A cultural day in southern Sicily

1. Noto Duomo 060613SCIACCA, SICILY, ITALY–Most major conference geological field trips have a portion devoted to the culture and history of the region being explored. You can imagine the delights of this nature possible on a Mediterranean island. Today we started with the main square in the city of Noto in southern Sicily. This city had been destroyed by a 1693 earthquake and was completely rebuilt. The Noto Cathedral (above) was finished in 1776. It is such a classic of Baroque architecture that it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. It is striking, especially since it is hemmed in by other buildings and so provides a sudden surprise when turning a corner. Hard to believe parts of it collapsed from disrepair in 1996.

2. Noto Street 060613A Noto street leading to a church. The many balconies are characteristic of the city. Since the city center was rebuilt in one go, it has a consistent architectural theme.

3. Casale Mosaics 060613Our second visit of the day was to an archaeological site revealing the astonishing remains of a 4th Century Roman building called Villa Romana del Casale on Mounte Mangone near the Gela River. This huge complex is most famous for its exquisite mosaic floors, the details of one shown above (“The Little Hunt”). This features a theme throughout the structures: hunting. This is another UNESCO World Heritage site. Such culture vultures we geologists are.

4. Female Pentathalon 060613Certainly the most photographed of the mosaics is this scene popularly known as “Girls With Bikinis”. It is more properly described as “women participating in the female pentathalon” because of the distinctive athletic activities shown.

5. Giant Mosaic 060613My favorite mosaic is probably the most violent: a series of giants killed by Hercules with poisoned arrows. Note that the dying giants have snakes for feet. It is astonishing what these craftsmen could do with millions of tiny colored stones — and that their art has survived so vividly.

 

 

About Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is a Professor of Geology at The College of Wooster. He specializes in invertebrate paleontology, carbonate sedimentology, and stratigraphy. He also is an expert on pseudoscience, especially creationism.
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2 Responses to A cultural day in southern Sicily

  1. Janet says:

    Mark, I am following your blogs from Southwest Florida. Jim and I may visit Sicily on the next cruise….a year or two away.

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