Top of the World
Yellow, azure blue and green. The sun, sky and pistachios. These are the pure colors of Caltagirone that form the backdrop for a destination slightly hidden away in the heart of Sicily, far away from the coast. It is an open-air museum with more than 40 churches, bell towers, facades with spirals and chiseled cherubs, cloisters, old houses that climb on top of the other on the hill like a great mosaic, and streets that resemble the villages of Liguria. ‘Cattagiruni’, as the locals call it, ‘Qal’at al Ghiran’ (Fortress of the Vases), as the Arabs called it, indicating that a talent for ceramics was already inscribed in its origins. In short, you cannot say Caltagirone without saying ceramics. Because this place is, wherever you look, a triumph of ceramics: from the artistic workshops to the street signs, the names of the streets and the numbers of the houses, the covered stairways and the decorations of the buildings. All carefully painted by hand, just like all those artifacts produced by the masters of clay: plates, oil lamps, decorated bottles, candlesticks, anthropomorphic vases, altars, balconies, paneling, holy water fonts, sacred shrines, tiles... and these are just a few examples. As soon as you enter the city, you should ask directions to reach its symbol, the Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte. You will find it majestic, colorful, captivating like few others, with 142 steps of lava stone covered with glazed ceramic. This, more than any other, is the site of city life, where passers-by stop to chat, photographs are taken and artisans meet. Viewed as a whole, the sight is truly spectacular. Eachraised step is covered with a row of tiles painted with island motifs, perfectly divided into ten sectors, one for each century, where geometric, figurative and floral elements alternate between a flowering of styles: from Arabic and Norman to Anjou-Aragonese, Swabian and Spanish to the Renaissance, Baroque and the 19th century. Climbing the staircase feels like retracing the history of this land. Step by step, go and discover the details, and also turn around now and then. The landscape widens and the fragments of Caltagirone – a Baroque pearl of UNESCO – recompose to create a puzzle of an immense warm color that resembles yellow ocher. Now, make your way up to the Church of Santa Maria del Monte. Go in and then up the bell tower until you stand under the bell: the view from up there is simply stupendous, an excellent way to bid farewell to the city and close this journey among the delights of Italian craftsmanship.
