26 March, 2016

Leaving Palermo

Friday the tour loaded into a minibus and went to visit the medieval town of Castlebuono. About an hour and a half east of Palermo, it is in the hills south of Cefalu. We toured the castle, and had a fantastic lunch at a restaurant specializing in mushrooms. The town of Castlebuono is quite charming, with the narrow twisting streets and alleys so typical to the ancient towns I have visited before. The castle dates to the 12^th century, but excavations have revealed the foundations of a Roman fortress. Though as it stands, the building is not particular to any one period due to having been rebuilt to it’s purpose following earthquakes in the 19^th Century.

|In Cefalu we visited a restored medieval laundry, and then moved to the cathedral square. After enjoying a gelato we had a brief visit to the cathedral. This is a 12^th Century Norman church is very French in its external appearance, but inside the influence of Byzantine and Greek Orthodox is clear. Like Montreale and some of churches I visited in Palermo, the upper walls and domes are covered in mosaics of colored stone, glass, and gold.

Returning to Palermo, after a brief stop at the hotel, Frank and I headed into the old town to to find one or two of the many Good Friday processions. The different churches all parade through the streets carrying floats of the crucified Jesus followed by the Virgin Mother. The biers are clearly very heavy, one was carried by over 30 men, and move maybe ten meters at a time. The procession of led by men in black representing death, accompanied by drums and a harsh bugle. At the rear comes a band on foot playing a lamenting dirge. Appearing somewhat anachronistic today, this is a tradition hundreds of years old. In history, the churches all tried to outdo each other with the larger churches and cathedral building to many meters high.

Today, we have left Palermo and are on a bus through the countryside to visit the city of Erice, a farm in the valley of Segesta, and finally our next home of three nights in Mazara, on the southwest coast of the island.

arrivederci!