Monday, December 2, 2024

9/25/24: Milazzo's Capo Drive & Aeolian Island of Lipari

 


The previous night, Steven and I arrived in Milazzo, the main port of entry to the Aeolian Islands. Just two blocks from our hotel was the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore, located on the town's main street.


Since we were too late to tour the Capo di Milazzo last night as we'd hoped, we chose to take the scenic drive first thing and take the ferry over to one of the islands later. I had no idea what type of tree it was, so I just googled it, and I believe it was a candelabra tree.


With the rustic coastline jutting out from Milazzo's naturally formed port, we glimpsed marvelous views of classic Mediterranean scrub, a variety of coastal vegetation common to Sicily.



It wasn't worth lingering at the end of the Cape, so we returned to Milazzo.



On our drive along the Tyrrhenian coast from Palermo, we saw several castles that were used by the Normans to defend the island against invaders throughout the Middle Ages. Another example was Castello di Milazzo, which lay high above the town.



En route to the ferry terminal, we passed a pretty square ...


and the late 19th-century Municipo or City Hall.


A view of the Castello from the Tyrrhenian Sea and ...


Volcano Island, the first of the seven Aeolian Islands located on Sicily's northern coast. The islands were named for Aeolus, the keeper of the winds in Greek mythology. I vaguely remembered from my days studying Latin that in Homer's Odyssey, Aeolus governed the mythical, floating island of Aeolia. Diana and Lynne: Don't you think that Mrs. Harwood-Jones, our Latin teacher, would be happy I was visiting the island she talked about way back when?!

The Aeolian Islands emerged from the sea nearly 70,000 years ago after a series of volcanic events. Researchers have found evidence of life on Panarea, the oldest island dating to the Neolithic era, in addition to artifacts from the Bronze Age. The islands were inhabited by the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Visigoths, Byzantines, and Normans, just to name a few! 


Steven and I had smiled when we boarded the Natalie hydrofoil, as that's the name of our second daughter!


We chose to visit the largest and most developed island of Lipari, as it was also just a couple of hours from Milazzo. Its pastel-colored houses on the shore reminded us of those on the Caribbean island of Curacao we visited earlier this year. 


Tourist touts welcomed all the ferry passengers, but we ignored them, preferring to explore the island by ourselves. The lively Corso Vittorio Emanuele II ran the length of the town from the port.



I don't remember ever seeing a mural adorning the walls of a post office before!





Built in 1545 on C.V. Emanuele was the Chiesa S. Pietro.




I wish we could have asked someone why the eyes had been blocked out in these murals or photos. 


The side streets off Emanuele caught our eye for the striking flower boxes, even when we realized some of the flowers were fake!





One of the narrowest alleys ever!


Ceramics made a big splash on Lipari as they did throughout the rest of Sicily. 




Naomi: This is the shop where I bought your coral bracelet.


Yes, Janina, the street was that empty once we got further away from the port area.


Atop a lot of steps was just part of the Museo Archeologico Regionale Eoliano, with a collection of prehistoric finds from various locations throughout the Aeolian archipelago, some dating to 4000 BC.


Gasp, gasp - the views from the top of the steps overlooking the town of Lipari:




Beside the museum was a stunning Basilica that would have done honors gracing any city. It was dedicated to St. Bartholomew, an Apostle who was 'martyrized' in Asia, according to the English description. The pagans, filled with hatred that so many offered prayers and incense, placed his body in an iron sarcophagus and threw it in the sea. After it landed on Lipari, Christians buried his body and built a large temple (i.e., a church) over it.  








Lipara, aka Lipari, was founded during the 50th Olympiad, 580-576 BC, by the inhabitants of Cnido and people coming from the island of Rhodes, according to a Greek historian. The first Cnidic settlement was on the Rock, the island's highest point, and where the Acropolis was later founded. Houses, temples, and the agora or main square was also located in this area. During the subsequent Roman and Medieval periods, there was an almost complete uprooting of the Classical and Hellenistic age of the Acropolis. 


All that was still visible from the Basilica and the museum were ruins from the 11th to the 14th centuries. 



The Greek Necropolis, ~716-590 BC, was excavated in 1951. Tombs occupied the same area as those chosen by Bronze Age inhabitants. The tombs were placed in a layer of alluvial gravel, with ashes collected in large vases or amphorae made locally or in Aegean factories. 



Items from the cremation cemetery of the Final Bronze Age, 1100-590 BC:


The differently-shaped amphorae had been transport containers since prehistoric times. The shape of the Greek and Roman amphorae corresponded to the specific practical needs of traveling ships that generally traveled from April to October to take advantage of coastal winds and breezes. The Greek-Roman storage system for the amphorae meant they were placed in parallel rows in overlapping layers on top of each other in the boats' hold. Depending on the size of the ship, there could be up to four or five levels of amphorae with more than one thousand containers!




We learned that Lipari's Necropolis is unique among the great Greek cemeteries of Magna Grecia and Sicily for the exceptional conservation of its tombs. They used different kinds of coffin-shaped sarcophagi in their burial rites. The oldest sarcophagi were made from clay in the shape of a tub, together with another kind made in stone using blocks during the 6th century BC. More than 500 blocks have been found!


This blue-glazed figure of Diana with a wig and agricultural tools from the 6th century BC was described as being similar to an Ushebti, a symbolic companion of the dead in the afterlife in Egypt. 


I was astounded that the large Sicilian kraters or funeral containers could be dated so specifically from the 3rd quarter of the 4th century BC!


Little girls' graves had toy vases and statuettes of a nude Aphrodite.


Small statues of 4th-century divinities:


The very small, mid-4th-century Masks were related to an unidentifiable comedy. One was thought to have been Apollo who could be taking part in the Prologue to explain the events leading up to the comedy. 


I found not only the size of the collection to be astounding but also the fact that the millennia-old sculptures were in absolutely pristine condition after being buried. That always boggles my mind when we visit museums. Imagine the awe an archaeologist must have felt upon unearthing one of these treasures!


The gold jewelry, including a coronet of gold leaves which was a symbol of victory over death, dates from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.



The museum also had an extensive collection of coins, other jewelry, and fossils, but they held little interest for either of us at that point, so we continued our wander through the town.


It was fun watching a woman's laundry being lowered by a bucket to the ground from the balcony on the right, where it was collected by the man on the sidewalk.



Walking back toward the port: 


There were plenty of ceramic-tiled benches on the path in case we tired along the way.



A final look back at Lipari, where we'd spent a very enjoyable few hours:


A fumarole atop Volcano Island:


Milazzo's port and ...


the town's lovely pedestrian street that was mostly empty in the late afternoon but packed at night.


Our hotel was next to the Palazzo Catanzaro-Gemelli, a national monument from 1735, also on the same pedestrian mall.



Next post: Heading south toward Messina and its fabulous Regional Museum & Duomo.

Posted on December 2nd, 2024, from a typically warm, sunny day in Denver. Even though 2024 has been an unusually busy travel year for us, with trips either out of state or out of the country every month except July, Denver is a great place to live and has marvelous weather! Please take care of yourself and your loved ones, as we've been reminded recently life is so precious.

2 comments:

  1. Loved the gold jewelry. But, where would I wear it? JDK

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some fancy ball, perhaps - ha ha! Incredible that it was in such great shape, wasn't it?

    ReplyDelete