SICILY

After an uneventful journey we reached Villa San Giovanni near Reggio right on the “toe” of Italy and took the ferry for the short crossing to Messina on the island of Sicily.  We started along the north coast but then crossed, close to Etna, to the east coast where we were able to go to the Anglican Church in the lovely little town of Taormina, built on a steep hillside, rather like those on the Amalfi Coast. 

We had hoped to get some dramatic pictures of Mt Etna erupting but by the time we got there she was behaving like a lady and not spitting on the streets.  There was, however, a coating of black grit everywhere.  One enterprising restaurant owner had swept the grit into a conical pile and lit a fire in the top of it!

We went clockwise round the coast.  Sicily is a lovely island with very varied landscapes and much cleaner than the mainland.  There are also some amazing things to see.  Sicily has been ruled by the Greeks, Romans and even Normans all of whom have left their mark.  In Syracuse (Siracusa) there is both a Roman amphitheatre and this large Greek theatre where concerts are still held and Greek Tragedies performed.

Next to it are catacombs carved out of the limestone hillside and used as tombs.

St Paul spent three days here on his way to Rome and it felt extraordinary that he probably walked along the same path as us.

A little further on, near the hill-top town of Piazza Amerina is a Roman hunting lodge – Villa Casale - built on the grand scale and believed to have been owned by  Marcus Aurelius – co-emperor with Diocletian.  It was buried under mud after a flood in the 12^th century and remained undiscovered until the 1950s.  The mosaic floors are almost intact and depict hunting scenes as well as legends.

But there is one room where the floor, laid over an earlier one visible in one corner, depicts ten young, bikini-clad women apparently doing their keep-fit routines with various pieces of equipment!

They would not look out of place on any beach today.

Further along the south coast are more Greek remains – two major cities at Agrigento and Selinunte where the walls of small houses and the massive columns of temples, mostly now collapsed – probably in one of the many earthquakes – give a hint of the opulence of the area.  One temple at Selinunte has been partially rebuilt from the ruins.

From Selinunte we travelled north to an isolated cape where the little town of San Vito Lo Capo is now a holiday destination but once important for the defence of the island.  The coast is dotted with lookout towers and the church in San Vito is built like a fortress.

Inside, among a wide variety of decorative styles, is this extraordinary picture of the crucifixion.

We had had a couple of cold showery days and very cold nights.  At  San Vito Lo Capo the wind changed to a strong southerly and must have come straight from the Sahara.  During the night the temperature outside rose to 19˚C and then continued up to 29˚C the following day!!  It has cooled off a little since but the hot wind – the Sirocco – is a regular feature here!!

Just outside of Palermo – Sicily’s capital – is Monreale where the Norman King William II had a Cathedral built in an attempt to outdo his grandfather Roger II’s Cathedral in Cefalu.  Completed in 1184 the inside is covered in elaborate mosaics, many finished in gold leaf, depicting 42 Old Testament stories as well as countless other religious images. 

It is breathtaking and bears no comparison with Norman churches in UK.  Amazing to think it was all done nearly 1000 years ago!

Palermo itself is, of course, a large, sprawling city and port with a Norman Cathedral which looked lovely in the evening sun but was nothing special inside.

Returning to a good site near Taormina where we stayed earlier we saw, for the first time, the summit of Etna, at last almost clear of clouds.

Zooming in, you can see the smoke coming from the crater at the top and being blown away by the strong wind.

Passing through one village, many streets were closed so that workmen could shovel up tons of the black grit that had erupted from Etna.  Householders were also sweeping it up in front of their houses and especially from their roofs and filling dozens of black bags.

We have enjoyed our tour of Sicily and return to the mainland tomorrow.  There are very few sites open around the “foot” of Italy at this time of year so we will head back north and hope to be in Assisi for Easter.  Everywhere Bermuda Buttercups have painted the countryside bright yellow …

… and it is great to see all the spring flowers coming into bloom.

VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKES AND MORE

There is an Anglican Church in Naples (Napoli) where we were able to go on the Sunday morning and spent the rest of the day wandering round what is not the most interesting of cities.  There are a few not very old forts …

… and some not at all beautiful palaces.  Perhaps the most striking building is the Galleria Umbertoi – a glass roofed, cross-shaped arcade built in 1890 and now looking a little run down.

In the centre is a huge glass dome ...

... and at the end of each arm elaborate decoration suggesting a faded glory of former years.

We were staying a short distance from Naples, at Pozzuoli, where the caravan site is in the crater of an “active” volcano – Vulcano Solfatara. 

Although it has not erupted for many years, the crater has several fissures from which steam, smelling strongly of sulphur, comes with considerable force.  The caravan site uses this heat to provide hot water for showers.

There is also a small lake of boiling mud (at 140⁰C) and the remains of a natural sauna.  The mud used to be collected and sold for medicinal purposes but it was discovered to contain bacteria that had adapted to the high temperatures!

Entrance to and exit from the site was interesting in a van the size of ours!

Our next stop was Pompeii where the caravan site was right outside the ruins of the old city which we spent a day exploring. That's Vesuvius in the background.

It is incredible to think that we could wander through this city, buried under tons of volcanic ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, and see it almost exactly as it was.  Many of the buildings are still standing , though their roofs collapsed.  Mosaics …

… and even wall decorations remain in remarkably good condition.

Some of the details amused us and revealed more of what life must have been like at the time.  The Pompeian people loved to go out to lunch and there were several fast food outlets (1^st Century Macdonalds) like this one …

... serving lunches heated over charcoal burning in the round holes.  The roads were surfaced with large cobbles and the pavements were about a foot higher than the roads.  So there were pedestrian crossings like this …

… where you can see the ruts worn into the road surface by cart wheels.

While staying at Pompeii we made two excursions – the first to Mt Vesuvius.  The volcano last erupted in 1944 and although it seems to be dormant just now the current lull in activity is the longest for the last 500 years!  We were able to drive to within a kilometre of the top from where it was an easy walk to the rim of the crater.

It was a little disappointing, especially as we had to pay €10 each to do so.  There is not much to see – just a deep depression with a few cracks with steam coming out of them. 

Our second excursion was by train to, and bus along, the Amalfi coast.  On this stretch of coast, between Sorrento and Salerno, the land falls, on occasion almost vertically, into the sea.  A string of small towns and villages cling precariously to the cliffs, the zig-zagging roads often being connected by steep steps (lots of them!)  Positano was delightful …

… and Amalfi itself …

… is now a holiday destination.  Once, though, it was a major maritime super-power until most of the town slid into the sea during an earthquake in 1343! It has an unusual Cathedral …

… to where St Andrew’s bones were taken in 1208 and buried under an altar in the crypt.  Behind the Cathedral’s High Altar is a dramatic painting depicting St Andrew being crucified on an X shaped cross.

And so we travelled on south through miles and miles of roadworks towards Sicily.

ROME

Using the excellent and cheap public transport system, we took three days to see the sights of Rome and even then felt there was so much more to see.  Day 1 was spent visiting the Vatican Museums and St Peter’s Basilica, Day 2, the ruins of ancient Rome and Day 3 other places of interest around the city.

DAY 1.  Nothing could have prepared us for the splendour of the Palace which houses the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  We walked for what seemed like miles through galleries whose walls and ceilings were covered with glorious paintings and gold leaf.

It was overwhelming.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs in the Sistine Chapel – arguably Michelangelo’s finest masterpiece.  Although primarily a sculptor he was prevailed upon by Pope Julius II to decorate the ceiling of the chapel in 1508.  To do so Michelangelo designed a curved scaffold system so he could lie on his back sloping with his head downwards.  Several assistants prepared the plaster which had to be painted while still wet.  The end wall of the chapel is a huge depiction of the Final Judgement while the ceiling covers the stories of the creation and the flood.  Perhaps the best known part of this mammoth painting is the creation of Adam of which this is a photograph of a photograph!

We had a personal conducted tour of St Peter’s Basilica by two American priests doing part of their training in Rome.  Built over the place where it is believed St Peter was executed and buried, it is set at the top of a huge square where preparations were being made for thousands of pilgrims to gather for a final blessing by Pope Benedict before his retirement. 

St Peter’s is certainly on the grand scale and decorated all over with paintings and sculptures.  The lettering at the top of this picture is about five to six feet high!

Works by many famous artists are to be found here but perhaps the most memorable is a beautiful sculpture of Mary receiving Jesus’ body when it was taken down from the cross.

Known as the Pieta, it was sculpted by Michelangelo in 1498 when he was just 23 years old!  As we left St Peter’s the Swiss Guard were on duty in their winter uniforms.

DAY 2.  Ancient Rome – the Palatino.  This was Rome’s poshest neighbourhood and home to several emperors including Augustus and Domitian whose vast complex, which served as the main imperial palace for 300 years, is now a very large archeological site. 

It is not difficult to imagine the splendour that was Rome in those days, helped by collections of sculptures and even sections of plaster from the walls still with the original painting in good condition.

Nearby is a triumphal arch built in 312 AD to honour Emperor Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius at the battle of Ponte Milvio …

... and a little further on is the Colosseum …

… built for Emperor Vespasian in 69-79 AD.  On an average day between 16,000 and 19,000 people would gather there to see the “games” in which thousands of animals, gladiators, condemned prisoners and more than a few Christians died for their entertainment.  (The total capacity was around 50,000!)

The outer walls were topped by 240 masts that held a canvas awning protecting spectators from the sun and the 80 entrance arches allowed the thousands of spectators to enter and leave in a matter of minutes.  The central arena had a wooden floor beneath which about 1000 people were employed in a complex of rooms with cages and machinery to hoist animals and stage sets onto the arena whose floor was covered in sand to prevent combatants slipping and to soak up the blood!

DAY 3.  Scattered around Rome are many interesting buildings and sculptures, both ancient and modern and here are just a few.  The Pantheon, built in 27 BC, modified for Hadrian in 120 AD, when it was dedicated to the classical gods, and consecrated as a church in 608 AD, it has the largest unreinforced brick dome ever built.

In 2010 a very modern set of “Stations of the Cross” was added to the walls.  This one depicts Jesus meeting his mother on the way to Golgotha.  Both figures appear to be part of the cross itself suggesting that Mary shared her son’s agony.

The Trevi fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732, attracts thousands of tourists every day.  Many throw coins in promising to return to Rome one day.  The money, about €3000 a day, is officially collected for the charity Caritas but a rogue known as Dartagnan has also been helping himself for years claiming that it was not theft as the money had been thrown away!

Near the Pantheon is the 13^th Century church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva built on the site of an ancient temple to Minerva.  It contains a little known but lovely statue by Michelangelo depicting the Risen Christ holding a cross.

Towering over the Piazza Venesia, the huge Il Vittoriano Monument, now housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was started in 1885 to commemorate Italian unification.

And so we left Rome and headed south towards the Naples area where other surprises awaited us – don’t miss the next exciting instalment in a few days’ time!!