Palazzo Migliaccio
by Francenko
Migliaccio is the name of an ancient family of the Sicilian nobility. They came from Tuscany. The palace was built in XV sec., dismantled in XIX and nowadays it is inside a big hotel.
It is worth a break admiring the beautiful facade, with her 3 gothic portals, and especially the lava inlay zigzag decorations of the balcony. This motif is not unknown in the Eastern Sicilian, there was here a strong passion for marquetries of lava having Catania as center. Just in Catania the Platamone palace keeps very similar decorations, which were used as example for the Migliaccio palace.
... a staircase to heaven
by Lalique
Sicanio praetenta sinu iacet insula contra
Plemyrium undosum; nomen dixere priores
Ortygiam, Alpheum fama est huc Elidis amnem
Occultas egisse vias subter mare, qui nunc
Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis.
Stretched in front of a Sicilian bay lies an island, over against wave-beaten Plemytium; men of old called it Ortygia. Hither, so runs the tale, Alpheus, river of Elis, forced a secret course beneath the sea, and now at thy fountain, Arethusa, mingles with the Sicilian waves.
Virgil, The Aeneid, Book III
Ortygia, what a beautiful place on Earth
Ortygia your life is vibrant and tranquil at the same time
Ortygia your unique spirit is felt in every cobblestone of your numerous narrow curved streets, every step and every window whisper their tales into ones ear....
Ortygia has won my heart
The Roman amphitheatre
Sunlight on stone
Temple of Apollo nearby
antichity
