of humanity.

Caravaggio left for Palermo in the Summer of 1609 and died in July 1610.

The Adoration of the Shepards

Wandering the West of Sicily

 Sicily
Nov 222019
 

November 20, 2019

Hilltowns of Val di Noto

In 1693 an earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta with an estimated magnitude of 7.4 It destroyed at least 70 towns and cities, seriously affecting an area of 2,200 sq miles and causing the death of about 60,000 people.

The earthquake was followed by tsunamis that devastated the coastal villages on the Ionian Sea and in the Straits of Messina.  Almost two-thirds of the entire population of Catania were killed.  The epicenter of the disaster was probably close to the coast, possibly offshore, although the exact position remains unknown.

The result was an immediate and huge Baroque renaissance.  Some towns were rebuilt from scratch on new sites, others stayed where they had always been. The eight towns in south-eastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa, and Scicli, have been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list with the comment: “the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto in southeastern Sicily provide outstanding testimony to the exuberant genius of late Baroque art and architecture… and represent the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe.”

The Cathedral of San Georgio in Modica was built in 1818 under the guidance of the Jesuit Francesco Mauro.

The cathedral is dedicated to the martyrs St. George and St. Hippolytus. It has a fully functional monumental organ with four keyboards, 80 registers and 3000 reeds, which was built between 1885 and 1888 by Casimiro Allieri from Bergamo.

Modica is also known for its 400-year tradition of Sicilian chocolate-making. As part of the Spanish kingdom, Sicily often received new foodstuffs brought back from South America. Cacao was one of these and today Modica still specializes in making very granulous chocolate,  based on Aztec methods.

It involves grinding cocoa beans by hand to a paste, incorporating sugar and flavorings such as salt or pomegranate, then placing it in a traditional rectangular mold to set.

Because the temperature of the chocolate never rises above around 104F – much lower than in industrial processing – the cocoa butter doesn’t separate, nor does the sugar entirely melt. That is what gives Modica chocolate its distinctive rich flavor and slightly grainy texture.

Noto

Eyewitness: “Then came an earthquake so horrible and ghastly that the soil undulated like the waves of a stormy sea, and the mountains danced as if drunk, and the city collapsed in one miserable moment killing more than a thousand people.”

(As quoted by Stephen Tobriner: The Genesis of Noto: An Eighteenth-century Sicilian City)

The hill town of Noto from afar

Noto is, quite simply, the pinnacle of Baroque town planning and architecture. Completely destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, it is one of the towns that was rebuilt from scratch on a new site, about 6 miles from the old town.

Example of Noto’s Baroque architecture

Under the supervision of the Duke of Camastra, the Spanish Viceroy’s right-hand man, three architects, Labisi, Sinatra and Gagliardi, were intent on creating a new town based firmly on Baroque ideals.

The town was divided into three parts by three roads running from east to west.  At the top lived the nobility, in the middle the clergy, and at the bottom, the hoi polloi.

The principal building material used was local compacted limestone.

Noto Antica

Noto Antico

Noto Antico is a city of Sicel origin. And according to legend, Daedalus stopped here after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as well as Hercules, after his seventh task.

In 866 Noto was conquered by the Arabs, who made it a capital city of one of three districts of the island

Sicel tombs from c. 9th century BCE

In 1091, it became the last Muslim stronghold in Sicily to fall to the Normans.
In 1503 king Ferdinand III of Naples, (of the House of Trastámara, also known as Ferdinand II of Aragon and Ferdinand V of Castile), granted it the title of civitas ingeniosa (“Ingenious City”). In the following centuries, the city expanded, growing beyond its medieval limits. These, however, were all totally destroyed by the 1693 Sicilian earthquake.

A map drawn just before the 1693 earthquake shows how large Noto Antico was

The Castello Reale of Noto Antico

The walls of Noto Antico

Agrigento

Modern Agrigento used to be the Greek city of Akragas, a colony of settlers mainly from Rhodes and Crete who, having initially settled in Gela, decided to move west, partly in an attempt to stem the ambitious advances of Selinunte and partly because the land in the area was ideal for cultivating olives, grapes, and cereal.

However, as it grew successful, so did its rivalries grow with other Greek colonies, especially that of Siracusa. In 406 BC Hannibal and the Carthaginians laid siege to the city. When Akagras fell its citizens were removed to Gela while they were later allowed to return they had to pay taxes to Carthage.

Sitting in the valley below Agrigento is an impressive group of monuments of Magna Greece.


The Temple of Concordia was built around the 5th century. It is located along the via Sacra and is among the best-preserved temples. The name Concordia comes from a Latin inscription found near the temple itself.

Temple of Concordia at dusk

The Temple of Juno

The temple of Juno (Hera Lakinia) name is a result of a wrong interpretation of a Latin inscription found near the site, that aligns it with the temple of Hera, in Crotone. Sitting in the easternmost part of the hillside, it housed the cult of the goddess of fertility.

The remains of Gate III destroyed in the 6th century

Looking out over the valley from Gate III

Necropolis of Pantalica

The Necropolis of Pantalica is a collection of cemeteries with rock-cut chamber tombs dating from the 7th to the 13th centuries BCE. There have been thought to be over 5000 tombs, although the most recent estimate suggests a figure of just under 4000. Pantalica was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Just a few of the thousands of tombs

Who was buried here is not really certain. The site was originally settled by the Sicanians who were then displaced by the kingdom of the Sicels possibly sometime in the 13th century BCE.

The inside of the chamber which would have been closed with stone.

The bodies would have been buried with items that included characteristic red-burnished pottery vessels and metal objects, including weaponry (small knives and daggers) and items of dress, such as bronze fibulae (brooches) and rings.  Most of the tombs contained between one and seven individuals of all ages and both sexes. Many tombs were evidently re-opened periodically for more burials. The average human life span at this time was probably around 30 years of age.  The size of the prehistoric population is hard to estimate but might have been 1000 people or more.

The walk down to the Necropolis of Pantalica is not an easy one, here are just a few shots of the trail.

Pantalica evidently flourished for about 600 years, from about 1250 to 650 BCE.

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The Necropolis extends around the flanks of a large promontory located at the junction of the Anapo river with its tributary

Azienda Agricola Marianeddi

The town of Noto has made the must-visit-list of the likes of the New York Times and CN Travel, so the town has far more tourists than I saw in any other hill town of Val di Noto.  It also has lots of high-end restaurants and shopping.

To avoid all of that, a hotel worth finding if you are in this part of Italy is The Marianeddi.  It sits on a nature preserve down a long dirt road but it is exquisite and a mere 20 minutes from downtown Noto.

The owners are just delightful and the food is sublime.  The peace and quiet is exactly what this weary traveler needed.

An old barn on the property

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The breakfast buffet was filled with fresh squeezed orange juice, local fruits, and home made breads

Villa Romana of Casale

 Sicily
Nov 212019
 

November 19, 2019

The ancient Roman Villa of Casale in the town of Piazza Armerina

The visible remains of the villa were constructed in the first quarter of the 4th century CE on the remains of an older villa rustica.

The owner’s identity has long been discussed with no discernible answer. In late antiquity, the Romans partitioned most of the Sicilian hinterland into huge agricultural estates called “latifundia”. The owner was most likely a latifundist who withdrew to the country to administer his estate.

In the 5th and 6th centuries, the villa was fortified for defensive purposes by thickening the perimeter walls. The villa was damaged and perhaps destroyed during the short domination of the Vandals between 469–78. The outbuildings remained in use, at least in part, during the Byzantine and Arab periods. The settlement was destroyed in 1160 during the reign of William I. The site was abandoned in the 12th century CE after a landslide covered the villa.

The first official archaeological excavations were carried out by Paolo Orsi in 1929, followed by the work of Giuseppe Cultrera in 1935–39.

The protective building was built in the 1950s.

It is difficult to describe how stunning this Villa and its mosaics are.  There is almost 38,000 square feet of mosaics, and each one will take your breath away.

Many of the mosaics are difficult to view in the correct direction based on the raised walkways that one must use, however, The Big Game Hunt, while not photographable in one long shot, is the most impressive thing this author has seen in a very long time.

The Big Game Hunt represents the animals from dioceses which made up the Roman Empire, in particular,  Africa and its five provinces (Mauritania, Numidia, Proconsular Africa, Tripolitania, and Bizacena) Italy, and India, all bound for the amphitheaters or the pleasure palaces of the Romans.

There is the capture of panthers, enticed into traps by disemboweled goats.  There are antelopes, a lion, wild horses, and a boar.

Their transportation is overseen by a soldier who is beating a slave.

 

This is followed by the loading of two ostriches onto a ship at the port of Carthage and unloading at Ostia,

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where they are unloading African as well as Egyptian and Indonesian animals.

One of the most significant is the presence of the elephant between two ships, a symbol of the villa owner’s munificence who might have offered games in the amphitheater of Rome.

The above shows the loading of an elephant at the port of Alexandria in Egypt.  There is the capture of an auroch a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros in the Nile delta.

An auroch

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Then there is a richly-dressed figure flanked by soldiers bearing large shields, which has been identified as Emperor Maximan Heraclius.

After the transportation of the animals, a soldier on horseback has captured some tiger cubs and is trying to escape onto the ship after throwing a glass ball to distract the tigress’s attention.

Finally, there is the capture of the fantastic gryphon using a child in a cage as bait.

One of the more famous mosaics from Villa Romana is the Room with the Girls in Bikini

This room was used by the servants.  Since it was to be used by servants it should have had a geometric design and in the corner, you can see a lower mosaic in the upper right-hand corner with geometric patterns.  This was the third-century original.

Sometime in the fourth century, the purpose of the room changed and the 10 girls in bikinis were laid on top of the original

The girls are wearing subligar (gym shorts) and stropkion.  They are doing the long jump with weights (haltares) throwing the discus, cross-country running and playing a form of handball.

A mosaic covers the ground of a semi-circular atrium, but the walkways only allow for seeing it at a distance.

This mosaic is a seascape where cupids in boats are fishing with nets, creels, harpoons and fishing lines.

The vestibule of Polyphemus depicts Polyphemus in a cave with Ulysses.  Inspired by Homer’s epic poem, Polyphemus, shown larger than Ulysses, is sitting on a large rock holding a disemboweled ram in his right hand. He is about to imbibe in wine offered by Ulysses who hopes to get Polyphemus drunk and blind the eye in the center of his forehead.

The Cubicle with Erotic Scenes is a rectangular alcove.  The mosaic depicts a comely lady kissing an ephebus (a male adolescent).

There are hundreds more mosaics in this villa, and each with a divine story and exquisite craftsmanship.

The Myth of Arion

The small game hunt

Through the doorway can be seen the palaestra.  The floor depicts a quadriga competition at the Circus Maximus in Rome.

Upside down is the Vestibule of the Domina.  The lady of the house is leading her two children to the baths.

The vestibule of the little circus

 

 

Exploring the Northwest of Sicily

 Sicily
Nov 202019
 

November 18, 2019

Erice

Eryx (associated with the Greek hero of the same name) as it was first called, has been recorded in history as a town of little or no importance and renown. And yet it is said to have attracted the likes of Hercules and Aeneas.

Thucydides (500 B.C.), writing about events connected with the conquest of Troy (1183 B.C.) said:    “After the fall of Troy some Trojans on their escape from the Achaei on the sea towards the West arrived in Sicily by boat and as they settled near the border with the Sicanians all together they were named Elymi: their towns were Segesta and Erice”.

This inspired Virgil to describe the arrival of the Troyan royal family in Erice and the burial of Anchise, by his son Enea, on the coast below Erice.

Anchise was the father of the hero Enea, protagonist of the Homeric Iliad and of Virgil ‘s Aeneid. In the Aeneid, Aeneas descends into Hades (Book VI) to meet his shadow and Anchises reveals to him what awaits him in Lazio and what his destiny will be.

This same scene occurs in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno when he remembers the descent to the underworld of the hero who on the occasion intended things that were cause / of his victory and papal ammo.

Homer (1000 B.C.), Theocritus (300 B.C.), Polybius (200 B.C.), Virgil (50 B.C.), Horace(20 B.C.), and others have also mentioned this delightful hill town of Sicily in their poetry.

One of many stone buildings of Erice

The town was founded by the Phoenicians, but it was Hellenized by the Greeks.

It was conquered by the Aghlebids (a Tunisian dynasty) in 831 and was ruled by the Arabs until the Norman Conquest.

It was destroyed in the First Punic War by the Carthaginians and fell into decline soon after.

The word for house carved into the Phoenician walls of Erice

Stunning stone walls, called the Phoenician Walls, were built in the 8th century BCE and wind around this Medieval city for about four miles.

Along portions of the walls are engravings of, what appears to be the Phoenician language.

Symbols that appear are an o or beth in Phoenician ain for eye and phe for mouth.

Chiesa Madre

The main church in town is Chiesa Madre, built in the Gothic style in 1314 by Frederick II of Aragon and dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. The Pronaos (a vestibule at the front of a classical temple) called Gibbena or Age Bene, which means behave well, was added in 1426 by the then archpriest to host the public penitent who came to pray for their sins.

The bell tower was originally a lookout tower, standing near the opening in the Phoenician walls at Porta Trapani. It was built by King Frederic III of Sicily,  the third son of King Peter III of Aragon to whom the Sicilian barons offered the crown of the island after the Sicilian Vespers of 1282.

The stunning carved window rose window of Chiesa Madre was added in the 20th century

Wandering Erice:

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This beautiful balcony is on the home of Giuseppe Coppola, who was born and died in Erice. Coppolo was an influential member of the unsuccessful Trapani revolution, Deputy Governor of Trapani and a major in the national guard. When the revolution failed, Coppola continued to conspire against the Bourbon regime and was thrown into prison. During the battle of Calatafimi on May 15th, 1860, he led a squad of 800 soldiers and 25 knights and followed Garibaldi to Palermo.


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Salt Harvesting

Windmills were first introduced during medieval times.  They pumped water through the sluice gates into or out of the various basins.

This salt harvesting area is in the area of  “Stagnone”.  It is the largest lagoon in Italy, a few miles north of Marsala, and now a designated marine nature reserve. Between the hot African winds, long and the sun-filled summers aided by the shallow coastal waters, the Phoenicians found this area perfect for salt mining 2700 years ago.

Piles of harvested salt, neatly covered with terracotta tiles.

Salt production along this coast reached its peak just after the Unification of Italy in 1860 when 31 salt pans produced over 100,000 tons per year.

Today, although demand is down, there is still a niche market for this salt’s unique qualities:  it contains a higher concentration of potassium and magnesium than common salt, but less sodium chloride. The lack of chemical treatment means that the trace elements are maintained, enhancing its flavor.

Walkways for the workers between the ponds

Scala dei Turchi

The “Scala dei Turchi” is an incredible cliff of white marl (a sedimentary rock with a characteristic white color) where centuries of rain and wind have carved a natural staircase.

The Turkish steps is also a part of local legends: it is said that the Saracen pirates (for the Sicilians, the “Turks”, which is a negative connotation indicating all the people that were once devoted to piracy), docked ships in the calm, clean waters, protected by the “Scala”, and climbed these natural “steps” to reach the top of the cliff and raid local villages.

Sunset at the Scala dei Turchi

The Scala dei Turchi was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997.

Castello Incanto

This little spot is not on the average tourist road and is a tad odd, but fun.  It seems that quoting the brochure is the best way to get the essence of the place.

“The Enchanted Castle

Filippo Bentivegna’s life was unusual and eccentric.  He was born in Sciacca on 3 May 1888 in a big family with economic difficulties. So, when Filippo was a child he had to work hard and he couldn’t go to school.  At the age of twenty, in 1908, he enlisted in the Navy and he ventured to America.  But there, life was too hard racist ideas.  So he was immediately marginalized because of his non-conformist ideas.  During this period, Filippo fell in love with an American girl and because of this relationship he was violently beaten up by his love rival. He was very shocked by this episode and his nature deeply changed.  Obliged to repatriate, he settled in Sciacca and, with the money he had earned in America, he bought a little estate where he spent the rest of his life painting and chiseling trees and stones.  His sculptures are various and they represent known and unknown subjects of the reign where he was the “King”. In fact, Filippo loved to be called by people “His Excellency”…”

*“The Enchantment Key” People say he used to wander around city streets with a short stick in his hand that he held like a scepter proclaiming himself “Lord of the Caves”

The entry to a labyrinth of caves throughout the property

Filippo died in 1967 at the age of 78.

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Fishing boats at Porto Sciacca

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Segesta and Selinunte. Two Cities, Two Enemies, War

 Sicily
Nov 192019
 

February 18, 2019

The colonization of Sicily in the 8th century BCE pretty much kept the Greeks to the East and the Carthaginians. to the West, but by the 7th century BCE, the Greeks began to expand.

The Temple at Segesta

The Elymian, and inhabitants of Segesta were a local tribe who traced their origins to Troy.  They traded peacefully with Carthage but were leery of the people of Selinunte, and by 580 BCE, small skirmishes between these two societies turned into full-blown border wars that lasted over 175 years.

Around 430 BCE the Elymian, habitants of Segesta asked for help from Carthage but it was not to be.

The situation between Segesta and Selinunte continued to deteriorate and in 426 BC, the Elymian sent emissaries to Athens with a plea for military aid. To help advance their position when asking Athens for help they began construction of a Temple of Athena to show religious alliance with Athens.

Segesta

This 5th century Doric Temple was most likely designed by an Athenian architect somewhere around 420 BCE. It is comprised of 6 columns at the facades, 14 columns at the sides, triglyphs and metopes on the architrave.

However, the temple was never completed. The actual reason is not known however, lack of funds or encroaching Carthaginians is the most highly probable.

The tabs by which the stones were moved along, are still present, indicating the temple at Segesta was never finished

In 411 BCE, Segesta decided to attack Selinunte without the aid of either the Greeks or the Carthaginians and lost.

Over the years Segesta bounced between the Greeks and the Carthaginians. Eventually, the Carthaginian power became firmly established in the western portion of Sicily, with Segesta, surrounded on all sides they gradually fell into the position of a dependent ally of Carthage.

Temple E at Selinunte

In the meantime in 409 BCE in Selinunte, over 120,000 Carthaginian troops breached their fortress walls with siege towers and destroyed the city.

Once Selinunte Greeks got their city back they repaired the fortress walls and rebuilt some of the city but it never regained its former stature.

The altar at Temple E in Selinunte

In 250 BCE, during the 1st Punic War, the Carthaginians destroyed Selinunte again. This time to keep it out of Roman hands. The Carthaginians removed all the inhabitants of Selinunte to Lilybaeum (now the town of Marsala) and destroyed the city. It appears that it was never rebuilt.

Over the centuries the Temples in Selinunte collapsed from earthquakes.

The site was rediscovered by a Dominican Monk in the 16th century and in the 1820s two British Archeologists, William Harris and Samuel Angel unearthed the first signs of a Temple. Reconstruction in the site began in the 1920s.

There is little left of Segesta, but Selinunte covers nearly 100 acres and has several sites to see.

Temple D in the Acropolis at Selinunte

Selinunte

Shrine of Demeter Malophorus the goddess of the harvest, at Selinunte.  Malophorus means “bearer of apples”

Temple metopes at Selinunte first unearthed by British archeologists

Selinunte

Arab Norman Palermo – Monreale

 Palermo, Sicily
Nov 162019
 

November 16, 2019


After the occupation of Palermo by the Arabs in 831 the Arabs transformed the Cathedral of Palermo into a mosque and banished the Bishop of Palermo.

Looking down on Palermo from Monreale

The Bishop was forced to move his seat outside the capital so he chose a small village in the hills overlooking Palermo, today Monreale.

Around 250 years later, in 1072, the Normans drove the Arabs from Sicily, establishing Palermo as their capital and re-consecrating the cathedral.

Standing at the back of the Apse

In 1174, in an act of piety, thanksgiving, and commemoration of the exiled Bishop of Palermo, King William II ordered the construction of a new church in Monreale, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Upon its completion in 1182, Pope Lucius III elevated the church to the status of Metropolitan Cathedral.

The cathedral of Monreale is one of the greatest extant examples of Norman architecture.

Thousands of years of feet trodding the marble inlaid floor has given it a fascinating wear pattern

A geometrical pattern of inlaid marble supports two lines of granite Corinthian columns that support the wooden ceilings above the nave.  Lancet arches span from column to column drawing the eye to the window-punctured clerestory with its over 21,000 square meters of gold mosaics representing biblical scenes, saints, kings, and angels.

Inlaid marble within the pilasters line the interior walls of the cathedral

The wooden ceiling of the nave

The panel to the far left is the Lord commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. The next panel is the Sacrifice of Isaac.

The Original Sin

Every inch of the walls are covered in mosaics telling stories from the Bible

A carved column within the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix

The Chapel of the Holy Crucifix is a small Baroque treasure chest off of a smaller nave on the left of the church.

The chapel was built by order of Giovanni Roano, the Spanish archbishop who led the dioceses of Monreale from 1673 to 1703.

Roano entrusted Giovanni di Monreale with designing the Chapel, which features decorations meant to resemble a symbolic symphony dedicated to the sacrifice of Jesus.

It is a wonder in the craft of marble.

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Sculpted marble curtains in the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix

Looking down into the Cathedral from a passageway that leads to the roof

Tuffa and black lava are used to ornament the exterior of the Cathedral

Looking down into the cloister from the roof

The cloisters were built in 1200 as part of the Cathedral abbey, they comprise 108 pairs of marble columns, a covered arcade of Arabic arches and a central quad. Every other pair of columns is decorated with unique mosaic patterns (no two are the same) and each is topped by a floral capital. It is an absolutely sublime space to inhabit.

An example of the many different capitals around the cloister:

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The fountain within the cloisters simply adds to its perfection.

Just some of the unique columns within the cloisters

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Looking back at the cathedral from the fountain in the cloisters

 

In 2015, Monreale was granted status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wandering Palermo With No Particular Place to Go

 Palermo, Sicily
Nov 152019
 

November 13, 2019

Folk Arts


Puppets became popular in Sicily during the fifteenth century, and marionettes are still considered an important part of Sicilian folk culture. Sicilian puppet theatre (opera dei pupi) or, more properly, “marionette theatre,” developed into its present form in the eighteenth century.

The marionettes themselves are made of wood and cloth with metal accouterments.  The puppets are carved, painted and decorated. Sets are painted in the Sicilian folk style with traditional colors, using canvas for the backdrops.

A marionette maker at his craft

Marionette Parts

 

The Porto Nuovo

The facade leading to the Corso Calatifimi and Piazza Indipendenza presents four big telamones depicting the Moors defeated by Charles V.

The Telemones (Roman)  or Atlas (European) figures

According to historians, the original gate was built in the 15th century. After Charles V’s conquest of Tunis, the Emperor came to Sicily. He entered Palermo through this gate on September 5th, 1535. In order to commemorate this event, the Senate of Palermo decreed to rebuild the gate in a grander style

The facade leading to the Cassaro has the typical style of the triumphal arches. The facade leading to the Corso Calatifimi and Piazza Indipendenza is ornamented with four big telamones depicting the Moors defeated by Charles V.

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Ornamentation under the Atlas figures

The Royal Gardens

Some form of garden was added to the Royal palace possibly as far back as the twelfth century and it simply refers to an area enclosed within the walls of the palace.  The garden one finds today at the Royal Palace was open to the public in June of 2018, contains a small restaurant and is a respite from the noise of the city.

Ornaments can be found around the garden and are coincidentally sold in the gift shop

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Open-Air Markets

These were taken in the Mercato della Vucciria, Palermo’s most famous market immortalized by Renato Guttuso in his painting La Vucciriea. There are two origins as to the name, some say it is a corruption of the french boucherie or butcher, while others suggest the name means the place of loud voices.

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Sicilian cuisine was strongly influenced by the Arabs, who added almonds, aniseed, apricots, artichokes, cinnamon, oranges, pistachio, pomegranates, saffron, sesame, spinach, sugarcane, watermelon and rice to the local palate. The Zibbibo grape used to make Passito di Pantelleria, the supreme Sicilian dessert wine, was also introduced by the Arabs.

For a wonderful rundown on the foods and flavors of Italy, please check out my travel mates blog here.

Fontana Pretoria

The Fontana Pretoria was built by Francesco Camilliani in the city of Florence in 1554 but was transferred to Palermo in 1574.

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Between the  18th century and 19th century, the fountain was considered a sort of depiction of the corrupt municipality of Palermo. For this reason and because of the nudity of the statues, the square became known as “Piazza della Vergogna” (Square of Shame).  The fountain was restored in 2003.

The fountain is surrounded by whimsical animals

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Quattro Canti

The Quattro Canti was laid out on the orders of the Viceroys between 1608-1620 by Giulio Lasso and Mariano Smiriglio, standing at the crossing of the two principal streets in Palermo, the Via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

The piazza is octagonal, four sides being the streets; the remaining four sides are Baroque buildings, the near-identical facades of which contain fountains with statues of the four seasons, the four Spanish kings of Sicily, and of the patroness saints of Palermo, (Christina, Ninfa, Olivia, and Agata). The facades onto the interchange are curved, and rise to four floors; the fountains rise to the height of the second floor, the third and fourth floors contain the statues in niches. At the time the piazza was built, it was one of the first major examples of town planning in Europe.

Walking the Streets

There Is No Border Here -as attested to in several languages

Hand made in any language

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The student band of the Teatro Massimo parading through town on a Saturday

A cat atop a car standing guard

The universal form of transport

Putti atop a fence post

One of four eagles atop the Palazzo delle Aquile (eagle), now the town hall built in the 16th century but radically altered in the 19th.

Sant’Orsola

Skulls adorn the Chiesa de Sant’Orsola inside and out

“Death is real, people shouldn’t be afraid of it, it’s not the end but a new life in the arms of God!” – The Church

Inside Sant’Orsola one can find many skeletons

That’s why in the fifteenth century popular institutions, such as hospitals or orphanages, began to call on artists to create frescos and paintings about death. Images were the only way to transmit ideals, especially in places where people were unable to read.

Saint’Orsola was built in the early 17th century by the society of St Ursula, known as Dei Negri because of the dark habits the members wore during processions. The late Renaissance façade is decorated with figures of souls in Purgatory and angels. Three skulls lie on the architrave.

Teatro Massimo

Designed by the well-known Italian architect Giovanni Battista Filippo Basile, Teatro Massimo was constructed ten years after its design was approved. Construction began in 1874 on the site of a former monastery and church. When Basile died in 1891, his son, Ernesto assumed responsibility for completing the structure.

Dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II, the Teatro Massimo is the largest opera house in Italy and third-largest in Europe after the Palais Garnier in Paris, and the K. K. Hof-Opernhaus in Vienna.

Galleria delle Vittorie

Built by the Municipality of Palermo, the Galleria delle Vittorie opened in 1935, during Fascist Italy. It was built in the style of other shopping arcades in the country at the time.  It sat empty starting in the 1970s until a bar opened on the ground floor in 2018.  The roof is still open to the elements.

Vigili di Fuoco

The Vigili del Fuoco of Palermo was commissioned and completed at the height of the Fascist era in the 1930s.  It is an example of the Art Deco aesthetic that  Il Duce tended to favor in building his New Rome.

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Palermo is Italian to its bones, but before that, it is Sicilian. It is beautiful and alive and absolutely mesmerizing.

While staying in Palermo I stayed at the wonderful Hotel Palazzo Brunaccini.  I would recommend it for the location, the staff and the sheer pleasure of staying there.  I would also recommend the restaurant, where my friend Susan took a cooking class with the wonderful Chef, Carlo Napoli.  You can read about her class, the Ballaro Market and the charming Carlo Napoli here.

Wandering the Historical Sites of Palermo

 Palermo, Sicily
Nov 142019
 

November 14, 2019

The Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria

St. Catherine’s of Alexandria has a bakery that is worth finding for one’s first stop in the morning. The church is a synthesis of Sicilian Baroque, Rococo, and Renaissance styles.

In 1310 the last will of the rich Benvenuta Mastrangelo created the foundation of a female monastery under the direction of the Dominican Order.

Chancel: at the top the fresco “The Soul in glory rises to Heaven” by Antonio Filocamo and Paolo Filocamo.

In Alexandria, Catherine was an erudite virgin of royal lineage who objected to Emperor Maxentius’ calling for a grand festival in honor of the pagan gods.

Maxentius summoned fifty pagan philosophers to debate Catherine, but she prayed for God’s assistance, and the philosophers lost the debate, converted to Christianity, and were martyred in what Catherine assured them was a Baptism by Fire.

Maxentius then promised that Catherine could be his co-ruler if she recanted, but she refused, saying she was a bride of Christ. So Maxentius had her whipped and imprisoned. After twelve days Maxentius once again offered Catherine her life if she recanted, but this time death if she persisted. She refused, so he had an engine with spiked wheels built to frighten her into submission. She prayed and an angel destroyed the engine, which is why she is often shown with the wheel as her icon. In the end, the emperor had her beheaded.

In the Vault: Triumph of Saint Catherine by Filippo Randazzo

Just some of the magnificent marble work in Saint Catherine’s of Alexandria

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For a long time, the architecture was attributed to Giorgio di Faccio. However, more recent studies show the involvement of architects like the Florentine Francesco Camilliani and the Lombard Antonio Muttone.

St. Catherine’s was considered one of the primary monasteries of Palermo; the nuns came from noble families and professed the rule of San Domenico. In 1532, due to the increasing number of nuns, the church of San Matteo was purchased by the monastery to enlarge the building. In the seventeenth century, the monastery had become one of the most important in the city for wealth and occupied an entire block. The monastery suffered damages both during the movements of 1848 and 1860 and during the bombings of 1943. The last nuns left the monastery in 2014.

Stairs leading to the Terrace with its views of the city. The passageway allows one to view the top of the vault

The top of the main vault of the church is made of clay tiles set with mortar

Some of the pastries that can be found at Saint Catherine’s of Alexandria:

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Palazzo Chiaramonte -Steri

Built in 1307, the Chiaramonte Palace was the residence of the powerful Sicilian lord Manfredi II Chiaramonte. After his death, the palace went through many hands such as the Aragonese-Spanish viceroys followed by the Sicilian Royal, but today it is notorious mostly for the period when it was used by the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition from 1600-1782.

Today the University of Palermo owns the building and tours are given, primarily to view the graffiti left behind by prisoners of the inquisition.

In 1906 the famous anthropologist Giuseppe Pitrè discovered prisoners drawings in three cells. Restoration on these cells, removing whitewash from the graffiti walls, began in 2005.

Twenty-one percent of the eight thousand people interrogated in the palazzo were women, accused of being witches, often by their husbands. The graffiti in these rooms is usually of women.

On the left is a reference to Dante’s Inferno. In the mouth, one can find the words: “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”, most frequently translated as “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

Just one of the many pieces of graffiti found in the cells

The hole in the wall is a toilet, and this graffiti would not have been seen by the guards. It shows an inquisitor on a defecating horse.

Inscription criticizing the inquisitors’ duplicity at the Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri.

A poem found on one of the walls described how the prisoners were faring:

Cavuru e fridu sintu ca mi piglia
La terzuru tremu li vudella
Lu cori e l’alma s’assuttiglia

(Standard Italian)
Sento freddi e caldo, mi ha preso
La febbre malarica,
Mi tremano le budella,
Il cuore e l’anima si rimpicciolicono

I feel hot and cold, I have
Malaria
My stomach trembles
My heart and soul are fading

The prison writings provide a unique insight into the inquisition in Sicily; many were signed and dated by their authors. Unfortunately, the prison archive was burned in 1783 on the orders of the Viceroy Caracciolo, who sought to conceal the inquisitors’ activities.

Santa Maria dello Sapsimo

The Apse

The construction of Santa Maria dello Spasimo (or swoon of Santa Maria) and its accompanying monastery began in 1509 with monies from Julius II, on land bequeathed by Giacomo Basilicò, a lawyer and the widower of a rich noblewoman.

What would have been a transept

The church was never completed because of the rising Turkish threat in 1535, where resources meant for the church were diverted to fortifications of the city against any possible incursions.

Even in its unfinished states, Lo Spasimo shows the late Gothic style architecture that permeated building practices in Palermo at the time as well as the Spanish influence in the city.

A walkway within the compound

Arab-Norman Palermo

 Palermo, Sicily
Nov 132019
 

November 13, 2019

The Arabs influenced the island is in its cuisine, its dialect, its tastes and, its architecture.

It was a singular movement that encompassed three diverse styles under the architectural umbrella of the Romanesque: Norman, Arab, Byzantine. And it is not a question of a single monument but several.

Norman-Arab was a unique style, part of a multicultural experiment that lasted several centuries.  Norman-Arab architecture with its Byzantine touches distinguished it from slightly similar styles in Moorish-Visigothic Spain.

It began in the late 1070s, with large parts of Sicily (including Palermo) under Norman control. Following the decisive battle of Palermo in the early days of 1072, the conquerors decided to keep the best of Byzantine and Arab culture.

Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

Sicily’s eleventh-century infrastructure was far more advanced than that of Saxon England. The architecture of the Byzantine Greeks and Saracen Arabs was sophisticated, sturdy and beautiful.

The Norman architects simply embellished it, adding arches and columns, and combining elements which, until the twelfth century, were rarely found together beyond Constantinople, Alexandria or Baghdad.

Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio. A mosaic, taken from the original Norman façade, depicts King Roger II, George of Antioch’s lord, receiving the crown of Sicily from Jesus.

The king was Christian but there was, as yet, no “official” religion. Muslims, Christians, and Jews enjoyed equality of freedom of worship, laws were published in several languages, and the streets were full of Greek-speaking Byzantines, Arab-speaking Saracens (Moors) and the occasional Norman or Lombard.

July 3rd, 2015 the World Heritage Committee placed these properties on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio on the left and the red domed Church of San Cataldo

Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

The Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio is also known as the Martorana and the Co-Cathedral of St. Mary of the Admiral. The name Ammiraglio (“admiral”) derives from the founder of the church, the Greek admiral and principal minister of King Roger II of Sicily, George of Antioch. In 1184 the Arab traveler Ibn Jubayr visited the church, and later devoted a significant portion of his description of Palermo to its praise, describing it as “the most beautiful monument in the world.” After the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, the island’s nobility gathered in the church for a meeting that resulted in the Sicilian crown being offered to Peter III of Aragon.

The foundation charter of the church (which was initially Eastern Orthodox), in Greek and Arabic, is thought to date to 1143

Later additions to the church include the Baroque façade.

Certain elements of the original church, in particular, its exterior decoration, show the influence of Islamic architecture on the culture of Norman Sicily. A frieze bearing a dedicatory inscription runs along the top of the exterior walls; although its text is in Greek, its architectural form references the Islamic architecture of North Africa. The recessed niches on the exterior walls also derive from the Islamic architectural tradition.

The altar of Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

The church is renowned for its spectacular interior, which is dominated by a series of 12th-century mosaics executed by Byzantine craftsmen.

A series of wooden beams at the base of the dome, in the interior, bears a painted inscription in Arabic; the text is derived from the Christian liturgy (the Epinikios Hymn and the Great Doxology).

A mosaic of Christ in the dome in the Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

A small piece of the marble work throughout Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio

Church of San Cataldo

The Church of Saint Cataldo was once the chapel of a palace built in 1160 by Majone di Bari, admiral of King William I. The plan of the church shows the predilection of the Normans for simple and severe forms, derived from their military formation.

The exterior wall is of solid sandstone with carved arches of Islamic influence. On the top are three red domes.

The interior is made up of a central nave and two adjacent aisles divided by columns. It is an extraordinary example of Arabic art used in a Christian context.

The building was later given to the Benedictine Monks of Monreale who kept it until 1787. In 1882, after a long series of different uses, including a period as a post office, the chapel was completely restored by Giuseppe Patricolo.

The floor of The Church of San Cataldo

The Palermo Cathedral

The cupola is Baroque and added in the late 1700s by Ferdinando Fuga. The Towers with their lancet windows were added to the 12th century Norman clock tower in the 14th and 15th centuries.

 

Palermo Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo As an architectural complex, it is characterized by the presence of different styles, due to a long history of additions, alterations, and restorations, the last of which occurred in the 18th century.

One end of Palermo Cathedral at night. The exterior of the apse is one of the best-preserved parts of the original design.


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The main façade, connected with arcades to the Archbishops’ Palace

The church was erected in 1185 by Walter Ophamil. The upper orders of the corner towers were built between the 14th and the 15th centuries, while in the early Renaissance period the southern porch was added. The present neoclassical appearance dates from the work carried out over the two decades 1781 to 1801.

On a pillar on the right-hand side of the entry is an inscription that dates to the Islamic rule of Sicily when the site on which the cathedral now stands housed the Great Mosque of Bal’harm (the Arab name for the Palermo). The inscription is a verse from the seventh Surah of the Quran:

“Your Lord is God; He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne. The night overtakes the day, as it pursues it persistently; and the sun, and the moon, and the stars are subservient by His command. His is the creation, and His is the command. Blessed is God, Lord of all beings.”

The Royal Palace and the Palatine Chapel

The interior courtyard of the Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace of Palermo (11th-12th centuries) is the main monument to represent the wealth and political and cultural power of the Norman kingdom, it is a model of Arab-Norman architecture.

The exterior over the entry door to the Palatine Chapel

The Palatine Chapel was commissioned by Roger II of Hauteville, who arrived in Sicily from the Scandinavian regions in the early 12th century and was crowned King of Sicily on December 25th, 1130, after uniting all the prior Norman conquests in south Italy.

The side aisles illustrate images related to the stories of the New Testament from the Acts of Apostles. They do not follow any specific chronological order but revolve around Saint Peter and Saint Paul to whom the church is dedicated

Built upon a former existing church, the dates of construction are uncertain.  The first documentation, dated 1132 refers to the elevation of the church but the drum of the dome dates to 1143.

The ceiling is a unique piece of artwork. Muqarnas decorations were previously seen in Muslim architecture in North Africa, but this ceiling is unique in that it is made entirely of joined wood, not carved.

The church later became the Royal family’s private chapel.  Numerous restorations have occurred over time, especially on the painted ceilings and the mosaics.

The dome rests on a massive cylindrical drum.

Eight prophets hold antique paper scrolls with verses of Greek ancient prophecies. The figure of Christ Pantokrator, a very refined piece Byzantine artwork, stands in the center. The circle around the image of christ reads “The sky is my throne, and the earth is the footstool for my feet.” Four angels and four archangels surround the main figure of christ each of them with the name written in Greek.

In 1458 John II of Aragon commissioned some restoration work, and more was undertaken in the first half of the 18th century.

The rear wall of the nave one sees the Redeemer and on his side the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with two angels above.

This beauty of this building is a direct result of  Byzantine mosaic artists and Islamic carpenters working side by side.

In this semi-dome is another figure of Christ Pantocrator with the right-hand blessing according to the Latin ritual and the left hand holding the open Gospel with inscriptions in Greek and Latin “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” Below him is Mary (added in the 17th century)

The Paschal Candelabrum is one of the most valuable pieces of artwork in the chapel. It consists of three aggregated blocks that create one whole piece. The bottom section contains scenes of a typical Romanesque medieval bestiary. The highest part shows figures of Telemons (Atlas figures). The most important part is in the center where a sculpture depicting a Christ seated on the throne inside of an almond. To his left, the sculpture of a figure kneeled down and wearing a crown is often identified as King Roger II.

Church of San Giovanni Degli Eremiti

The garden area around the Church of San Giovanni Degli Eremiti

The church’s origins date to the 6th century.  Later, after the Islamic conquest of Sicily, it was converted into a mosque. After the establishment of the Norman domination of southern Italy, it was returned to the Christians by Roger II and named St. John’s of the Hermit.

The cloister is the best-preserved part of the ancient monastery. It has small double columns with capitals decorated by vegetable motifs, which support ogival arches. It also includes an Arab cistern.

The dome of the church

The church is notable for its brilliant red domes, which show clearly the persistence of Arab influences in Sicily at the time of its reconstruction in the 12th century, the Arab-Norman culture. However, the red color of the domes is not original, they were restored at the end of the nineteenth century by an architect who found pieces of red plaster on the domes and therefore decided to paint all the domes in red.

Ponte dell’Ammiraglio
The Admirals Bridge


The Admirals Bridge was built circa 1132 over the Oreto River and is the oldest stone bridge built after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The bridge is entirely built with stone, remarkable for its size, and extraordinary for its time. The bridge was named for its builder, Giorgio di Antiochia, admiral of the kingdom in the service of King Roger II.  Antiochia also founded the church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio.

The bridge has the characteristic “donkey back” configuration, with two symmetric ramps over seven ogival arch spans.

According to a legend, the bridge is situated in the place where the Archangel Michael appeared to the Norman Count Roger I of Sicily helping him to conquer Palermo, at that time an Islamic bastion.

The bridge was repeatedly damaged by the Oreto’s overflow. Attempts had been made as far back as  1775 to divert the river. It was diverted into canals in 1938.

Zisa Palace

The construction of the Moorish Zisa Palace was begun in the 12th century by Arabian craftsmen for King William I of Sicily and completed by his son William II. It was built as a summer residence.

The name Zisa comes from the Arab term al-Azīz, meaning “dear” or “splendid”.

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Timeline of Sicily’s History

 Sicily
Nov 132019
 

 

The layers of history in Sicily are complicated at best.  Like most every country in the world that has ever been “conquered” the architecture, art, language, and culture learn, adapt and integrate, but to understand the layers one must have a grasp of the historic timeline.

20,000-750 BCE Pre Greek History

Paleolithic

Neolithic – farming, animal husbandry, and pottery. This, in particular, fascinates me if you compare it to the people of Malta that had one of the most advanced civilizations during this period. The interest here lies in the fact that most likely the settlers of Malta were from Sicily. This is partly based on the fact that the Maltese had obsidian and that is only found naturally on the North coast of Sicily, in Pantelleria, the bay of Naples and western Sardinia.

Copper Age
Bronze Age
Carthinigians (Phoenicians from what is now Tunisia)

750-215 BCE – The Greeks
Greeks begin to arrive in search of land in the development of  “Magna Graecia”.

264-211 BCE –  The Punic Wars
264-241 First Punic War: Romans use the Sicilians to fight against Carthage, but its a draw. This unresolved strategic competition between Rome and Carthage would lead to the eruption of the Second Punic War in 218 BC.218-201 Second Punic war: Syracuse falls in 211 giving way to Roman rule

218 BC – 468 CA  – The Romans 

468-476 – The Vandals
468-476 Vandals (of Germanic origins) invade from North Africa

476-535  – The Ostrogoths
476-535 Ostrogoths rule Sicily

535-827 – The Byzantines
663  – Syracuse briefly replaces Constantinople as the capital of the Byzantine empire.

827-1061 – The Arabs

Arab rule in Sicily passed through three North African dynasties: the Aghlabids, the Fatimids, whose power base was in Cairo, and then the Kalbids. In 948 Hassan al-Kalbi declared himself Emir of Sicily, though soon rival “emirates” were established in Enna and Syracuse. The island was divided into three administrative districts, whose names survive still today: Val di Mazara, Val di Noto, and Val di Demone. Val is the Arabic word for province.

827 – Beginning of Arab invasion with the landing of 10,000 Arabs, Berbers and Spanish Muslims (collective term Saracens) at Mazara del Vallo.
832 – Arabs conquer Palermo making it their capital. Palermo becomes one of the most populous and cosmopolitan centers in the world.
878 – Arabs conquer the city of Syracuse.

1060-1194 – The Normans
1059 – Pope Nicolo’ II authorizes the Hauteville family of Normans (present in Calabria and Puglia) to occupy any area of Southern Italy as long as they don’t recognize the power of Constantinople.
1071 onwards – the Normans take possession of Sicily, but they are few so they have to accept and integrate Arab administration and justice systems. They make use of Arab and Byzantine craftsmen and architects leaving an incredible legacy of art and architecture. Arabic is replaced by French and Italian and the clerical hierarchy is Latinised bringing 1,500 years of Greek influence to an end.

1194-1266 – The Hohenstaufen – a dynasty of German kings during the Middle Ages also known as Swabians
1194 – The Hohenstaufen arrive to find little opposition and Henry VI is crowned King of Sicily. He is succeeded by Frederick II (Stupor Mundi) under whose reign poetry, science, law, and medicine advance. After his death, the Pope sells Sicily to the King of England, who gives it to his 8-year-old son Edmund of Lancaster.

1266-1282 – The Angevin French
1266 – The French Pope deposes Edmund and gives Sicily to Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX). The Angevins oppress Sicily with high taxes and division of baronial fiefs among French aristocrats they are generally detested by the Sicilians.
1282  – The Sicilian Vespers, a successful rebellion that broke out on Easter 1282 at evening prayer (vespers)  against the French

1282-1516 – The Aragonese
1282 – Peter of Aragon lands in Trapani and is named king at Palermo. The arrival of the Aragonese means the beginning of five centuries of Spanish domination and isolation from Italy and consequently from Europe. 1282-1302

1516-1713 – The Spanish Habsburgs

1720-1734 – The Austrian Habsburgs
1720 – The House of Savoy trades Sicily with the Austrians for Sardinia.

1734-1806 – The Bourbons
18th Century The continuation of indirect Spanish rule through a pampered, parasitic and corrupt nobility

1806-1815 – British Administration

1815-1860 – The Bourbons
1815 Ferdinand returns to Naples and declares himself Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies.

1860-1946 – The unification of Italy (Monarchy)
1860 – Garibaldi begins the unification of Italy. Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy declared King.

1946-Today – The Italian Republic
1946 Sicily becomes an autonomous region of Italy 1951-1971 Italy joins the European Union and then the Common Market in 1968.

Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo

 Palermo, Sicily
Nov 122019
 

November 12, 2019

Interestingly, the best way to get an understanding of the size of the catacombs is from this painting done in 1883 by Calcedonia Reina titled Love and Death.   Reina (1842 – 1911) was an Italian painter and poet. He is described as having a melancholic and neurasthenic temperament in life and art.

The Capuchin Catacombs are a dichotomy.  Everywhere there are signs that the place is a holy area and should be respected, therefore no photographs.  And yet, it is a macabre tourist attraction that belies any form of respect.

The ridiculous thing about no photographs is that they are all over the internet, especially on Flickr and Instagram, showing that hundreds of people simply ignore the rule and the concept of respect.

All photos in this post are from the internet, this author does have respect for the sanctity of an institution such as these catacombs.


Palermo’s Capuchin monastery outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century and so the monks began to excavate crypts. Mummification, apparently began in 1599 when the monks interred brother Silvestro of Gubbio, into the catacombs.

The form of mummification the brothers practiced was to dehydrate the bodies on racks of ceramic pipes (which can be seen stacked here and there in the catacombs) Some were washed with vinegar.  Not all of the bodies were embalmed, some were simply sealed in glass cabinets.Monks were preserved with their everyday clothing and sometimes with ropes they had worn as a penance.

The catacombs were intended for the friars, but later it became a status symbol to be placed in the Capuchin catacombs.  The wealthy would ask to be preserved in certain items of clothing, or even to have their clothes changed on a regular basis.  Priests were interred with their clerical vestments, and others, as seen in the photographs, in the fashion of the time.   Relatives paid to have their dear departed tended, however, if payment did not arrive the bodies were put on a shelf until payments were received.


Burials stopped in the 1920s and the last to be interred was a two-year-old little girl named Rosalia Lombardo.  Her embalming procedure was very different.  Carried out by Professor Alfred Salafia, she was embalmed with formalin to kill bacteria, alcohol to dry the body, glycerin to keep her from drying out and salicylic acid to kill fungi.  Apparently his addition of zinc salts to give the body rigidity was what stood his formula apart. Rosalia’s body is so well preserved that she simply appears to be sleeping. There are many photos of sweet Rosalia on the internet, this author has no intention of showing her here.

The whitewashed and very wide halls are divided into categories: Men, Women, Virgins, Children, Priests, Monks, and Professionals. There was a time when coffins were made available to the families of the deceased so that on certain days the family could hold their hands “join” the family in prayer.


In 2007 the Sicily Mummy Project was created to study the mummies. The mummies are X-Rayed and given CT scans, along with other anthropological and paleopathological techniques to confirm the age and sex of the individuals.

Visiting the catacombs is not for the squeamish, but it is a fascinating look into the way that our view of death is forever changing.  There is a 3 Euro charge for entry.

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