Author: Dan

Christmas in March! Wait, no… this is part of the celebrations of Joseph. Mary and the infant Jesus are also involved. In 2025 this went from March 10th through the 19th. This view is from the steps of the Chiesa Madre di San Nicola.

Lights on the church.

Energy costs here are high, as it seems to be through most of Europe. For instance, gas is about 8 US dollars per gallon. To reduce dependence on oil, Italy tried to get the country moving towards nuclear power. Unfortunately, the Chernobyl disaster occurred, and so much public fear ensued that they had to scrap the plan.

Time passed, the terror of a nuke plant accident subsided, and the leaders decided to float the idea of nuclear power one more time. As fate would have it, this also became the time of the Fukushima disaster occurred in Japan. Widespread fear once again prevailed, and the nukes lost. Again.

So, Italy, and especially coastal Sicily, has been exploring alternatives. Wind power is one. We passed many modern wind turbines on the drive from Palermo to Agrigento. We also saw more than a couple solar electric installations. Which is brilliant here, because Sicily averages 350 days of sunshine a year.

There’s a ridge along the hills in Agrigento where the Greeks built temples to their gods.

All but one lie in ruins, like this one, and some are no more than piles of (rather large) stones. The island has endured large earthquakes over the eons, but that’s not the cause of their collapse. The demolitions were at the hands of various conquering armies.

This is the only temple that was spared being razed. Built between 440 and 430 BC by the Greeks, and later taken over by the Romans, it was recommissioned into a Christian basilica in the 6th century, AD of course, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Warm, dry, beautiful evening in the Piazza Italia. Tomorrow morning we bid Arrivederci to Palermo and board our steel chariot for Agrigento.

(Not sure where Close Encounters mothership lights in the sky came from.)

First stop today was the Monreale Cathedral near Palermo. It was started in 1174 by King William II, with various construction phases continuing through 1267.

King William, the Good, dedicated the Cathedral to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Note that the postcards and artwork for sale behind Mary are not sanctioned by King William.

70,000 square feet of gold and colored glass mosaic tiles illustrate all the major Biblical stories from the Creation, through the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

To give a sense of scale in this space, the palm of Jesus’ hand in this picture is six feet tall.

Monreale, being a city on a hill, overlooks Palermo and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the northeast. Note the flags. Being in the middle of the Mediterranean, and this time of year, there are frequent warnings of high winds. This one was for 36 mph gusts: