Failed attempt at Caltagirone — Musings From the Road

Well, we drove to Caltagirone today. It was sunny down here at the lower elevations but once we got to about 300 m elevation above sea level and north of the coast by several km the weather went to hell. Caltagirone and everything north of there was covered by light rain and cold temperatures. It got down to 9 C and the snow warning signs on the sides of the roads began to actually mean something. When we get back from our trip to Venice and Florence I guess I should pay for rental chains. By Italian law you should have them with you from Nov 15 through Mar 15. If I don't have them we may be restricted to driving only in coastal areas till we leave on Valentine's Day. The wind has been blowing strong all day. The light rain combined with the wind meant it would be real nasty to get out and try to walk around to take photos. I could not keep the camera lens or my glasses clear of moisture because of the wind. So Caltagirone will have to wait for another day-trip. It's 2 1/2 hours to get there so it is a full day-trip.

Near Licata, on the coast, you find low greenhouses everywhere. In them are grown tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, broccoli, etc. The higher ones are used for grapes.

As you move inland you start to climb.

As we got north of Gela on SS 117 you could see the clouds setting low on the mountains and it did not bode well

Caltagirone from SS117 from about 10km south of the city

Old buildings are everywhere. This is one of the nicer ones

Streets in this city are old, narrow and steep. It is very difficult to get through in your car. This one got to 1m wide, and there were others.

A view of the old part of the city from the south east side of the town

A couple telephoto shots from the same spot showing only a couple of the churches.

I'd like to return to Caltagirone but with better weather since we'll have to park the car and walk almost everywhere. I don't see how residents can get around in private vehicles. One thing is sure, buses would have a real hard time on even the main streets. Most streets are brick or cobblestone. Only main avenues are smooth pavement, at least they were at one time. Like most cities the streets are not well-maintained. They remind me of New Orleans poorly kept infrastructure. Caltagirone is known as a ceramic center. The sides of the hill are clay. The north side of the mount is almost all clay. I don't know how the town still stands. They had to have built it on the rocky part of the mountain. The town's history with pottery goes all the way back to 1000 BC when the Cretans are supposed to have shown the local Sicani or Siculi the method of forming and firing clay for pottery and ceramics.

Since we didn't spend much time in Caltagirone we drove back the way we came. Provincial highways from just east of Licata, through the valleys north of Gela and the coast. Most of our trip was on Strada Provinciale 83, which runs northeasterly on it's way to SS 117 that heads almost due north from Gela.

Gela has been the area used by invading armies for centuries. The Greeks, Corinthians, Romans, Arabs, Turks came through here and the Allied forces during WWII were no different. SP83 runs about 10 km south of Butera and serves as the northern border of a series of fairly flat valleys that lead up into the tortured interior of the island. You can see why the towns are all on hilltops, for defense from invaders and raiders.

We saw literally dozens of pillboxes and bunkers left over from German and Italian defenses on the sides of the hills at the north end of the valleys. Where there are road intersections there are numerous pillboxes. In one locations, where SP 83 and SP 8, which runs southerly to the west side of Gela, not only are there pillboxes galore but an old massive castle/keep on top of one of the hills, Castelluccio. There is a road up to the castle site. It's not real good till you get close when there's a good concrete road which was obviously installed as a public project since there is a ruined, fairly modern building that even had toilets for visitors to the site. I took a chance and was able to get past the washed out gravel section and get all the way to the castle. Once there you can see why it was built. It has a commanding view of the valley in all directions and anyone wanting to move north into the interior had to contend with it's defenders. There's even a pillbox from WWII built on the west end of the castle's hilltop.

Castelluccio viewed from the southeast on SP 83

Castelluccio from the southwest at the access off of SP 83. At the far west end of the hilltop you can see the small grey pillbox on top of the base rock of the hill.

The first couple hundred or so feet of the road up the hill were washed out but past there there was fairly good asphalt, for a Sicilian back road. The good road to the castle site is at the top to the right behind the trees.

Access to the castle from the small parking lot on the west end of the hill top. We did not walk up. The stairs' condition was poor.

View south toward the refineries east of Gela on the coast

This is the final concrete road to the castle site. It's in real good condition.

I took two panoramas from the site. One at the parking lot at the top and the second from the east side of the hill where the good concrete road and the asphalt one met. You can see why this keep was constructed. It's view of the surrounding country is unbeatable. The wind was so strong from the storm to the north that kept us out of Caltagirone that I had a hard time standing to take the second shot as it blew against me.

View to the north and east from Castelluccio

On the way back to Sciacca we stopped just past the intersection of SP83 and SP8 and at the Butera train station and I took some photos of the defensive positions just north of the highway. This area is peppered with pillboxes, some of which, based on their size, obviously were built to contain the infamous German 88mm anti-aircraft/anti-tank guns. There were a couple that had big holes blown in the area of the firing ports, caused by English or American guns. Most, however really didn't show a lot of damage, other than the wear and tear of time.

There are 6 pillboxes on this hillside overlooking the approaches from the coast below SP83

This large one is on a hilltop just southeast of the previous photo

These are 2 of about 4 behind a trucking company site at the intersection of SP83 & SP8

Butera train station. Butera is about 13 km further north and west of here on a hilltop

This appears to be an old winery or olive oil factory across from the station. Note the pillboxes on the hill behind it. There are a couple more hidden behind the building

Apparently abandoned house at the train station. The doors and windows of other structures here were in good shape but no sign of any active residents

The house from where the drive to the station meets the highway

After we got back to the coast highway, SS 115, we drove a few km and pulled off east of Licata at a small town named Falconara to catch a light lunch at the Castle Falconara bar/restaurant/disco and just about everything else. The restaurant and disco were not open since it was the standard siesta time. They were advertising a Buon Anno party, 19 Euro per person, 36 Euro for a couple. I have a feeling it was only for the restaurant. The disco looked like a summer business only since there were several large tent tops behind that fence. I'll wager it's a great party place. There is actually a Castello di Falconara next to the beach. It's apparently refurbished and used for weddings, parties, etc and is available for rent. It looked like there may have been some accommodations for guests to stay overnight too.

Castello di Falconara. Notice how the palm tree is being hammered by the wind.