24 – 26 September 2023
Catania Blog
We arrived in Catania about 2 PM yesterday afternoon. After settling into our hotel, our Trip
Leader gave us a little introduction to the area where we will be spending our
next 3 days. We then took a 30-minute
orientation walk on our way to a local restaurant for dinner.
Catania, Sicily’s second largest municipality after Palermo,
is a lively city located on the edge of the Ionian Sea at the base of Mt.
Etna. In 263 BCE it was conquered by the
Romans. During this time, the Christians
suffered under the persecutions of the Roman Emperors Decius and Diocletian. Like the rest of Sicily, it was then under
the control of the Byzantines, the Arabs, and the Normans. During the Renaissance era, Catania was one
of Italy’s most important cultural, artistic, and political centers, and home
to Sicily’s first university founded in 1434.
Finally in 1848, Catania joined with the other cities of Sicily in
declaring their autonomy, but that movement was quickly quelled by force. In addition to the destruction caused by the
1669 eruption of Mt. Etna and the 1663 earthquake, Catania suffered severe
damage during WW II.
Signs of Mt. Etna are evident throughout the city. It is built almost entirely on the lava from
the volcano’s eruptions, with most of the structures being built using volcanic
tufa. As a result, much of the older
part of the city has a dark gray color.
While most of the city was rebuilt after the 1963 earthquake, you can
still see the ruins of Greek and Roman theaters, and a Roman amphitheater,
basilica, baths, and aqueducts.
On our first full day in Catania, we visited its World War II Landing Museum which was built on the remains of an old sulfur warehouse that was bombed by Allied forces in 1943. The museum is dedicated to the Allied invasion of Sicily in July-August 1943 (known as Operation Huskie). This was the first step in the ultimate conquering of Sicily as part of the Allies plan to defeat the Axis forces in Italy. This invasion was massive – second only to the D-Day landings in France – with 2500 ships and air support. The two Allied armies taking part in this invasion were the 7th Army (US) and the 8th Army (British). While Hitler had decreed that Sicily must be kept at all costs, his commanding officer in Sicily realized that defeat was imminent and that the only way to save his men (estimated to be 100,000 German and Italian troops) and valuable equipment was to retreat to the mainland of Italy, which he did on 11-12 August 1943. One of the unique features of this museum was the bunker room. We all sat on benches in the room, the lights were turned off, and then the room began to shake as bombs exploded all around the outside of the bunker. The noise was deafening. You could just image how people must have felt during actual attacks.
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| Museum's WWII Bunker |
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| Inside the Bunker |
After touring the museum, we met up with a local guide who
took us on a walking tour of the central part of Catania. Our tour started in Duomo Piazza where our
guide pointed out the 11th century Cathedral of Catania, a Roman
Catholic church which today is the seat of the Archbishops of Catania.
The
Piazza dei Duomo is the historical center of Catania and contains some of the
most beautiful Sicilian Baroque architecture in the city. The center piece of the Piazza is the
Cattedrale di Sant’Agata (Cathedral of Catania), a Roman Catholic church
dedicated to St. Agatha, the patron saint of the city. Located on the ruins of the Achillean Baths,
it was originally built between 1078-1093.
As with most of Sicily, it was destroyed in the 1693 earthquake and was
rebuilt in the baroque style in 1711.
The only part of the building that remains from the original church are
the columns located on the lower level. The
main entrance door is wooden with 32 12th century plaques of the life of St.
Agatha. The interior of the Cathedral,
designed as a Latin Cross, holds the tomb of the composer Bellini. Unfortunately, today was Sunday and the
Cathedral was closed to visitors.
Between the Cathedral and the Seminary is the Porta Uzeda, a
gate in the old city walls built by Charles V.
Looking north from the gate’s terraces you see the Piazza del Duomo with
its Elephant Fountain, while looking toward the port, you see the remaining
city walls with Mt. Etna in the background.
Unfortunately, Mt. Etna was shrouded in clouds.
Near the Palace is the Amenano Fountain built of Carrara marble in 1867. It shows the Amenano River as a young man holding a cornucopia from which the water from the River flows into the basin. While the Amenano River has been in Catania for thousands of years, it now runs about 6 feet under the city as it has been buried by lava flows.
Across the Piazzo from the Palazzo dei Seminario dei Chierici is the Palazzo degli Elefanti, which became Catania’s City Hall and seat of the Catania City Council in 1953, after its last renovation. Kept within the building are two 18th century carriages, one of which is used during the Festival of St. Agatha.
In the center of the Piazza Duomo is the Elephant Fountain
made of black basalt with an elephant in the center (it is the symbol of the
city) with an obelisk on its back. No
one knows when this elephant (known as U Liotru ) first appeared in Catania –
it might have been there since the Romans.
But people do think it is magic.
According to one legend, the elephant was created by an 8th
century nobleman – Heliodorus – who was unhappy about not being selected as
bishop. He turned to the dark arts and
created the elephant and brought it to life.
The bishop was angry at being upstaged and had Heliodorus burned
alive. But when the bishop tried to
destroy the elephant the people of Catania rebelled and insisted that it remain
in the town.
When the Muslims conquered the city, it was already known as
“The City of the Elephant.” The locals claimed that it had magical powers and
that it would awaken whenever Mt. Etna was about to erupt. As a result, it became the symbol of the city
when Catania became a free royal city in 1239.
In the 1700s, the city asked an architect to create a fountain in the
center of the city. He decided to use
the elephant as his centerpiece, but draped a marble saddle that has the coat
of arms of St. Agatha, the patroness of the city, and took an existing obelisk
(with Egyptian hieroglyphics honoring Isis, the goddess of the underworld) and
put it on the elephant’s back. As with
the unknown origins of the elephant, the origin of the obelisk is also
unknown. Many people then thought that
he was not trying to duplicate the famous Elephant and Obelisk found in Rome,
but was rather trying to bring back Heliodorus to see what other mischief he
might make. But whatever the actual
story is, the fountain is very interesting.
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| Cathedral of Catania |
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| Dei Seminario dei Chierci |
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| Porta Uzeda |
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| Palazzo degli Elefant |
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| Elephant Statue |
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| Amenano Fountain |
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| Painted Elephant in Catania Square |
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| Fish Market |
Just behind the cathedral is Catania’s fish market (pescheria) – the largest in Sicily. We took a quick stroll through the market. It is a very vibrant and crowded place, but the fish smell is overwhelming.
From the Duomo Piazza we walked to the ruins of the Greek Roman Theater. Before the Romans built a theater on this site circa the 2nd century AD, it was a Greek theater that had been built on the site of the Greek Acropolis. The Roman theater is actually two open air-semicircular theaters. The larger theater’s auditorium was built to hold 7,000 people with a section for the orchestra in the front. That structure and that of the smaller Odeon theater to the west of the larger auditorium were built of black lava rock, with the orchestra pit covered with white marble. Today all that remains of the theater are covered walkways, corridors, some small stairways, parts of the area where the audience would sit, and the orchestra pit. Reconstruction and/or use of the theater today is not possible as the lower part of the structure, as a result of Mt. Etna’s eruptions and earthquakes has dropped the ground level, allowing the Amenano River, which flows underneath the city, to periodically flood this area. Built higher than the larger theater, the Odeon is thought to have been home to concerts and dances. It has a much lower seating capacity but is still used today for summer shows.
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| Greek-Roman Amphitheater |
We then had lunch at a local restaurant before returning to our hotel for a much-needed rest. We then walked to a very good seafood/pasta restaurant that Rosanna had recommended for dinner.
Taormina
The next day (25 September) we traveled to the hillside town
of Taormina. Bill and I had been there
before on a shore excursion from a cruise ship.
However, we got there late in the afternoon and did not really see much,
so today was like a new adventure.
We entered Taormina via the northern Porto Messina
Gate. It was built by the Arabs as part
of the ancient city walls in 1808.
Taormina is known for its Greco-Roman amphitheater, one of
Sicily’s most important ancient sites and second only in size to the
amphitheater in nearby Syracuse. Here we
had a local guide that took us into the amphitheater for some spectacular
views. It was built (or rather dug out
of the rocks of Mount Taurus) in the 3rd century BCE by the Greeks
and later reconstructed by the Romans.
Originally used by the Greeks for their plays and productions, when the
Romans enlarged the amphitheater, they turned it into an arena for their
gladiatorial games. Today the amphitheater
holds about 5,000 people and is still used for plays, concerts, symphonies, operas,
ballets.
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| Porto Messina Gate |
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| Main Street of Taormina |
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| Roman Amphitheater |
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| Roman Amphitheater |
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| Looking out at the Ionian Sea |
After the amphitheater, Rosanna took us to a shop that specializes in Bronte pistachios. Here we had a tasting of a pistachio spread
on baguette slices, a pistachio liquor, and, of course, pistachio gelato. All were really good, especially if you like
pistachio. We ended up bringing home a
small jar of the spread and a small bottle of the liquor as a reminder of our
wonderful trip to Sicily.
We were then on our own to explore Taormina. We walked down the main street which today is
mostly souvenir and boutique shops. We first
saw the Odeon, the ruins of another Roman theater built in the 2nd
century AD. Although its structure is
very similar to the larger Greek-Roman Amphitheater we just saw, it is much
small and was used for performances, lectures, and public readings. It was built on the ruins of a 3rd
century BCE Greek temple as the south wall of the temple had been integrated
into the theater.
Just in front of the Odeon is the Church of St. Caterina,
built by the Order of Capuchin Friars in the first half of the 17th
century in the baroque style on top of the ruins of part of the Odeon. Just above the main entrance of the church is
a niche housing a statue of St. Catherine. According to tradition, Catherine was both a
princess (her father was governor of Alexandria) and a scholar. After a vision of the Virgin Mary, she became
a Christian at the age of 14. She was
then responsible for the conversion of hundreds of people to
Christianity,(including the wife of Emperor Maximian, who then had her killed
at age 18. In the statue, St. Catherine
holds a palm branch (symbol of her martyrdom) in her right and an open book
(symbol of her intelligence) in her left hand.
She also holds a sword in her right hand showing her faith in God to
defeat evil, and beneath the sword is the prince of darkness who is trying to
push the sword away from his throat. The
statue was found in the first Church of St. Caterina, which had been located
outside the city walls of Taormina, and then brought to this church.
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| Church of St. Caterina |
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| The Odeon |
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| The Odeon |
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| Inside the Church of St. Caterina |
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| Ruins from the Odeon inside the Church |
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| Statue of St. Caterina |
We then walked across the street from the church to a café with outdoor seating and enjoyed a pizza for lunch.
While the morning was beautiful, by the time we ended our
lunch the rain began and we decided to end our exploration of Taormina. We quickly found a little gelato place where
we could sit under cover and enjoy our desert until it was time to walk to the
bus – thank goodness the rain had stopped by then.
For dinner Rosanna invited us and another couple to dinner
at a nearby self-service cafeteria to try some Arancini (fried rice balls) as
none of us had had them before. You
could get all types of fillings with the rice and they were very good and very
filling. I had the meat filling
(surrounded by rice and then deep-fried) and it was very good
Mt. Etna
What should have been one of the highlights of the trip really turned out to be a disappointment. On our last full day in Sicily, we took 4-wheel drive vehicles up to Mt. Etna. The name originates from the Greek word Aitne, which means “I burn.” However, a lot of locals call the volcano “Montebello” which means “beautiful mountain.” .” An interesting fact is that the Aetna Insurance Company is named for Mt. Etna as the Latin world for Etna is Aetna. When the company was incorporated in 1819, they chose the name because although the volcano is “surrounded by flame and smoke” Mt. Etna “is itself never consumed.” Towering over the area at more than 10,000’, it is not only Europe’s tallest volcano, but one of the most active in the world. It has been erupting for over 500,000 years and in 2021, it erupted 50 times.
Lining its slopes are many vineyards and orchards, planted
there because of the rich volcanic soil.
With its nutrient rich soil and the varying weather conditions, it has
been a haven for winemakers for almost 3,000 years. While the land is excellent for growing the
grapes, harvesting them is another issue.
Because they are grown on steep slopes, the grapes must be harvested by
hand and the summers are extremely hot while the winters are cold and
snowy. As a result, winemaking was
abandoned for many years, but in the recent 20 years, new winemakers have taken
over these abandoned vineyards and by studying the unique vines that grow here
and incorporating the traditional winemaking customs of the area, they have
turned Mt. Etna into one of the trendiest wine making regions.
One would think that living on the side of an active volcano
would be dangerous – not so, as it turns out. While the volcano has erupted
more than 200 times since its first recorded activity in 1500 BC, it rarely
threatens inhabited areas. Most of the activity comes from the summit’s five
craters, and despite the dramatic appearance of these eruptions, there’s little
risk of lava traveling far enough down the 11,000-foot face to do any damage.
Eruptions from the flanks of the volcano—which contain hundreds of vents that
vary in size—are closer to inhabited areas, but much rarer, with just four
occurring since 2000.
Some interesting facts about Mt. Etna:
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It sits on the same fault as Mount Vesuvius.
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Greek Legend has it that Zeus buried a hundred-headed
monster Typhon beneath the volcano, and it is its restlessness that caused the
eruptions.
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Roman legend says that Vulcan, the god of fire,
used the base of the volcano for metalworking, making arms, iron, and
armor. This caused the lave flows from
the volcano.
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On clear day, nearly every part of Sicily has a
view of Mt. Etna, and although it is considered a dangerous volcano, more than
25% of Sicily’s population lives on its slopes and have since 12,000 BCE.
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The biggest eruption was a four-month event from
March to July 1669 that spewed ash over 100 miles away, destroyed or damaged
numerous towns, but miraculously did not result in any fatalities. In fact, officially only 77 people have been
killed during Etna’s long history of eruptions.
It took us about an hour to reach Mt. Etna on its northern
slope (in my opinion this is not the best side of Mt. Etna, but it is one that
is less crowded – the southern slope has better views of the mountain). The day was cold and rainy. We then rode on
our 4x4vehicles over some very rough roads to see some of the lava fields. However, after seeing the lava fields in the
Galapagos and Hawaii, these fields were not very spectacular. We stopped at the small warming cafe which
hikers use when they are climbing Mt. Etna.
Most of our tour decided to take a hike in the lava fields, but Bill and
I decided that it was too cold and raining to go on a hike. We stayed in the little café and drank hot
chocolate. The rain stopped and I walked
outside to try and get some pictures, but Mt. Etna lay sleeping under a blanket
of clouds. On the drive down to our
lunch restaurant on the slopes of Mt Etna the sun did come out, but the top of
Mt. Etna was still under the clouds, but we did see some piles of lava from previous eruptions. It
was really a disappoint not to see this majestic volcano, but fortunately we
had visited Mt. Etna when on a cruise and that day had been sunny and we saw
Mt. Etna in all her glory spouting smoke and some ashes in the air.
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| Mt. Etna's Lava Fields |
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| View of the Northern Side of Mt. Etna |
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| Mt. Etna Sleeping under the Clouds |
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| Lave from Previous Eruptions |
After lunch, we returned to our hotel in Catania to pack and
get ready for our Farewell Dinner.
Our Farewell Dinner was held in a little private room that
was catered by a small local restaurant.
Before our meal, a young man came and played some ancient wooden
instruments that he had made and self-taught to play. These instruments are a dying breed as they
were originally used by ancient sheepherders when they were out in the fields
and the necessary information needed for the newer generations to play them was
not handed down. This young man has made
it his mission to try to educate today’s generation about this past art. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my phone, so
I have no pictures, but it was a very entertaining show. I cannot say as much for the dinner – it was
a salad and a bowl of cooked mussels.
Bill really enjoyed it, so I ate his salad and he ate my mussels (as
mussels and I do not get along!).
This past month has flown by quickly, but it has been full
of new adventures, unique towns (especially in Puglia), stunning scenery, and
fantastic food and wine. The weather was
unusually hot and humid and that did limit some of the outdoor activities that
were scheduled. However, we did see some
amazing sights, met very interesting and friendly Sicilian people, and had some
very unique experiences.
As we get ready to leave Sicily, I thought you might enjoy a
few more of Sicilian legends that Overseas Adventure Travels had included in an
article on Catania that appeared on their website.
The Golden Lion: A king promised whoever could
find his daughter in his castle would win her hand, but if they failed, they’d
lose their heads. One man sent his three sons, one at a time, to try. The first
two failed and were decapitated. The third son met an old crone who told him
that if he was kind to her, she’d help. She made him a golden lion big enough
to hide in, and snuck him into the castle, where she made the gleaming treasure
a gift to the king. When the king gave his daughter the grand bauble, the
prince emerged from the lion, and told the princess why he was there. She told
him how to locate her chamber and then he slipped away, so he could return as a
proper suitor. He shocked the king by finding the princess, and in the end, the
young couple married, and ever after took care of the old woman who made it
possible.
Lucky 13th: The 13th son in a large family was
loathed by his brothers because he was always successful, so when the King
sought someone brave (and foolish) enough to steal things from an ogre in
exchange for a ransom of gold, the 12 older sons volunteered the youngest,
hoping he’d fail and be eaten. But 13th, as he was known, was clever: He stole
the ogre’s blanket while pretending to be a cat, captured the ogre’s horse by
feeding it cake, lured the ogre’s wife into her own oven and cooked her, and
then tricked the ogre into entering a barrel, where he was imprisoned. The
pleasantly surprised king rewarded 13th with all the promised gold—none of
which the young man shared with brothers 1-12.
Water and salt: A king wanted his three
daughters to declare how much they loved him. One said she loved him as much
her own eyes, one said as much as her heart, and a third said as much as water
and salt. That last answer—seemingly of low value—made him so mad, the king had
her killed, or so he thought. She was actually rescued by another king’s family
and fell in love with the prince. Her father was invited to the wedding banquet
but not allowed any water to drink or salt for his food, and soon he was miserable.
When the bride asked him why, he said he was reminded of his daughter’s answer;
he finally realized what she meant and he felt guilt for having her killed. The
bride changed into the dress she was wearing when he sent her to die and he
realized who it was. Seeing his remorse, she forgave him.
Giufa’s Whistle: Giufa, the village fool, was
going to a fair in town and one of the village children asked if Giufa would be
willing to bring him back a whistle. Giufu said yes. A dozen more boys asked
for whistles, and he told them all that he was willing. A last boy gave him a
penny and asked the same question, getting the same reply. But Giufa returned
carrying only a single whistle for the last boy. When the others complained, he
said, “I was willing for all of you, but only he paid for a whistle!”
The Magic Figs: A king swore that whoever
could make his despondent daughter laugh could marry her. A poor shepherd found
a ring that made him sneeze every time he put it on. He took it to show the
king’s daughter and the king put in on, immediately seized with convulsive
sneezing; though his daughter did laugh, the king was furious because he had
been made to look foolish and he banished the shepherd. The young man found a
sorceress to sell him magic figs: black ones that made you grow horns and white
ones that made the horns go away. He paid a cook to feed the king’s family
black figs and then, once they were terrified by the sudden appearance of
horns, he offered to give them the antidote figs if the king kept his original
promise. The king agreed, the kids were married, and seeing how happy his
daughter was, the king eventually passed his crown on to the shepherd.
The Hermit: A hermit was convinced that the
innocent were being punished unfairly, so he renounced god. Leaving behind his
cave, he set out for the long journey back to city life, and met a handsome
youth, to whom he complained about god’s lack of judgment. They got a ride with
a mule driver and then stayed at inn together, but to the hermit’s horror, he
discovered the youth had stolen the mule driver’s wallet; worse, the lad went
on to kill the innkeeper’s baby. When the hermit started to say that this
proved his point, the youth revealed himself to be an angel. He explained that
the mule driver had himself stolen the money first, and that the innkeeper’s
baby had been destined to become a murderer if he’d lived. The angel explained
that the hermit simply couldn’t tell the difference between what was just and
unjust because he was human. The angel disappeared and the chastened hermit
returned to his cave, did penance, and died a saint after all.
And with these amusing legends, we bid a fond farewell to
Sicily. Now on the Octoberfest in
Munich!
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