Caltagirone the capital of Sicilian ceramics
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Caltagirone takes its name from an Arabic expression (qal'at-al-ganom) meaning castle of the genies (spirits believed to dwell in the surrounding caves). The necropolises in the country areas of Montagna and degli Angeli, dating from the 2nd millennium BC, together with numerous findings from the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age, are evidence that the territory was inhabited in prehistoric times. A Sicel settlement has been identified on Monte San Mauro, SW of the modern town. The Arabs built a castle here which was attacked in 1030 by a group of Ligurians led by the Byzantine general George Maniakes - the local dialect still has some Ligurian traces. The town flourished under the Normans and the Swabians and became a centre for the production of ceramics. The earthquake in 1693 necessitated a reconstruction that was the work of a number of skilful baroque architects, including Gagliardi, Marvuglia and Bonajuto.
Main monuments and highlights of Caltagirone
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Entering Caltagirone from the south, we come along Via Burgio and Via Arcoleo and find ourselves in Via Roma at the Town Gardens, designed in 1850 by the architect G. B. Filippo Basile and, the scenographic little theatre, by the architect Natale Bonajuto (18th c.), which makes a most original architectural use of ceramics. The teatrino, the town's belvedere, is also the entrance to the Museo della Ceramica, created in 1965. Its seven rooms contain a collection of ceramics from all over Sicily, and in particular from workshops in Palermo, Sciacca, Burgio, Trapani, Collesano and of course Caltagirone. Two very interesting rooms contain mediaeval ceramics and 18th and 19th c. items, along with figurines representing scenes and customs of peasant life: particularly precious are those from the 19th c. Bongiovanni-Vaccaro workshop. Copies of vases from this workshop are to be found in the Town Gardens, together with ceramic sculptures by Gianni Ballarò and Nicolò Barrano; on the SW side of the gardens is the 18th c. Flora fountain by Camillo Camilliani; the bandstand, in Moorish style with majolica decorations, is a modern work by Nino Ragona. Nearly everything in this town speaks the language of majolica. For example, just a little further along Via Roma, there is the ceramic terrace of the House of Benedetto Ventimiglia, an 18th c. majolica artist. Passing the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola, on the left and San Francesco di Assisi (baroque, although the sacristy is Gothic in style) on the right, we reach the Church of Sant'Agata and the Civic Museum, in the building that once was the Bourbon prison, square and solemn, built by Bonajuto in 1782. The Museum contains various prehistoric and historic materials, coins, sculptures and paintings, some by respectable local artists like the brothers Giuseppe and Francesco Vaccaro. We now see a neoclassical palazzo, also by Bonajuto (1783), used today as the head-office of the Banco di Sicilia. Nearby is the Cathedral dedicated to San Giuliano, of Norman origin, with a fine and distinguished art nouveau façade designed by Saverio Gulli (early 20th c.). Internally the Cathedral is Latin-cross in plan, with pillars between the nave and the two aisles. At the sides are paintings by Francesco and Giuseppe Vaccaro: on the right, St Elysius, St Febronia, St James and The Dispute in the Temple; on the left, St Cajetan of Thiene and Mary Magdalene. There are also a 15th c. wooden crucifix, a Madonna and Child (1594), after the style of Gagini, a Christ Dead, a painting on wood by Giuseppe Vaccaro (1848), and the baroque wooden choir which once belonged to the Church of San Bonaventura. Other expressions of art nouveau style at Caltagirone are the works of Saverio Fragapane, a pupil of Basile, who from 1908 on, following the renovation programmes of the priest and politician Don Sturzo, designed the long straight thoroughfare Via Roma- Via Arcoleo, the olive-oil factory near the station, Villino Gravina, Villino Favitta, etc. Proceeding along the same road where the Cathedral is, we come to a square where we can see the 19th c. Town Hall, the Corte Capitaniale by Antonuzzo and Giandomenico Gagini, the 15th c. Palazzo Senatorio, which formerly was used as the Town. Theatre and now houses the Galleria Sturzo. Nearby is the Chiesa del Gesù (1570), adjacent to the old Jesuit College, now the Palazzo degli Studi; the church has a single nave: the Pietà by Filippo Paladino (1607) and Christ's Nativity by Polidoro da Caravaggio (16th c.) are interesting to see. A triptych by Paladino, (The Virgin Odigitria, the Adoration of the Magi and Saints Chiara, Lucia and Agata), is a little further on in the Chiesa dei Cappuccini Nuovi, which also possesses a valuable Treasury in the sacristy and a rich picture gallery. We are now almost at the starting- point, near this square, of the Scala di Santa Maria del Monte, the famous long straight flight of steps, all decorated with coloured majolica and and illuminated by characteristic lanterns on 24 and 25 July, the festivity of the patron saint. The stairs were built in 1608 by the architect Giuseppe Giacalone in order to join the upper and the lower parts of the town. We can either climb the stairway (142 steps) or reach the upper town by way of the side streets and then walk down it. Other sights to see are: Santa Maria del Monte, founded in the 12th c.; the Istituto d'Arte per la Ceramica (institute of Ceramic Art); the Chiesa di San Giacomo (Norman, rebuilt in 1694-1708, with the bas-relief town coat of arms in the central door, various sculptures by the Gagini's, 16th c., and a stupendous altar arch, etc.).
Text taken from: "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa editore.
Other main destinations in Sicily
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