fiogf49gjkf0d FOR THOSE WISHING TO VISIT SICILY, THE GIGLIOTTO
FARM HOLIDAY CENTRE IS THE PERFECT STARTING
POINT* IN THE SOUTHERNMOST PART OF THE PROVINCE
OF CATANIA, NOT FAR AWAY ARE PIAZZA ARMERINA WITH
ITS CELEBRATED CASALE ROMAN VILLA, MORGANTINA,
CALTAGIRONE AND THEN ALL AROUND AGRIGENTO,
SYRACUSE, NOTO, RAGUSA, ETNA AND TAORMINA.
PIAZZA ARMERINA
IN THE HEART OF SICILY, IN THE PROVINCE OF ENNA,
IS LOCATED PIAZZA ARMERINA, ONE OF THE MOST
INTERESTING PLACES ON THE ISLAND.
LYING ON THREE LOVELY HILLS, IN A FERTILE AND
PRODUCTIVE AREA, WITH A WEALTH OF WOODLANDS,
WATER COURSES AND EXTENSIVE CULTIVATED FIELDS,
THE TOWN TAKES ITS NAME FROM ONE OF THE HILLS IT
STANDS ON.
THE ARAGONESE CASTLE IS REMARKABLY INTERESTING,
THE HUGE BAROQUE DUOMO, THE CHURCHES OF S. ANDREA
AND OF S. ROCCO, THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MANSIONS
AND CHURCHES, THE PRIORY OF S. ANDREA, FOUNDED IN
1096 BY A NEPHEW OF ROGER I AND IN ADDITION THE
PRECIOUS REMAINS OF ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AND
NECROPOLI, DISCOVERED IN THE SURROUNDING
TERRITORY, AND THE FASCINATING NATURALISTIC AREA
OF PARCO RONZA.
FINALLY, THE CHARACTERISTIC PALIO DEI NORMANNI
DESERVES A MENTION, AN EVENT IN COSTUME THAT
RE-EVOKES THE TAKING OF PIAZZA BY COUNT ROGER.
CALTAGIRONE
BETWEEN THE FERTILE GELA AND CATANIA PLAINS, ON
THE SOUTH-EASTERN SLOPES OF THE EREI MOUNTAINS,
LIES CALTAGIRONE, THE SICILIAN CAPITAL OF
CERAMICS.
THE MAIN ROAD JUNCTION FOR THE OVERLAND
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN PALERMO AND THE IONIAN
COAST OF SICILY, CALTAGIRONE, ENTITLED
*MAGNIFICENT TOWN* BY CHARLES V IN 1528, BETWEEN
THE FIFTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURY IT
WITNESSED THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPLENDID CHURCHES
AND MONASTERIES AS WELL AS THE FOUNDING OF THE
UNIVERSITY.
SERIOUSLY DAMAGED BY THE 1693 EARTHQUAKE, IN
JUST10 YEARS, WITH THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE
BEST-KNOWN SICILIAN ARCHITECTS, IT ROSE AGAIN,
EVEN LOVELIER THAN BEFORE, DISTINGUISHED BY A
SUMPTUOUS BAROQUE APPEARANCE.
ARABS, GENOVESE AND CATALANS ALL LEFT THEIR MARK
ON CALTAGIRONE, ALMOST AS URBAN DECORATION, IN
THE DEFENSIVE WALLS, PORTALS, CHURCH AND PALAZZO
FA ADES WITH A NOBLE SEAL* THAT OF CERAMICS.
THE MULTI-COLOURED VITREOUS FLOORS ARE SUPERB AND
THE ENAMELLED CERAMIC WORK WHERE GREEN, AZURE AND
YELLOW PREVAIL ARE SUPERB* THE LONG BALUSTRADE 3
OF VIA ROMA, THE SPLENDID BALCONY OF THE
VENTIMIGLIA PALAZZO, AND THE STUPENDOUS RISERS OF
THE HIGHLY CELEBRATED SANTA MARIA DEL MONTE STEPS
- 142 STEPS THAT LINK THE UPPER MEDIEVAL PART OF
THE TOWN TO THE S. GIULIANO PLAIN, AND THAT ON 25
JULY, THE DAY OF THE PATRON SAINT, ST. JAMES, ARE
ILLUMINATED WITH THE *COPPI* - IN FACT, LIVING
PROOF OF THE EXTRAORDINARY SKILL OF THE
CALTAGIRONE MAIOLICARI.
CATANIA
SCORED BY THE WILD AND OVERWHELMING FASCINATION
OF ETNA, THE LARGEST VOLCANO IN EUROPE - THE
STILL ACTIVE FORGE OF THE GODS, WITH ITS BROWN
EXPANSES OF LAVA, ITS BARREN FOOTPATHS CUT OUT OF
THE ASH, WHERE THE PUNGENT SCENT OF GORSE REIGNS
SUPREME - NOWADAYS THE SITE OF ONE OF THE MOST
FAMOUS AND MODERN TOURIST RESORTS ON THE ISLAND,
THE PROVINCE OF CATANIA PRESENTS THE VISITOR
ENTHRALLING AND MYSTERIOUS NATURE, TINTED BY THE
ARDENT HUES OF FIRE, THE PURPLISH BLUE WATERS OF
THE IONIAN SEA, ALONG THE LEGENDARY AND UNSPOILT
RIVIERA OF THE CYCLOPS, AND THE DEEP GREEN OF THE
MOST EXTENSIVE SICILIAN PLAIN.
STUDDED WITH SUPERBLY BEAUTIFUL CENTRES -
INCLUDING THE EXUBERANT CATANIA, THE *THE
ELEPHANT CITY*, THAT COUNTERBALANCES THE ANCIENT
CHARM OF THE ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE AND THE URSINO
CASTLE WITH THE EXTREME MODERNITY OF THE
EFFICIENT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, UNUSUAL CALTAGIRONE,
CAPITAL OF CERAMICS, ACIREALE, PEARL OF THE
BAROQUE, MEDIEVAL RANDAZZO, ACITREZZA, VIZZINI,
ALL RECALLING VERGA, DISSEMINATED WITH
MAGNIFICENT NORMAN AND SWABIAN CASTLES, WITH A
WEALTH OF MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES, THE PROVINCE
OF CATANIA IS ONE OF THE MOST ENCHANTING CORNERS
OF SICILY, DISTINGUISHED BY DEEPLY ROOTED
CULTURAL AND FOLKLORISTIC TRADITIONS - FOR
EXAMPLE THE ACIREALE CARNIVAL, THE MOST ENGAGING
ON THE ISLAND - REFINED CRAFT WORK SUCH AS WOOD
CARVING, THRIVING AGRICULTURE, THANKS TO THE RICH
VOLCANIC EARTH, AND FINALLY, LIVELY COMMERCIAL
ACTIVITY, ENCOURAGED BY THE PORT AND AIRPORT OF
CATANIA AND THE NUMEROUS APPROACHES ALONG THE
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