Catania (28/9)

Tour groups - enough said!

While we had breakfast in the piazza we people-watched. There were tour groups already being instructed no doubt in various aspects of the architecture and buildings which line the square, along with the sculptures, fountains and memorials. There was a fountain next to the cafe we were ensconced in, so we were able to sit and watch people take photos of friends, family, partners, lovers, in front of it, or indeed their own selfie. The serious photographer with the SLR, the happy snapper with small camera or phone, the ipad user, all came and went. There were gatherings of patriarchs but never matriarchs, a chap sketching, people waiting for the buses which stop at about the same place in the square each time, back-packers, cyclists serious and casual, runners, and people who had a conscience and genuflected as they walked or cycled past the cathedral instead of going in. It is a wonderful way to pass an hour or so. 

Roman theatre with one of the houses
which has been built on it still in place.

We eventually set off to explore ourselves. The first place was the Roman theatre, which had been Greek originally. This one was built out of dark grey basalt, so has quite a different look to the white calcite or limestone we have become used to. The Romans rebuilt the theatre in the second century AD. It had a diameter of 98m and the capacity to hold 7000 spectators, and was eventually abandoned around 600AD. As with all these ancient buildings, it became a quarry for later structures. Like the rest of the city, it suffered from the 1693 earthquake, and houses were built in it after that event. Archeological investigations started as early as the second half of the 18th century, but work really got going in the 1990's when the Arts and Environmental Office started to demolish the houses inside it. One of these buildings has been left however, because its demolition would not add to the understanding of the theatre itself, and it is in fact part of the theatre's history. This building actually underwent a number of alterations, but these have been removed to show the original 1700's structure. Next to the theatre is the Odeon, a much smaller theatre which would have been used for lectures and as a space to rehearse plays before they were performed in the larger theatre. There is less of this structure, because it suffered at the hands of the last person to build within its walls and we weren't able to see it because o restoration work.

The organ in the Church of San Nicolo l'Arena

Our next stop was the the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolo l'Arena. We took a guided tour of these buildings which are now part of the University. We saw little of the church because it is closed to tours on a Sunday. This was intended to be the largest church in Sicily, but the biggest isn't necessarily the best. The facade was never finished, and the little of the inside we saw was very ordinary. There is a huge organ in the church. It took twelve years to build, has 2916 pipes, five keyboards, 72 registers and six bellows, and can imitate almost anything including the human voice. Pity it wasn't in better condition. We viewed it from a balcony high up in the church which elderly or sick monks would have used, so we were much closer to it than if we had been standing down in the church. In fact Jill asked the guide if it was still used as a church because it looked in very poor condition. It is. 

The library in the university is on a suspended floor
in the basement under the monastery.

The original church and monastery, begun in1558, were destroyed in 1693, and were rebuilt soon after. The monastery is on two levels, the older lower level was rebuilt on the original foundations, and the newer part built on top of the lava flow which almost engulfed the ruined buildings. There are two cloisters because of this. The monastery took its monks from the ranks of the nobility, the younger sons who would not inherit the title and estate. It was the church or the military for them, so the late Baroque buildings reflect the money that was behind its novices. It also benefitted from providing accommodation to those on the Grand Tour. It housed 65 monks, but there must have been many more people living within its walls. There is a huge kitchen down in the cellar area with a central stove around which four people could cook at once. There were also huge storage areas under the main building. The monastery was disbanded in the mid 1800's, and used for housing, schools, military barracks, and an astrophysical observatory before becoming part of the university. It has undergone much restoration, and during the work a roman house with mosaic flooring was discovered. We spent a very interesting hour and a half on the tour.

After the monastery we went searching for a Roman amphitheatre we had seen pictures of, but not read anything about. It turned out to be a very small section of a once large arena which had also suffered from stone-robbers and being built over. Our hosts had told Allan of the best place to buy arancini, stuffed rice balls coated in breadcrumbs and fried, so these were next on the list, via the Villa Bellini. This actually turned out to be gardens and no villa, and we were unsuccessful in finding the arancini. No matter, we eventually found some in a cafe in the Via Etnae, the main thoroughfare which heads straight towards Mt. Etna. 

The restaurant was in the courtyard of an old palazzo
and you needed to know where it was to find it.

We took on the recommendation of our hosts and dined at a restaurant they recommended. We ended up with a little more than we thought we had ordered it wasn't a problem. Allan had a spaghetti dish with a sauce of olives, potatoes and tomatoes, and Jill had carbanara. Then the fish Allan ordered came out served for two. It was very good, and wasn't quite as strong as the fish Jill had last night. We finished with a lemon sorbet, and a free liqueur which was quite pleasant. We went for a walk and had a gelati each before wandering back to our room.