A Trip to Caltagirone via Licodia Eubea

This post was written on September 5th, however, I never published it and just found it in the drafts.  Consequently, I am posting it today, October 29th.

Leaving Catania and heading S.W., one travels along the Piana di Catania, Catania Plains.  At the beginning of September, after months with no precipitation, the terrain is very dry and at times one can see  fires along the way.  My plans were to spend the night in Caltagirone, visiting Maria, my childhood friend, but I wanted to stop in Licodia Eubea on the way.    After passing the Plains, one takes SS194 , heading S.W.  Along the way, there are orchards, olive groves, and  fields of prickly pears.  After arriving in Licodia Eubea, I parked the car and enjoyed a walk thorugh the town.  The annual Grape Festival was to be held that night, so the town was buzzing with all the preparations.  I enjoyed the architecture of the town as some examples can be seen in these pictures. In its past history, this town was inhabited by the Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs.

 Following are some pictures I took in Licodia Eubea. 1. The ceramic welcome sign. 2. A courtyard.  3.  The Church of Santa Margherita. 4. A balcony.

Caltagirone is famous for its ceramics. The current ceramic artists re-create many patterns of the past centuries.  These pictures show some ceramics on display in a shop, the famous stairs adorned in ceramics, and the ceramic decorations of some walls in the town.  

In the picture of the ceramics on display on a table, the ceramic under the table is a replica of a pattern of the 17th century and the artists will create such tiles, on order, to be inserted into the floor of any private residence.