Pirandello’s house, Aurelio’s granita shop, Maria del Soccorso Feste, Fuedo Arancio
On the 1st we traveled to Agrigento again. This time it was to visit the house of Luigi Pirandello, the famous Sicilian author. What we didn’t realize was how artistic the entire family was. Luigi was also an artist, he tended more towards impressionistic work. His sister, Rosalina, was more prolific. Her work tended to be more illustrative and captured a lot of local landscapes and people at work in the fields or enjoying the beach.
The Museum of Pirandello’s house is technically in Agrigento and we had driven past it many times, on our way to and from the Valley of the Temples but did not realize it. As you leave Porto Empedocles heading east you take a short right off SS115 to get to the Valley of the Temples. Less than a kilometer on that road is the entrance to the park where the house he was born and raised in is located. It’s not well marked. There is a sign you can see if you’re headed west towards Sciacca but it’s small and there are a couple other yellow signs with brown text, the “standard” historical marker style signs around here.
The house is on a long ridge just east of the port area. There is a deep ravine on both sides. It extends almost all the way to the sea. His grave was under a majestic old pine tree, per his wishes. You see photos of a house with a tree right near it although this is not the case. His grave is several hundred meters from the actual house but there is an old farm house close to the site. The tree is no longer standing. I don’t recall if a storm took it down or simply old age. The trunk was pretty large, however. Part of the trunk has been mounted like a pedestal while a larger piece is preserved on the site in a horizontal position. His grave is inside a massive boulder mounted on the site. Pine trees surround the overall site. They are not large. They appear to be recently planted, as you can see from the photos. It’s a tranquil location, surrounded by an olive grove. Being there in the winter was nice. No crowds of tourists. Cathy and I were the only ones there and in the house.
The house has documents, letters, awards, diplomas, and some postcards of Pirandello’s on display. The walls have a couple of his paintings, including a self-portrait. Most the paintings are by Rosalina. There are also several photos of him and his family. I really enjoyed the one of his parents 50th Anniversary with all their children and grandchildren around them. A classic photo. There was also one of Luigi with Stephano, his father, his son Stephano, and Stephano’s son. A four-generation photo where Luigi is holding up four fingers to emphasize the fact. I did not take photos in the house. It didn’t seem right. You may be able to find images online.
On the 2nd we went with Toto for a tour of Sciacca’s Kasbah and Port housing areas. We started at the west end of the old Arab quarter where the fortress walls are still intact and overlook the city. We wandered the small streets, too small for the car we rented and smaller than what Toto wanted to take his little Fiat down. Some of them are so narrow only a motorino, a scooter, would fit. Residents must find a small square near their homes to leave their car, if they own one. Many of the streets are stairs so a car cannot navigate them. In several places the residents have placed small concrete ramps against the steps so they can ride their scooters up to their homes. Cathy and I had been down some of these streets earlier, we recognized some of the houses, especially the ones that had been brightly painted. Photos of those areas are available in earlier posts. No point in repeating them. We took very few photos on this day.
Down by the port the walkways between the fishermen’s houses are just as narrow, since they originated during the Arab occupation in the 800’s. Toto pointed out what looked like vent shafts that are located all around this quarter. These were places where wheat was tobogganed down the hillsides and then dumped into storage caverns under the homes. The caves are still there, although most are not used now. Some of these spaces are still in use by residents and occasionally you will find doorways and gated entrances. Many of the shops along the water front, if they are located a row of buildings above the port’s roads and not new buildings, use these grottos. While we were down at the waterfront near the shipbuilding area Toto pointed out a shop that he said many American tourists come to purchase granitas, the frozen delight. The owner, Aurelio Licata, is regarded as a master of the granita. We went in but Aurelio had very little in the line of goods for sale and he doesn’t start making granita till Carnivale, which doesn’t start till after we are back in the States. We still had a short, enjoyable conversation with Aurelio, using Toto as our interpreter when needed, and he was overjoyed to have visitors from somewhere other than Boston or Chicago. He seemed impressed that someone from the far side of the US came to his shop. We took photos with him and he gave us a small gift, a little ceramic dish with his name, a couple of lemons and the phrase “Il Maestro Della Granita” in the glaze. We will need to go back on our subsequent trips. He gave us two of his cards and I wrote our website name on the back of one for him. Hopefully he has access to the internet so he can see these photos.
That afternoon we drove back down to park near the port and walk back up into town for the spectacle of the Maria del Soccorso festival. Twice a year the large Madonna and Child statue from the Basilica Maria del Soccorso is carried out of the basilica by 100 barefoot fishermen and around the city. The Madonna is believed to have saved the city from the Black Death in the 1300's. The city’s residents fill the piazza in front of the Basilica and crowd the streets as the statue is carried through the main streets. They must stay on the largest roads because they could not get around some of the smaller streets with the statue. It’s quite a sight. We photographed and videoed some of the affair from the piazza but did not try to follow through the entire trip. In fact, we ended up in a small bar on the piazza across from the basilica, you could see into the church through its front door, and enjoyed the heat and a couple of cocktails till the statue came back. There are videos online available of the event. It’s impressive to see how those hundred guys haul that statue around and how fast they move. The stone pavement is cold and pounding the pavement must keep their feet warm. I know I’d be hustling if I was barefoot. The entire trip takes about an hour. There is a similar festival in Boston in August. It was brought to there by fishermen from Sciacca and started sometime around 1910. They carry a statue around the North End.
The town was filled with people. On our way back to the car we passed through the main piazza, full of people heading home, and the Chiesa San Domenico was open. None of the times we have been in the city has this church been open for us to see the inside. It appeared that a service was about to begin so we didn’t spend much time. I did get some quick photos though.
There was one area at the rear of the church where the original walls had been exposed and preserved. Most of the old churches have been renovated several times over the centuries and San Domenico is no exception. The exposed portion shows how highly decorated even the original edifice was. There are frescos of scenes from the life of St. Dominic, detailed decorations of plants and animals and even the smaller structural elements of the wall were painted in detail.
Today, the 3rd, we had scheduled a tour of the Fuedo Arancio vineyard and winery located between Menfi and Sambuca di Sicilia. We had stopped there in December and met Michele, who provided us with a tasting despite our lack of an appointment and sold us some wine. We had discovered Fuedo Arancio back in 2006 on our 25th Anniversary trip. We’ve looked for it in the States and never found it. Michele told us why. It seems that Americans can’t pronounce Fuedo Arancio so the winery has a second label, Stemmari, which they use in the US. It’s the same wine, different paper on the bottle.
A couple of weeks ago, we swung by to pick up some more wine. That time we met Letizia, who also works there. We hit it off with her right away. We chatted for quite a while and she told us to set up a tour and tasting. She sent me a friend request on Facebook and, naturally, I accepted so we could communicate using Messenger. We set up the tour and Michele was our guide. He remembered us from our trip over a month earlier. There must not be a lot of traffic this time of the year. The weather was beautiful. Warm and sunny enough that we could spend about 20 minutes out by the vineyards talking about the types of grapes they grow there, how and when they trim the various varieties and how the different soils and elevations in the valley and surrounding hills determine and affect which grapes are grown. They grow mostly whites down here. The varieties depend on the amount of rock in the soil. Chardonnays are up here with the limestones in the soil. Other whites that they don’t want the mineral flavor in are grown further down in the valley where there’s more clay. The reds are planted on top of the hills south of the winery where they get more breeze and sea moistened air.
After a short tour of the processing buildings and the underground cellars we had another tasting. The first was a white varietal that is grown near Ragusa. Inzolia is a Sicilian grape that is not available anywhere outside of the island. It is a traditional family homegrown and vinted wine. The wine is crisp and fruity. It should be a great summer delight. We bought a bottle to take back to Seattle. Unfortunately, this will not be available in the States. We may see if Esquin can order some for us. We also tried the Syrah, it’s lighter than many we’ve had, but still has the Syrah qualities. It’s light enough for fish where most Syrah’s are not. Our last taste was their 2012 Hekate blend. It’s a Passito, a Sicilian dessert wine. It has the flavor of apricots and honey, and not too sweet. Damn, I wish these were available in the US! Maybe we can use Esquin for the Hekate too.
Well, that's it for now. The internet connection's been hinky for the past couple days. No idea why but it's taken 2 days to get these photos and text uploaded. Somehow last evening when I went to save the post the site locked up and niente was saved so I had to do it all over again. There's an update I have to download. Maybe that will help fix the dropped connections
Ciao for now.