Sicily

Cities ti visit in Sicily

Palermo

Palermo is the social, cultural, economic and touristic capital in Sicily. It is a city rich in history, culture, art, music and food, so much so that, many tourists are attracted by its Mediterranean good climate, its renowned cuisine, its Romanesque, Baroque churches, palaces and buildings, and for the its night life.

Well worth a visit are:

• The Cathedral of Palermo, characterized by the presence of different styles, due to a long history of additions, alterations and renovations, the last of which occurred in the eighteenth century.
• St. John of the Hermits, near the Palace of the Normans. The church is distinguished by its brilliant red domes, which show clearly the influence of Arab culture in Sicily, at the time of its construction in the twelfth century. The bell tower, with four rows of loggias with arches, is instead a typical example of Gothic architecture.
• Chiesa della Martorana also known as Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, which is located near the church of San Cataldo and overlooking the Piazza Bellini, in the center of Palermo. The original church was built with the classical Greek cross plan.
• The Church of Jesus, built by the Jesuits in the city center in 1564 and further expanded since 1591, becoming one of the most significant examples of Sicilian Baroque, while keeping a late Renaissance style. The interior has a Latin cross with three naves, characterized by a particularly rich decors of marble, stucco and wood inlays.
• The church of St. Francis of Assisi, typically Gothic flavor, with three naves separated by two rows of cylindrical pillars. Some of the chapels are in Renaissance style, as well as the side doors of the sixteenth century. The church includes precious sculptures by Antonio and Giacomo Gagini and Francesco Laurana, plus a large wooden choir of the sixteenth century.
• Norman Palace, one of the most beautiful Italian palaces and a notable example of Norman architecture, probably built over an Arab fortress. It houses the famous Cappella Palatina.
• Zisa and Cuba, two magnificent castles used by the king of Palermo for the hunt.
• Abatellis palace, now the Regional Gallery. It was built in the late fifteenth century for the prefect of the city, Francesco Abatellis. This is a massive, though elegant construction, in typical Catalan Gothic style with Renaissance influences. The gallery houses a bust of Eleanor of Aragon by Francesco Laurana and the Malvagna Triptych by Jan Gossaert and the famous Annunziata by Antonello da Messina.

Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples

Agrigento is a major tourist center thanks to its extraordinarily rich archaeological heritage.

In 1997 the nearby Valley of the Temples has become UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is considered a popular tourist destination, in addition to the highest source of tourism for the entire city of Agrigento and a major in Sicily.

The best preserved temples are the temples of Hera Lacinia and of Concord, very similar to each other. The latter is remarkably intact, due to the fact that has been converted into a Christian church in 597 AD. Both were built on a design peripteral hexastyle.

The area around the Temple of Concord was also used by early Christians as a catacomb, with tombs carved into the rock.

The other temples have survived less well, especially for the numerous earthquakes that have repeatedly affected the area and because they were used as a source of materials for the buildings at different times.

The largest by far is the Temple of Olympian Zeus, built to commemorate the battle of Himera in 480 BC, believed to be the largest Doric temple ever built. Although it was apparently used, seems to have never been completed, since its construction was abandoned after the Carthaginian invasion of 406 BC.

The remains of the temple have been widely used as quarries in the eighteenth century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle.

In the area there are also the temples dedicated to Hephaestus, Heracles and Asclepius, near a sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone (formerly known as the Temple of Castor and Pollux), where you can still see the marks of fires started by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.

The Valley of the Temples also houses the tomb of Theron, a large limestone monument shaped like a pyramid, which is believed to be erected to commemorate the soldiers who died during the Second Punic War.

Much of today's Agrigento is modern but still retains a number of medieval and baroque buildings. Among them wirth of note are, the Cathedral of the fourteenth century and the Church of the thirteenth century Our Lady of the Greeks, built on the site of an ancient greek temple. The city also has a major archaeological museum displaying finds from the ancient city.

Syracuse

The city is famous for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, l 'architecture, and as the birthplace of Archimedes. The city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica.

Who is in the city must absolutely go and see:

• The Temple of Apollo, adapted to become a church in Byzantine times and a mosque under Arab rule.
• The Fountain of Arethusa, on the island of Ortigia, where had fled the nymph Arethusa, hunted by Alpheus
• The greek theater, one of the largest ever built by the ancient Greeks with l 67 steps, divided into nine sections, and eight lanes. Near the theater are the Latomie, stone quarries, also used as prisons in ancient times.The most famous Latomia is the Ear of Dionysius.
• The roman amphitheater, of the imperial era, partly dug into the rock.
• The so-called Tomb of Archimedes, in the necropolis of Grotticelle. Decorated with two Doric columns, is more likely a Roman tomb.
• The Temple of Olympian Zeus, about 3 km outside the city, built in the sixth century BC.
• The Cathedral, built on the island of Ortigia, by the bishop Zosimus in the fifth century over the great temple of Athena, a building with six doric columns on the short sides and 14 on the long ones, which are still visible inside the walls of the church. The roof of the nave is Norman, as well as the mosaics in the apses. The façade was rebuilt by Andrea Palma in 1725-1753, with a double row of Corinthian columns and statues by Ignazio Marabitti. The most important items of the interiors are a baptismal font with marble basin, a silver statue of Saint Lucia di Pietro Rizzo (1599), a ciborium by Luigi Vanvitelli, and a statue of the Madonna of the Snow by Antonello Gagini.
• Maniace Castle, built between 1232 and 1240, is an example of military architecture of the reign of Frederick II. It is a square structure with circular towers at each corner. The most striking feature is the pointed portal, decorated with polychrome marble.

Ragusa

Ragusa is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002 as one of the most important art cities of Italy, for his great wealth of artistic and archaeological heritage of the millennia of its history.

The city was almost destroyed by an earthquake in 1693 and re-built by architects like Vaccarini, Palma, Vermexio, Ittar Sinatra and especially the famous Rosario Gagliardi.

The latter, aided by local artists, has helped to create a unique and peculiar phenomenon: the Baroque of Val di Noto, which is characterized by extensive use of local stone, vaults, alternating solids and voids, columns and capitals, statues and architectural compositions . The Cathedral of St. George, in the city center it is probably the best expression.

Most of the great artistic heritage, with the exception of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and a few eighteenth-century building, is located in the old quarter of Ibla, which contains more than fifty churches, of which the most are late baroque.

Because of the reminded earthquake of the many palaces built between the late antiquity and the end of the seventeenth century remain only a few snippets:

• a small part of the ancient city walls, near the church of SS Found,
• the bell tower and the Portal of the Swabian era in the church of Saint Francis Immaculate,
• portal of the church dedicated to St. George chapels in the aisles of the church of Santa Maria delle Scale,
• the sculptures that are in the sacristy of the Cathedral of St. George,
• a few fragments of the tombstone of Count Bernardo Cabrera.
• The Walter Gate, one of the gates of the ancient walls of the Byzantine era
• a small Gothic portal walled outside the Church of St. Anthony

Many are, also, the works that date from the thirties, made under the coordination of the architect Ugo Tarchi from the Royal Academy of Brera, who took care of the urban studies and the construction of Piazza Impero, with its grand Palazzo del fascio, designed by the architect Ernesto Lapadula.