Cefalù and Tindari

Today we leave Palermo and travel first to Cefalù, about 70 kms east of Palermo. 

In Cefalù, one of Sicily's Norman rulers, Roger II, built a glorious cathedral here and there are some other elegant buildings in the town which are reminders of Sicily's varied influences, not just Norman and Byzantine, but also Arab, Spanish and finally Italian.

The town is dominated by a towering rocky granite mass called La Rocca. We spent most of the morning hiking up to the walls of the old Saracen stronghold and the remains of a Temple of Diana (which supposedly dates back to Sicanian-Greek time). It was quite a climb and I think I'll be stiff and sore tomorrow. But the views over the coast were beautiful - turquoise sea, yachts, beaches. And there were capers growing out of the rocks - fascinating!

We returned down into the central part of the town with its winding mediaeval streets lined with shops and restaurants, and after a brief stop for coffee and gelato, we were on our way again along the narrow main street (no traffic apart from vespas) to the handsome and imposing two-towered Norman cathedral; its construction began in 1131 and it is an exquisite example of what has been termed "Sicilian Romanesque". The building's interior is decorated with lovely gleaming mosaics created by 12th century Byzantine artists: a large Christ Pantocrator on a gold background dominating the apse, above the Madonna, archangels and Apostles. Of all the churches I have visited since arriving in Sicily, I found it to be the most peaceful.

Enroute to the beach, we strolled through a labyrinth of alleys, along the way visiting a mediaeval Saracen wash house (lavatoio) which is fed by a natural spring.

By now it was incredibly hot so the beach was a very welcome reprieve. We found a thin strip of shade abutting the stone sea-facing wall where we could leave our stuff and go for a swim. The beach is much clearer and more pleasant than the one we visited yesterday at Mondello and we certainly enjoyed a swim here.

We had a picnic lunch in the fast-disappearing strip of shade before escaping the sun for some shade back up on the promenade where we strolled, bought fruit from a vendor selling out of a truck, replenished our water supply at a supermarket, and had a delicious cherry-flavoured (amarena) gelato before returning to the Duomo to regroup for the walk out of the town to our bus.

This next photo is especially for you, Bill!

We drove now to Tindari about an hour away. This town is high up on a hill overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and is the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna and a place of pilgrimage but also the site of an ancient Greek town.

The archaelogical site has remnants of Roman habitations and baths, complete with wonderful floor mosaics and ingenious radiator heating systems; also a Greco-Roman basilica built around a series of arches; and a well-preserved theatre, built in the 4th century BC. It was all particularly attractive in the late afternoon sun.

The story of how the Black Madonna arrived in Tindari is the stuff that legends are made of. According to local tradition, the statue (of Byzantine origin) was one of many works of art smuggled out of Constantinople in the 8th and 9th centuries. The story goes that a storm forced the ship carrying the Black Madonna into the port of Tindari, where the sailors deposited their load at the local abbey for safekeeping. She now sits behind the altar with the inscription nigro sum sed formosa ("black am I, but beautiful").

It was getting late in the day now but the bus drove down to the coast (amongst bunches of cyclists either making their way up or down the climb). From up the top at Tindari, we could see an extraordinary linguetta di sabbia: a sandbank stretching 1.5km into the sea. This tongue of sand is raised about 4 metres above sea-level at its highest points and creates a kind of lagoon on its land side. There are several small lakes noted for a large variety of flora and fauna. We stopped at this nature reserve (Laghetti di Marinello) for a short walk before a further hour's drive to our destination, Montalbano.

By the time we arrived, it was close to dark. We were pleased to get in. Everyone was tired, hot and sticky although Montalbano, being high up in the hills at about 900 m, was noticeably cooler than the coast. The driver of the bus had made a series of errors on the way - missing turnoffs and at one stage backing into a parked car (!), so everyone was keen to get out, head for a much-needed shower - and a drink!

Dinner was at the hotel and we had platters of local produce (salami and cheese) to start, then a yummy pasta; main course was a grill with too much meat for my liking but I had eaten enough anyway; finished with chopped fresh fruit. And some really nice wines - a Principe di Corleone (a white) and the red I can't remember the name of. The company was good too and we had lots of good chat and laughs over swapped stories.