Sicily: The Leopard to Serpotta

Sicily was ruled by Spain’s Bourbon dynasty. The Spanish lost this kingdom when The Leopard leaped.

Sicily was once ruled by the Bourbons, who held the Spanish throne. The country the Bourbons ruled came to be called The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Why two? It was formed when the Bourbons united two kingdoms both called Sicily. The northern half, formally called the Kingdom of Naples but commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Sicily, ranged from Naples all the way south on mainland Italy. This area today is called the Mezzogiorno. In 1816 this Kingdom of Naples merged with the Kingdom of Sicily (the island) under the Bourbons forming the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Leaping Leopards!

In 1957 Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote The Leopard, a novel about the unification of Sicily with the then recently established country we now call Italy. Tomasi was the last in a line of minor princes. The main character of the book is his great-grandfather, Don Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi, the Prince of Lampedusa. Lampedusa is an island. Tomasi died before the book was published. The Leopard became the top selling novel in Italian history, while winning prestigious awards. In 1959 it was made into a movie, and there is now a series on Netflix.

Before the unification (the Risorgimento), Italy was divided into city states. The Pope, for example, ruled Rome and the area around it and south to Naples. The Leopard is about how Sicily became part of the new country with the “invasion” of Garibaldi, leading a mere 1000 soldiers. Clearly there wasn’t much resistance.

The Circle Trip

So here I am now in modern Sicily formed by the Leaping Leopard. And what did I come to see yet again? Ancient Sicily, and there’s a lot of it. You land in Palermo or Catania, join a tour or rent a car and do your own, as I do. Driving is not too difficult if you don’t mind sharing the road with the Italians, who have a rather aggressive driving style.

I started in Catania. There is a neat old Basilica Cattedrale Sant’Agata (1078 though rebuilt after earthquakes), the nearby Roman amphitheater, the Monastero dei Benedettini (16th c), and Ursino Castle from the 13th century, which houses the Civic Museum of Catania. Il Museo Arte Contemporanea Sicilia is small but worth a visit. A walk through the old town displays its ancient character. While Catania is generally unkempt and unattractive, it’s better in the old center.

Mt Etna smokes just an hour’s drive uphill. As usual in Italy there will be some Mario Andretti on your behind, until he finds a bit of a stretch so he can zoom past. Etna is no joke. She erupted again on June 2, just two days after we drove to the southern peak. You’d appreciate the fast drivers if the eruption occurred while you were up there.

From Catania you can go south along the coast to Siracusa (Syracuse in English). It was founded by Greeks circa 733 BCE, becoming the most important city of Magna Grecia, the area comprising southern Italy . There are two main reasons for going to Siracusa. The island of Ortigia is one. The oldest part of the city, it contains the Cattedrale Metropolitana della Natività di Maria Santissima, a UNESCO site. The stately Cathedral dates from the 7th century, with Roman era columns still holding up the roof. Further along through ancient narrow streets and allies there’s the old castle guarding the harbor.

The second main attraction is https://parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it/en/parco-archeologico-di-siracusa-eloro-villa-del-tellaro-e-akrai/ It has a Greek and Roman amphitheater and some mighty big caves. Somewhere I read that the caves were used by the local oracles to deliver their vague premonitions. There are ancient bronze statues (copies) here and there on the expansive grounds There are catacombs nearby.

Sicily has more Greek temples than Greece. From Siracusa you zoom around the coast to the valley of the Temples in Agrigento, a bit inland. Concordia is the most intact. Selinunte, an even larger collection of temples residing on the beautiful coast, is not terribly far. Founded around 628 BCE, Selinunte was one of the most important Greek colonies on the island.

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Selinunte Beach, watercolor 10 x 15cm/4 x 6″ If you walk the length of the park you have this view
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Frieze from Selinunte in the archaeology museum in Palermo
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Temple of Hercules, Selinunte
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Tempio della Concordia, Agrigento
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Ruins of Selinunte
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Temple of Juno, Agrigento

After Selinunte I made a side trip with my daughter and family to Partanna. My grandfather was born there and my grandmother not far away in Santa Ninfa. The drive through the countryside reveals the intensity of its agriculture, and just as you arrive in Partanna there are huge olive oil and wine storage tanks along the main road.

You get a sense of where you come from when you visit your roots. We don’t just pop out of nowhere. There’s a long history behind us, many stories to be told, many we will never uncover. I have one of my own: to this day I do not know who was the father of my uncle Matteo, born to my grandmother. His birth certificate is silent on the matter.

We continued on to Erice, a small town perched on the top of a mountain. You climb to the top via numerous tight and often very steep switchbacks. The stone village has fabulous views of the sea on one side, Trapani on another with its salt drying ponds sparkling under the sun, and extensive agricultural lands elsewhere. We stayed in Villa San Giovanni. The old building is fun to be in. The rooms are a bit dated and basic, but it’s tough to beat the views.

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View from our hotel in Erice
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Real Duomo (Chiesa Madre di Erice)
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Castello Pepoli
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More on Erice from my previous visit is here https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/erice-ancient-mountain-top-village-on-the-coast/

There are great views as you drive along the coast to Palermo, with mountains on one side and the coast on the other. We stopped for one night at a beach apartment, the sandy beach just a five minute walk.

Palermo was settled by the Phoenicians in 734 BCE. The fabulous decorations of the Greek temples in Selinunte Archaeological Park is in the https://www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/salinas/. You’ll be floored by what’s on the walls there. Otherwise Palermo is about the churches and the fabulous art within.

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Palermo’s Cathedral at night

For many the highlight of a visit to Palermo, aside from the cuisine of course, is the church art of Giacomo Serpotta, 1656 –1732. His stucco (plaster) sculpture in the Rococco style will stun even the most casual visitor. His was a self-taught master of this highly detailed realism. According to the free of charge guide he added marble dust to the plaster for sparkle and added strength. His brother and son were also in the church decoration business.

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The work of Serputta in the Oratorio of San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo martyrdom is depicted

Church architecture in Palermo runs the gamut, from Norman to Baroque. The must see Arab -Norman Palace (11th) dates from Norman times but was built over centuries so you get them all. The Palermo Cathedral is huge, with 17th century paintings and a great painting in the aspe ceiling.

The Duomo of Monreale, which you get to by bus or car, is loaded with Byzantine style mosaics. Just superb! It was built by the Norman kings William II, 1166-89. Who woulda thunk it? Probably not even my blond, blue-eyed Zio Matteo. From the village there are great views of Palermo.

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The Duomo of Monreale

Palermo’s main street downtown is a pedestrian zone. It is lined with upscale shops and restaurants, with perhaps a tavola calda or two. In this part of Italy a tavola calda has arancini, risotto rice shaped into balls coated with corn meal, then deep fried. They have an orange tint so together with the shape and the orange color they came to be called arancini, little oranges. There are other shapes. The round ones are stuffed with ragu. The other shapes have different ingredients, including pistachio sauces.

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Via Ruggero Settimo in Palermo on a Friday night

Follow this street on down and you come to Quattro Canti, an intersection with four effusively decorated facades, one on each corner. Turn right and you find the Cathedral and a but further on the Palazzo dei Normanni.

For good itineraries in Palermo, check out https://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/blog/the-best-things-to-do-in-palermo-itineraries

We’ll be back in time- treasures of Sicily (Valli dei Templi in Agrigento)

The Valli dei Templi sits upon a hill, not a valley. You can take a taxi to the top and walk down through the ruins. We walking in the past under the bright sunshine of a mid-September with temperatures around 30c /86f. What you find here are the best ruins of Ancient Greece, aside perhaps from the Acropolis in Athens, but here there are more of them. As for recovered art, there is none here. The Antonino Salinas Regional Archeological Museum in Palermo has a superb collection of what was similar to what was here , but from Selinunte, about which a post is to follow, while Athens has a fabulous museum at the foot of the Acropolis.

It’s reasonable to wonder why the ancients built so many large structures in a such small area. It’s just 500 meters/1600 feet or so from the entrance to the exit. Nor would one think that the local population was so large that it would require so many places of worship. I think the answer likely lies in their motivations. They were polytheists. To honor gods who performed distinct duties and were each capable of causing havoc if they were displeased with their subjects they would need a temple dedicated to each of those whom they considered a danger on the one hand and a formidable ally on the other. One would need to be careful not to sleight any of them by providing an inferior structure let alone none at all.

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Temple of Juno, water color sketch

I can imagine the crowds on special days when priests would make a sacrifice to this or that god or gods. After the ritual killing there might have been a large barbecue. Most everyone in Agrigento and environs would have turned out. It could have been quite the feast- the gods don’t actually need to eat, apparently, they just need to have their ego stroked. I seriously doubt they just discarded the dead animals. Fire up the barby, Giuseppe!

The Temple of Concordia is the best preserved, having been used as a church starting in the 6th century, 1000 years after its construction, in use until 1785, over 2000 years. Aside from the Pantheon perched on the Acropolis in Athens it is the best preserved building of ancient Greece. As with the Pantheon in Athens, this building was partially reconstructed. Like most Greek temples, it is east-west oriented.

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Temple of Concordia

Here’s a website with additional information https://www.hisour.com/temple-of-concordia-agrigento-valley-of-the-temples-55964/

The Temple of Juno dates from the 5th century BC, set afire and heavily damaged by the Carthaginians.

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Juno

The Temple of Hercules is the oldest temple. It was destroyed by an earthquake. There are eight columns left.

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Temple of Hercules

Temple of Zeus (480 BC) celebrated the city-state’s victory over Carthage. The Temple of Castor and Pollux has only four columns remaining.

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Castor and Pollux

The Temple of Hephaestus is from the 5th century BCE while the Temple of Asclepius was a special destination for those looking for cures for ailments.

The official website of the archaeological site is https://www.parcovalledeitempli.it/en/

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