SICILY

Sicily has the most spectacular churches in the world. The wonderful mosaics and marble work never get tiring. 

ARAB- NORMAN PALERMO and the CATHEDRAL CHURCHES OF CEFALÚ and MONREALE. This includes nine churches and civic buildings in Palermo and the area, all part of one Unesco World Heritage listing. Although churches can get boring, and repetitive, and cost untold amounts of money that could be better spent, these are easily the best churches in the world – the mosaics and marble are unbeatable.

THE NORMANS. They were a people descended from Norse (“Norman” comes from “Norseman”) Vikings from Denmark, Iceland, and Norway who first arrived at the mouth of the Seine in 911. In the 10th and 11th centuries, they gave their name to Normandy, in NW France. Under their leader Rollo, they swore allegiance to King Charles III of West Francia, and their descendants gradually became assimilated into the culture. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled and their dialect became known as Norman French. They also became exponents of the Catholic orthodoxy into which they assimilated. Under Richard I, Normandy was forged into a cohesive and formidable principality.
The Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and the Near East. The Normans were famed for their martial spirit and Catholic piety.
In the ninth century, the Normans captured Southern Spain and Anglo-Normans contributed to the Iberian Reconquista from the early eleventh to the mid-thirteenth centuries.  An expedition on behalf of their duke, William the Conqueror, led to the Norman conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. They conquered southern Italy and Malta from the Saracens and Byzantines and founded the Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II.
The Normans were among the most travelled peoples of Europe, exposed to cultural influences including the Near East, some of which became incorporated in their art and architecture. Norman’s cultural and military influence spread from these new European centers to the Crusader states of the Near East founding the Principality of Antioch in the Levant, Scotland and Wales in Great Britain, Ireland, and the coasts of North Africa and the Canary Islands.
The legacy of the Normans persists today through the regional languages and dialects of France, England, Spain, and Sicily, as well as the various cultural, judicial and political arrangements they introduced in their conquered territories.

Norman architecture. The Normans began constructing castles, their trademark architectural piece in Italy early on. Their clever use of the local stone artisans together with the vast riches amassed from their enslaved population made such tremendous feats possible as majestic as some of the ancient Roman structures they tried to emulate. They elaborated on the Early Christian basilica plan, longitudinal with side aisles and an apse, and a western façade with two towers.
Sicily’s Norman period was from circa 1070 until about 1200. Here a distinctive variation incorporated Byzantine and Saracen (Islamic) influences. Ancient Rome’s invention of the arch is the basis of all Norman architecture. The Norman arch is round and grand archways are designed to evoke feelings of awe and are very commonly seen as the entrance to large religious buildings such as cathedrals.
The buildings show massive proportions in simple geometries. The architecture was decorated in gilded mosaics best typified in the cathedral at Monreale and the Palatine Chapel in Palermo.

Cathedral of Palermo. Despite several reworkings over the centuries, this church is a feast of geometric patterns, crenellations, and marble. Inside are the royal Norman tombs, the treasury, and panoramic city views from the roof. A priest who worked with children in a Mafia town was assassinated on his 56^th birthday and subsequently martyred has a large presence. Free.
Royal Palace and Palatino Chapel. This is Palermo’s top tourist attraction.
The chapel was built by Roger II after 1130 using Byzantine, Islamic and Latin artists. Dedicated to St Peter, it has possibly the best mosaics in the world, covering the entire nave and upper walls. The oldest ones show episodes from the Gospels. Later ones made by William I show events from the life of St Peter and St. Paul and scenes from the Old Testament. The dome and central apse area have images of Christ. The Islamic muqarnas ceiling is entirely of wood with stalactitic, alveolar elements and inscriptions in Latin (1142), Greek (6650), and Arabic (536). The lower walls are fabulous marble geometric mosaics. Other noted features are a marble candelabra, carved wood doors, and amazing mosaics on the outside wall done by the Bourbons in the 19^th century.
Royal Apartments. This 9th-century palace had a 12th-century makeover with nice mosaics in Roger Hall. Besides the grand staircase to the apartments, the rest is not so interesting, mostly done by the Bourbons.
In the basement was a fantastic watercolour exhibition of Fabrice Moiseau on his grand tour of Sicily. There were at least a hundred paintings.
The available hours are confusing. 13€

Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti. Across the street from my hotel, this is a five-domed remnant of the classic architectural style. 6€
Church of Santa Maria dell”Ammiraglio. (La Martorana). This 12th-century church has magnificent Byzantine mosaics – not to be missed.

CEFALU CATHEDRAL. On my last day in Sicily, I went to Cefalu to see the old town and this wonderful cathedral, comparable to Monreale.

Fontana Pretoria. This huge, ornate fountain in white marble is not to be missed. The nudity of the nymphs offended the locals and it was dubbed the Fountain of Shame.
Mercato di Ballarò. Occupying one long street, it is Palermo’s busiest street market and runs well into the evening. It has a great choice for fresh produce, fish, meat, olives, cheese and most everything else.

CATACOMBS dei CAPPUCCINI. This cemetery has the mummified bodies and skeletons of some 8000 Palermitans who died between the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Power, gender, religion, profession, children and virgins are separated. Originally a cemetery under the church of Santa Maria della Pace, the monks found that 45 had naturally mummified and these were exposed in niches. Until the end of the 19th century, wealthy people entrusted their deceased to the Capuchins who, after embalming, exposed the bodies in the crypt so that relatives could visit them. This is the most bizarre of all the catacombs I have seen – possibly not worth the walk as there is little to differentiate the skeletons.

DRIVE AROUND SICILY 
Day 1. The West. Driving west on S29 follows the ocean past stunning scenery of ocean on one side and rugged cliffs on the other.

SEGESTA. Settled in the 5^th century BC by the ancient Elymians, thought to be from Troy, all that remains are a Doric Temple (430-420 BC) and a theatre on the mountain 1.5 km from the temple. The never finished temple with its 6X14 columns sits on a wind-swept hill above a canyon. Despite there being almost no one here, it is necessary to park 1.5 km down the hill and pay 5€ to park, take a shuttle bus to the gate and then walk the 250m up to the temple. Descend back down and take another shuttle (1.5€) to the theatre. This area has had Carthaginian (408 BC), brief Roman, Norman (they built a castle near the theatre), Moslem and other settlers. There is not much else to see and I doubt that it is worth the 12.5€.

TRAPANI (pop 71,000). This port city has heavily developed outskirts and a small historical centre. I went on a drive-about up to Erice for great views of the countryside and the Egadi Islands and then negotiated the maze of one-way streets to get to the port.

MARSALA (pop 81,000). With 7m thick walls, it was the last Punic settlement to fall to the Romans, and it now known for its dessert wines. Its Archaeological Museum has the only remaining Phoenician boat – evidence of its 3^rd century seafaring superiority. It is 25kms south of Tripani.

SELINUNTE. This huge Greek city built in 628 BC on a promontory overlooking the sea, was one of the richest and most powerful in the world for 2½ centuries. It was destroyed by the Carthaginians in 409 BC, fell to the Romans in 350 BC and then went into rapid decline and disappeared from history. It is so remote the names of the temples are lost and now identified by the letters A to G, M and O. Only the columns of Tempe E and the Acropolis have been rebuilt – the rest are ruins. Many of the carvings, on par with the Parthenon marbles are in the archaeological museum in Palermo. The facades were painted in brilliant colours, now indiscernable.SCALA DEI TURCHI. This rock of brilliant white stone is eroded into steps. It is accessed in the town of Realmonte. Drive down the steep cobble road to Matala Beach to parking, then walk about .5km along the beach to reach the ledges of the small promontory.

VALLEY of the TEMPLES at AGRIGENTO. Unesco listed, the Greeks built their great city of Akragas here on the central Mediterranean coast in the 6^th to 4^th centuries BC. The Temple di Hera, della Concordia (the model for Unesco’s logo), and di Ercole are virtually intact. Also pass a magnificent, gnarled 500-year-old olive tree, Byzantine tombs and several other ruins caused by the Phoenician invasion of 409 BC and subsequent earthquakes.
I arrived at 6pm, but most sites are lit and the place closes at 7pm year-around.

Day 2. Mediterranean Coast and Southeast. Much of this area was destroyed in a devastating earthquake in 1693.

LATE BAROQUE TOWNS OF SE SICILY. These Unesco listed hilltop towns are famous for their lavish baroque architecture.
Driving around these places is difficult as there are so many one-way streets that can become suddenly very narrow and dangerous for my van. One also depends on the navigation system – it can take you on some interesting routes and gets confused by all the one-ways. It rained and stormed all day.
1. Ragusta. The lower town has some palazzi that open up onto Plazza Duomo (closed when I was there), and it is the least interesting of the towns.
2. Modica. Medieval and baroque buildings climb steeply up both sides of a deep gorge. A devastating flood in 1902 involved the lower town (the river was dammed and diverted). I only went to the lower town with some majestic baroque architecture. The Cathedral of St Peter is an impressive church. Up top, I visited a huge cemetery full of crypts. Every grave has a photo of the inhabitant – something we should have in NA. It was raining and blowing hard, the start of the real storm to come. The 42km drive to Noto was an amazing experience, easily one of the worst thunder and lightning storms I have ever experienced. It rained so hard, the roads were running rivers and the hail so thick, one needed snow tires to navigate the road.
3. Noto. Flattened by an earthquake in 1693, Noto has been grandly rebuilt into the finest baroque town in Sicily. It is home to arguably Sicily’s most beautiful street – the pedestrianized Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Carved facades on the sandstone buildings and grand churches are gorgeous.

CATANIA. (pop 296,000). Sicily’s second largest city, it has a gritty look. Much of it was constructed of lava that poured down Mt Etna engulfing the city in the massive 1669 eruption.
Plazza del Duomo (Unesco) has the Fontana dell’Elephante (1736), a smiling black lava elephant dating from Roman times surmounted by an improbable Egyptian obelisk. The plaza fronts the grand Cathedral of Sant’Angata. Near is the spectacular white Fontana dell’Amenano.
Museo Belliniano. One of Italy’s great opera composers, Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania in 1801. This was his house.
Castello Ursino. This 13^th century castle once guarded the city from atop a seafront cliff but the 1669 eruption of Mt Etna reclaimed the whole area leaving the castle completely landlocked. It is home to the Civic Museum.

Day 3. Eastern Centre
MT ETNA (3329m). Dominating eastern Sicily, Etna is Europe’s largest volcano, one of the world’s most active, and visible from the moon. Eruptions occur frequently from its four summit craters and slopes. The most devastating occurred in 1669 and lasted 122 days, engulfing Catania. Its most recent severe eruption was in 2002. Unesco listed in 2013, it is surrounded by a huge national park.
The southern approach is the easiest ascent to the craters. From 1923m, take a cable car up to 2500m and then walk 3-4 hours up to the crater zone at 2920m. It is also possible to circle Etna on a private 114km train that passes through many unique towns.
Despite the rain and ridiculousness of driving up here on such a bad day, I tried anyway. Well into the park and close to the first craters, there was too much snow to continue, raining hard, and with zero views, I turned around. I was above the plant line and all was lava boulders. I think this would only be a good trip close to the summer. When driving down, I again encountered a huge travel jam well above Catania and had a drive about trying to get around it. The commute to work in this city must drive them crazy.

VILLA ROMANA DEL CASALE. Wow, this is a must see – easily one of the most amazing Unesco World Heritage Sites I have ever seen.
Built in the 3^rd century BC, it is one of the few remaining sites of Roman Sicily. A sumptuous hunting lodge belonging to Diocletian’s co-emperor Marcus Arelius Maximianus, it were buried under mud in a 12^th century flood, and remained hidden for 700 years before its magnificent floor mosaics were rediscovered in the 1950s. They were only fully opened to the public in 2013 after years of restoration and are among Sicily’s greatest classical treasures.
The mosaics cover almost the entire 3500 sq. metre floor of the villa and are considered unique for their narrative style, the range of subject matter and variety of colour. Many have African themes.
Surrounding a huge central fountain lined by marble columns are many mosaics of animals. Along the eastern end of the internal courtyard is the Great Hunt – scenes of capturing animals in Africa for gladiatorial contests in Rome – chariots, wagons with cages, boats for shipping the animals and a huge variety of critters. Around the courtyard and corridor are several apartments, the simple ones with intricate, unique geometrics. The most captivating are the Ten Girls in Bikinis with sporty girls in scanty bikinis playing sports.
The owner’s grand hall is covered in intricate marble from all over southern Europe, the Middle East and north Africa. At the front are a series of baths with hot, warm and cold water, heated from underneath.
It is difficult to get here without a vehicle. They are located in the centre-eastern part of Sicily near the town of Piazza Armenia. Park below (1€/hour) and walk up to the villa (10€).
I spent 3 hours reading all the excellent descriptions describing the use of each room and the finer points of each mosaic.
Refer to the post Roman Ruins in “Favourite Destinations” for more photos.

PALACE of FICUZZA. On the way to Corleone, about 15 km from Palermo, a spectacular mountain appears, the limestone massif of Rocca Busambra (1613 m.), covered by the biggest forest in western Sicily. At the foot of the mountain and surrounded by the forest, lies the small village of Ficuzza, which is dominated by this majestic palace, a  hunting lodge built by Ferdinand III of Sicily in 1803. With the fall of the Bourbons, the palace fell into disuse and was depredated by various owners including occupying armies during World War II. The palace was recently opened to visitors including the tunnels that lead into the surrounding forests (closed on the day I was here). The entire place was wasteful frivolity as it was built by a king in exile ruling a crumbling monarchy and an impoverished kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars.
Near Ficuzza are the Dragon’s Gorge cut through limestone (I could not find the minor road that leads to it) and an old narrow-gauge railroad active until 1959 and now a cycle path through tunnels and dense woods.
The drive to Corleone and back goes though bucolic countryside, fields all green from the winter wheat surrounded by limestone cliffs and low mountains.

CORLEONE. Vito Andolini of Godfather fame came from Corleone. The immigration officers on Ellis Island made a mistake changing his name to Corleone. That is the only reason I came here. Corleotne is the largest city in the centre west of Sicily and about 50 km from Palermo. It differs little from any other small Italian city in the hills. Nothing from the movie was shot here.
CIDMA (Centro Internationale Di Documentazione Sulla Mafia E Del Movimento AntiMafia). With the longest name of any museum, it is in Corleone. Visits can only be made online by reservation, but it is not worth the time. The only exhibits are photographs explained by the guide – all quite boring. The museum documents the many brutal mafia assassinations  (judges, police, a priest, journalists) over the years in an attempt to intimidate.