Ein reiner Strandurlaub auf der Insel ist zu schade, Sizilien glänzt mit einer Fülle von Monumenten einer bewegten Geschichte und barocker Pracht. Sizilien war nicht umsonst bis zur Entdeckung Amerikas ein Nabel der Welt.
Catania is overshadowed by the Etna Mount, the volcano that often has betrayed the trust of the local people, sending forth great flows of lava, on one occasion down into the town itself. Reminders of its presence is the dark color of most monuments and buildings in town. Some of them is of plaster painted to look as lava.
Black and white are the two dominating colors of the city that combine to produce a magnificent effect. The 17th century was particularly catastrophic for Catania. First (1669), following Etna’s eruption, a devastating lava river flowed into the city; few decades later (1693), an earthquake razed it to the ground.
It followed a sumptuous reconstruction, the main protagonist being the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768) who designed the most prestigious buildings. The baroque covered nearly every ruined specimen of the past ages, that is hidden, with the exception of few remnants – below the new buildings and the city heart.
Holidays in Sicily
