Page 135 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily

SOUTHWESTERN SICIL Y  133

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST s Piazza Armerina
Road map D4. * 21,000. n STR,
Practical Information Via Generale Muscarà 47a. Tel 0935-
Road map D4. n STR, Via 680 201. _ Palio dei Normanni
Generale Muscarà 47a, Piazza (13–14 Aug).
Armerina. Tel 0935-680 201.
Morgantina archaeological site: In the middle of an area
Tel 0935-879 55. Open 8am–1 hr inhabited since the 8th century
before sunset. & BC, Piazza Armerina developed
in the Middle Ages, a period
marked by frequent clashes
between the local population
Reconstruction – strongly influenced by the
of Morgantina centuries of Arab domination
This drawing shows the – and the Latin conquerors. The Cathedral at Piazza Armerina, with its
city as it appeared around After the huge devastation 14th-century bell tower
300 BC. The reconstruction wrought in the 12th century
is based on studies made by battles between these two which has vestments,
by archaeologists from factions, Piazza Armerina was monstrances and reliquaries
Princeton University in the recreated around the Colle on display. Elsewhere in the
United States. Mira hill (in the middle of the town are many other interesting
present-day Monte quarter) attractions. Piazza Garibaldi is
and was populated by a the heart of town life, boasting
colony of Lombards from the Baroque Palazzo del Senato
Piacenza. A new, massive and two palatial mansions
defensive wall system was built belonging to the barons of
in the late 14th century, but the Capodarso. The whole of the
city soon spread well beyond historic centre deserves further
this into the surrounding hills exploration on foot, through
and slopes. charming medieval alleys,
In the heart of town is a large steps and lanes.
Aragonese Castle, built by Not far from the centre, at
King Martin I in the late 14th the end of Via Tasso, is the Chiesa
century, whose massive towers del Priorato di Sant’Andrea,
dominate the Cathedral. founded in 1096 and then
Dedicated to Our Lady of the acquired by the Knights of the
Assumption, the Cathedral is Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
flanked by the campanile of This magnificent example of
another church which had Sicilian Romanesque archi-
been built on the same site in tecture has a commanding
the 14th century. Inside, look view over a valley. Do not miss
out for the choir, built in 1627, seeing the series of 12th- to
and a wooden crucifix painted 14th-century frescoes in the
in the late 15th century. The interior (visits are allowed
0 metres 50 Cathedral also affords access to only on Sundays, when mass
the small Museo Diocesano, is celebrated).
0 yards 50

KEY
1 Sanctuary of Demeter
and Persephone
2 This area was filled with
the workshops of craftsmen,
mostly ceramicists.
3 Colonnade (stoa)
4 Residential quarter
5 Remains of paving in the
eastern residential quarter
indicate where the paved street
led out of the city walls.
Piazza Armerina, which developed around the Colle Mira hill

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