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® Palermo and Monreale. Palermo, encircled by mountains and the sea, is a city steeped in history. The earliest inhabited nucleus (the Palaeopolis) was situated in the strip of land bounded to the S by the River Kemonia and to the N by the Papireto. This is where the Phoenicians arrived in the 8th c. BC and set up a trading station. In 480 BC Palermo, together with Carthage, fought in the epic Battle of Himera, which saw the Phoenicians and the Greeks of Sicily pitched one against the other. As is known, the Greeks were victorious. In the First Punic War, Palermo was one of the most important strategic points in the Carthaginian defences, and it took an active part against the Romans, who however finally defeated the city in 251 BC. After the Barbarian invasions Sicily and Palermo became part of the Byzantine Empire and went through a long period of decline. The Arabs arrived in 831 and from then on, throughout the period of Muslim domination, Palermo once again played its part as a capital city, becoming one of the most important economic and cultural centres in Sicily. After the Norman conquest in 1072, Palermo maintained its role as a hegemonic city; it was enriched with new quarters and monuments, and in 1130, when Roger II was made King of Sicily, it became the prosperous capital of the Norman Kingdom, resplendent with palaces and luxuriant gardens. In the Palaeopolis the Norman sovereigns built their palace where, on the orders of Roger II, the splendid jewel of the Palace Chapel was created. After the Normans, power passed to Frederick II of Swabia, whose court saw the development of an extremely refined school of poetry and science which attracted to it the most talented personalities of the age. In the 13th and 14th c. the Angevins were followed by the Aragonese. With the victory of the Aragonese, after the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282-1302), the great feudal families of Sicily - including the Chiaromontes and the Sclafanis - began to establish their hegemony. In the 15th and 16th c., at the height of the Spanish Age, Palermo became - thanks to its position - a strategic point of particular interest in the struggles against the Turks, with the result that its military role was accentuated. A massive boundary wall surrounding the entire city was designed in 1536 by Antonio Ferramolino, and eventually constructed. In the 17th c., baroque age, Palermo went through a period of extraordinary splendour. The considerable building activity noticeably changed the appearance of the town. The municipality and the religious orders vied with each other in the construction of palaces, churches and convents, and architects, sculptors and stuccoers were called in from far afield. In the 18th c., after the brief Savoy and Austrian dominations, Sicily passed to the Bourbons. In the wake of the new ideas of the Enlightenment, numerous buildings of public and social importance were erected, e.g. the Royal Library, the Astronomical Observatory, and the Cemetery. A new crossroads was created in 1778 by the Praetor Regalmici in the extension of Via Maqueda. I Quattro Canti di Campagna (the "Country Crossroads") marked the beginning of the city's expansion north-wards. Further expansion occurred after the unification of Italy, when the elegant mansions of the nobility and the financial and entrepreneurial haute bourgeoisie began to line the long thoroughfare of Via Libertà. Via Roma was opened up between 1885 and 1895, at the expense of a considerable part of the old city and numerous buildings dating from l6th c. and baroque Palermo. The Second World War profoundly transformed Palermo's social and urban equilibrium: part of the old city suffered severe bomb damage and was abandoned by its inhabitants, who moved out to the new building estates. In recent years attempts have been made to revitalize the old historical centre in order to reveal the cultural richness of the city in its various stratifications, so that the inhabitants can once again rediscover their history and identity. Monreale is reached from Palermo by way of Corso Calatafirni, which leads to the uphill road created in the 18th c. and decorated by the scenographic Fisherman's Fountain (1768), and the Dragon Fountain (1767) both by Ignazio Marabitti. Monreale dates from the late Middle Ages, when it began to develop around the great architectural mass of the Cathedral. A bishop's see since the year 1183, Monreale has maintained over the centuries a role of prime importance. From "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa.
Terre di Sicilia tour - Travel notes...
Terre di Sicilia tour
by BlueStone Tourism Services...
TourInSicily com
Terre di Sicilia - Travel notes...
® Erice and Selinunte. The name Erice is derived from the Sican-Sicel-Italic term Eryx, meaning mountain. There are caves overlooking the sea that were inhabited by Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic man. Erice became an Elymian city and had a temple dedicated to the goddess of fertility Astartes (the Roman Venus Erycinia). Before and after the brief Greek domination of Agrigento and Syracuse, Erice was a Punic city, as testified today by its massive walls. The Carthaginians destroyed it in 260 BC. In 247 BC it was occupied by the Romans. And it declined both as a stronghold and as a town. It then followed the vicissitudes of the rest of the island: first it was Byzantine, then Arab after 381, when it was called Gebel-Hamed. It fell to the Normans in the 12th c. The Norrnans repopulated the town and in addition to various other fortifications, built the Castle which took their name (although it is also called the Castle of Venus). The town took the name that Count Roger gave to the mountain: Monte San Giuliano. In the Middle Ages numerous churches and convents were built and, since then, apart from a few baroque buildings and the restoration of Piazza Umberto I in the 19th c., this mountain town has remained unchanged. In 1934 it resumed its ancient name of Erice. Archaeological Park in the terri tory of Castelvetrano, 2 km from the sea, containing the ruins of Selinunte, the Greek colony founded by Megara Hyblaea, in 628 BC according to Thucydides, and in 650 BC according to Diodorus Siculus. The name of the city appears to be derived from a wild plant that grows locally, selinon, a kind of celery , or from the name of the nearby River Selinòs, now known as the Modione. The relationship between the autochthonous populations and the Greek settlers was anything but peaceful. Life at Selinunte, as amply testified in the ancient sources, was a series of conflicts and wars, particularly with its archenemy Segesta. But Selinunte soon became rich and powerful, and in the 6th c. BC it was itself able to found a sub-colony, Heraclea Minoa, to the E, in the direction of Agrigento. This was the period of the establishment of tyranny, of the beginning of good cornrnercial relations with the Carthaginians, and of the creation of the urban structures, with the building of imposing works of architecture, such as the two temples on the acropolis, which the archaeologists, not knowing their original names, have called Temples C and D, while the one on the hill is known as TempIe F. The tyranny fell in the 5th c., but the pro Carthage policy continued. This explains Selinunte's neutrality in the Graeco-Punic conflict, which came to its conclusion in the Battle of Himera in 480 BC. The passion for building that had characterized the tyranny once again began to be felt and Temples A and O were constructed, and the more prestigious areas were appropriately com- pleted. When the Peloponnese War shifted towards Sicily, Selinunte was involved side by side with Syracuse, but was unable to assist its ally because of the opposition of Agrigento and other cities fighting on the side of Athens. After the defeat of the Athenian army in Sicily, Selinunte was convinced that it could at last destroy its etemal rival Segesta, but it was stopped by the Carthaginians who, after a 9 day siege, conquered Selinunte and destroyed it (409 BC). The victors established a military garrison on the site of the ruins, and limited the town to the area of the ancient acropolis. In this area, the Punic city, as shown by numerous archaeological finds, survived until the mid 3rd c. BC, when the territory passed under Roman domination. From "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa.
® Agrigento and Caltagirone. The ancient city of Agrigento (Akragas for the Greeks, but Agrigentum for the Romans, whence its present name, given to it in 1927) occupied a magnificent panorarnic position on a high plateau dominated to the N by two hills, which constituted the Acropolis (the Rupe Atenea and the adjacent Colle di Girgenti), and terminating to the S in the Hill of the Temples, so called because on it, a part from other minor items, stand the remains of the 7 temples out of the original 10 or more which still remind us of this glorious centre of Greek civilization in Sicily. Felicitous circumstances of time and place allowed the city to have an exceptionally prosperous development (the "tyrannies" of Phalaris and Theron, though quite different in nature, had equal influences on the historical destiny of Agrigento in the first two centuries of its existence) and very soon the city presented itself, also to foreign visitors, with an air of magnificence. Thus Pindar in the l2th pythian Ode sings of it in about 490 BC, as "the lover of splendour", "the most beautiful city of mortal men", the site that was "sacred to Persephone", the goddess who with her mother Demeter was the object of intense veneration. Caltagirone takes its name from an Arabic expression (qal’at-al-ganom) meaning castle of the genies (spirits believed to dwell in the surrounding caves). The necropolises in the country areas of Montagna and degli Angeli, dating from the 2nd millennium BC, together with numerous findings from the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age, are evidence that the territory was inhabited in prehistoric times. A Sicel settlement has been identified on Monte San Mauro, SW of the modern town. The Arabs built a castle here which was attacked in 1030 by a group of Ligurians led by the Byzantine general George Maniakes -the local dialect still has some Ligurian traces. The town flourished under the Normans and the Swabians and became a centre for the production of ceramics. The earthquake in 1693 necessitated a reconstruction that was the work of a number of skilful baroque architects, including Gagliardi, Marvuglia and Bonajuto. From "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa.
® Siracusa and Catania. The city of Syracuse, in a splendid position in the E part of the Sici1ian coast, stretches out over the sea with the island of Ortygia, where the major testimonies of its glorious past are to be found. Ortygia is connected by a bridge to the mainland, where the modem city extends. According to the 5th c. BC historian Thucydides the ancient city was founded in 734-733 BC by a group of Corinthian settlers led by the oecist Archias. It took its name from a near. by marsh called Syraka. Very soon Syracuse became one of the most powerful cities in Sicily. Its expansionist policy began between the 7th and 6th c. BC and led to the foundation of the colonies of Akrai (663 BC), Kasmenai (643) and Kamarina (598), which were to assume a role of primary importance in the defence of the surrounding territory . At first, power was wielded in Syracuse by the Gamoroi (aristocrats and landowners); subsequently, at the beginning of the 5th c. BC, it was exercised more democratically. In the mid-th c. the retum of the aristocrats and the establishment of the tyranny of the Deinomenids of Gela coincided with a period of expansion of the city, which set itself at the head of the Hellenist settlements of Magna Graecia in the struggle against the Carthaginians, defeating them at the famous Battle of Himera (480 BC), with the city of Agrigento as an ally. In the second phase of the Peloponnesian War Athens, jealous of Syracuse's econornic and military expansion, launched against it a powerful offensive with a naval expedition led by Nicias Lamachos and Alcibiades. Syracuse succeeded in defeating the Athenians, who were annihilated on the banks of the Assinaros., near Eloro (Helorus). The architect of the victory was the democratic faction, which took control of the town. But the Carthaginians retumed to the attack and destroyed Selinunte (409 BC), compelling Syracuse to an agreed surrender . When Dionysius I came to power (405 BC), the Carthaginian offensive started again but was held back by a pestilence which proved to be a prelude to peace. Clashes continued in the following years until a new pact was agreed upon in 392: Dionysius obtained control of the Sicel toWns, which previously had been independent; Carthage kept its domination of W Sicily. This was the moment of Syracuse's greatest splendour, and it extended the sphere of its influence as far as S and Central Italy. On Dionysius' death he was succeeded by his son Dionysius II. New intemal conflicts broke out and the Syracusans tumed for help against the tyrant to their mother-city Corinth, which in 344 despatched to Sicily an expedition under Timoleon. The Corinthian leader defeated Dionysius and peace terms were agreed. In 339 Timoleon had to face an offensive by the Carthaginians which ended in their debacle near the River Krimisos (341 BC). Timoleon now devoted himself to the restoration of order in Sicily, the recolonization of the countryside, and the strengthening of the Greek element, while maintaining a moderate political stance. He was succeeded on his death by Agathocles, the leader of the radical democratic party, who got rid of the oligarchs and in 307, during yet another war with the Carthaginians, adopted the title of King. One year lat er, having won the war, he became master of the whole island. Following his death he was succeeded by Hieron II, who remained in power for over 50 years (269-215 BC). This was the period of the appearance of the Romans on the stage of history. They strove to limit Syracuse's independence to such a next enxtent that Hieron, realizing their superior strength, eventually declared himself their ally. His successor Hieronymus entered instead into an alliance with the Carthaginians but in the end had to yield to the Romans who conquered and sacked Syracuse in 213 BC and made it part of the Province of Sicily, permitting it however to maintain the role of capital city. After the fall of Rome Syracuse followed the alternating vicissitudes of Sicily; it was occupied by the Vandals, Goths and Byzantines, until in 878 it fell into the hands of the Muslims. Under the Normans and Swabians Syracuse, though ceding the role of capital city to Palermo, continued to be of considerable importance. It also benefited from an ample restructuring of the town. Maniàce Castle is an admirable example of architecture of the epoch of Frederick II and is at the same time a symbol of his military power and of the centralization of the state ef fected by this sovereign. Under the Angevin domination Syracuse became the capital of an extensive territory with nine communes. In this period a number of elegant baronial residences, churches and convents were built, including the convents of Santa Lucia, San Benedetto and L 'Annunziata. Between the 16th and 17th c., the Spanish age, the presence of the Carmelite Jesuits led to further transformations of the city skyline, according to the dictates of the new baroque style, which in Syracuse however took on specific and characteristic connotations, and imposing bastions were built all around the city, mainly because of the pressing Turkish threat. After the earthquake in 1693 Syracuse was partially reconstructed, the work proceeding throughout the 18th c. Between the 18th and 19th c. there were considerable urbanistic and cultural transformations; many religious buildings were confiscated and destined to public use. This process was accentuated even more after the unificatjon of Italy, when it was decided to demolish the Spanish walls, and the city began to expand in land. New quarters arose which increasingly underlined the great divide between the ancjent city and the modern city. A prograrnme of recovery is now being followed which by means of conservati ve restoration procedures is saving and reviving the most significant testimonies of the city' s ancient past. The second largest city in Sicily by population, Catania spreads out over the Plain of Catania, between the Ionian Sea and the slopes of Etna. The surrounding countryside, which the volcanic eruptions have made very fertile, is mainly given up to the cultivation of citrus fruit. The close link between the city and the volcano is also visible in the buildings, many of which are constructed in lava stone. According to Thucydides, Katane was founded after 729 BC by the Chalcidian settlers from Naxos, on the hill now known as the "Colle dei Benedettini". In the 7th c. the legislator Caronda gave the city a moderately inspired government, half-way between oligarchy and democracy. In 476 BC Catania was conquered by Hieron of Syracuse, and the inhabitants were deported, only to return after 15 years. During the Punic Wars the town was conquered by the Romans (263 BC) and it succeeded in maintaining a position of considerable affluence until the Imperial Age. After the decadence caused by the invasions of the Barbarians and the Byzantine conquest, the town was occupied by the Arabs, who redistributed the land and promoted agriculture and commerce. In 1071, after the Norman conquest, construction began on the cathedral, and numerous country villages were founded, each under the jurisdiction of a monastery . Under the Swabians, Frederick II built the Castello Ursino here, in order to complete his fortifications in this part of Sicily. The arrival of the Aragonese in Catania, which the Court often chose as a centre for its activity, led to the foundation of the Siculorum Gymnasium, the first prestigious Sicilian university. The great eruption of 1669 and the terrible earthquake in 1693, which affected all E Sicily and destroyed most of the city, annihilated an economy that was already in a critical state. Catania was eventually rebuilt, and it spread considerably; it then suffered the effect of a new agricultural crisis, before recovering yet again. It was elected provincial capital in the 19th c. and again began to expand towards new zones, until it achieved in our own days its present-day image of a modem city. From "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa.
® Taormina. When nearby Naxos was destroyed by Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, in 358 BC, a group of survivors founded the Greek city called Tauromenion; the acropolis was at the sumrnit of Monte Tauro and the agora where Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II is situated today. The town expanded considerably in Roman times; butin the last decades of the Ist c. BC Octavian punished its inhabitants for helping Sextus Pompey, deporting them and reducing the town to the level of a colony; Taormina thus began to de- cline, until the Byzantines reversed its fortunes when they chose it as the capital of E Sicily. The Arabs destroyed it twice, in 902 and 962, after which they partially rebuilt it. Under the Norman domination the town spread to the area known as the Borgo, and it developed further in the 13-15th c. Taormina has however developed most in the 19th c., becoming an internationally renowned tourist resort. Its scenery, together with the three columns of the Temple of the Diòscuri at Agrigento, the Arab cupolas of San Giovanni degli Eremiti in Palermo, and the moving clock-tower outside Messina Cathedral, are all stamped together in the collective imagination as desirable places to be visited. From "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa.
® Piazza Armerina and Cefalù. Traces of human settlements (houses and necropolises) are scattered throughout the area which because of its particular characteristics was certainly inhabited even in the remotest of epochs. In historical times it was probably the Greeks of Gela who founded the first city here. The Romans, as was their wont, fully appreciated the beauty of the place, and the Villa del Casale is the finest testimony of the fascination that Sicily exerted on this warlike people. The modern town is attributed to the Normans who fought the Arabs here and also fought among themselves, or rather against their Lombard allies, who suffered defeat and destruction, and later returned in large numbers under Frederick II. (The dialect spoken at Piazza Armerina reveals once again its ancient origins from the Lombard town Piacenza.). Cefalu's ancient name, Kephaloidion, would appear to be derived from Kefale, which means head or headland. The area was c.ertainly inhabited in pre-Hellenic times, as confirmed by the numerous discoveries of human settlements in the caves on the Rocca and on its W slopes. The population maintained close contact both with the Greeks of E Sicily and with the Phoenicians of W Sicily. In 254 BC it became a Roman city , flrst decuman and then stipendiary. After the Byzantine age, the Muslims succeeded in occupying it after a lengthy siege. When the Normans took the town in 1063, a period of great splendour began for Cefalù, which culminated in the foundation of the bishopric in 1131. Cefalù's importance did not diminish over the centuries, andithas always been a centre of great interest. From "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa.
Terre di Sicilia Tour: Tour of Sicily - Palermo - Monreale - Cefalù - Taormina - Mt. Etna - Catania - Siracusa - Caltagirone - Piazza Armerina - Agrigento - Selinunte - Erice
