Day 12, April 14th- We spent the day exploring Catania and learning about its’ long and amazing history.
Catania is literally colored by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Etna in 1693 which covered part of the city and extended it by a half mile. Most of the rock to rebuild the city was taken from the lava flow– basalt, it appears black or gray depending on the light.
We toured the Historical Museum of the landing in Sicily 1943, and learned about the Allied Invasion of Sicily under operation Husky during WW II. See:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily
There is a list of the Sicilian towns that were bombed during WW II, and how many times they were bombed and a list of those killed during Operation Husky in 1943.
We could see Mt. Etna from downtown Catania.
Inside the Duomo, Cathedral of St. Agatha from outside the city wall, shows the slits built for arrows.
In the market we could a red cauliflower, we are told it turns white when it is cooked.
Underneath one area of the old city we found these men playing sicilian cards and solving the problems of the day .
The altar area looked to be a rock but it is actually a lectern that was sculpted metal with many reliefs on it. The altar also had similar carvings. Lots of details on both of them. Impressive duomo.
Inside the Abbey church were grated areas that shielded the nuns from public view.
There is a beautiful fountain very close to the fish market. Check out the size of that swordfish!
There are the ruins of a Roman amphitheater that was built around 2 AD, and fell into use in the 5th century. Many of the original blocks were recycled into building the Duomo.
This street market was called Fera ‘O Luni, and it was a mix of fish, meat, cheese, fruits/veggies, household goods, and clothing. The cheese and hams looked yummy.
They sell and consume horse meat. In this part of Sicily horses are raised like beef cattle.
We still could not get over the size of the peppers! There are at least 10 inches long.
At dinner, in a cave, we were treated to a presentation on the volcano Mt. Etna. The man on the left, Danilo is a volcano scientist, and on the right Paulo, is a mayor of the town of Milo which is very close to Mt. Etna. We learned about the volcano and life living near the volcano.