4 April, 2016

Catania, Sicilia

The last day of this two weeks in Sicilia is here and I am on the bus heading north to spend a few hours hiking on the slopes of “Mamma” Etna.

To recount the past few days, we left Ragusa Saturday morning and headed for Catania by way of Syracusa. We had a walking tour of the old part, called Ortegia. Like Ragusa, and Catania where we have stayed on the last stop of the tour, Syracusa was largely destroyed in the earthquake of 1693 and was rebuilt in the 18^th century Baroque style. One fascinating exception is the Duomo. This was in its first incarnation a Greek Temple of Athena. It was spared destruction by the Romans, and was transformed into a Christian church by the Byzantines by filling between the columns with walls. During the Arab domination the building became a mosque, and was returned to being a church by the Normans when they reclaimed Sicilia for Christianity. The Normans carved arches into the inner walls of the Green sanctuary and added height to the upper walls of the nave and a timber trussed toof giving the familiar plan similar to the French Romanesque of their homeland. The apse was added in the Gothic period. Having survived the earthquake at the end of the 17^th century, a Baroque facade was built on the west end of the nave. I found it quite interesting to see all of these periods of sacred architecture in a building that has been continuously used as a temple for over 2500 years.

Arrivederci!