Catania, Sicily

Catania is the town where I spent most of my time.  Although not as large as the capitol of Palermo, it was quite busy.  I was fortunate to be around for the festival of Saint Agatha from February 3rd to the 5th.  Hundreds of thousands of people come to celebrate the life of the saint for three straight days.  Agatha is the patron saint of Catania born circa 231 and died circa 251 AD.  She is buried inside the cathedral in Catania (shown below).

Catania is a unique place in that it has a busy port, many restaurants and is a place where fishermen and farmers bring their goods to outdoor markets where residents come to shop.  It also had areas which seemed a bit upscale where they had fine jewelry stores and expensive clothing for sale.  The public transportation was quite sophisticated although I didn't go for a ride and amidst all this, there is a church on every corner and ancient structures still standing that date back to Before Christ.

 The highlight of Catania for me was the Teatro Romano.  It was less than a mile walk from my hotel so I figured I'd like to check it out since I really enjoyed the theatre in Taormina.  Wow I am so glad I went.  There were only a few people here when I walked in and soon I was the only one in the entire place!  Well me and the cats who live there.  Another moment where I felt it was just me, God, the ancient spirits and the cats.  :)

I really could spend hours just sitting here because I can't believe something could be so old and that fascinates me.  I feel special just touching the stone and being able to soak it all in and wonder what life was like 2,000 years ago.  Yes this trip did bring the nerdy side out of me!

Agrigento, Sicily

Agrigento, in southern Sicily, is one of the poorest cities in Italy with a 19% unemployment rate reported in 2010, ongoing activity of the mafia and organized crime.  Aside from this, it's one of the most beautiful cities, sitting on a plateau with some of the most well preserved remnants of the Greek colonists Gela, who named it Akragas.  Established between 582-580 BC.  The Romans captured it in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum.  It remained a largely Greek speaking community for centuries and when the Roman empire became prosperous, its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship after the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

 I arrived at the Valley of the Temples at 5pm and entry was free (maybe because of the time).  There was a special international event going on and because of this the park was open till 8pm instead of the normal closing time of 7pm.  The temples and ruins are spread out and so a good amount of walking is required to see everything.  

Concordia, shown above and below is the best preserved of the temples.

 The standing pillars are amazing to see and beside them the foundation of what once was there lets your imagination put the pieces together.

Giardini-Naxos, Sicily

So the town I stayed for the first few days is Giardini-Naxos a small beach community in the province of Messina.  They don't speak very much English out here so I've been using a lot of hand gestures to ask questions.  The other day I stumbled upon a sign in all Italian that was clearly for some kind of archaeological museum.  Just my luck, it happened to be the preserved site of the first Greek colony in Sicily.  Amazing place.  Acres of land with citrus trees, mulberry, Italian cyprus, palm trees, and the foundations of an ancient civilization still present.  The colony settled in around 800 BC and only lasted 300 years.  However after they were attacked by Syracuse and forced off the land, nothing was ever done with the area again since.  My thoughts on the preservation is that it was a very spiritual experience and I say that because I was the only person on that land for acres and acres and so I guess you could say it was just me, God and the ancient spirits.  

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