Page 406 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

and live for the other six months in Sicily with her mother as one of the island’s

goddesses. In her gratitude, Demeter, as goddess of grain and agriculture, made the
corn grow again – a powerful symbol in a traditionally fertile land. These days,
sadly, the Pergusa road is choc-a-bloc with apartments, hotels and holiday
developments, while the lake is encircled by a motor-racing track. It’s hard now,
despite the pleasant wooded banks beyond the water, to imagine a less romantic
spot. Mary Taylor Simeti’s journal, On Persephone’s Island, labels the Lago di

Pergusa “a brilliant example of the Sicilians’ best efforts to ruin their landscape”.

There’s really no point coming to the lake for any glimpse of the truth behind the
legend, though it does make a possible base near Enna, especially if you fancy a
retreat with Moleskine and pencil to La Casa del Poeta at Contrada da
Parasporino, 1km from Lago di Pergusa ( 329 627 4918 or 328 657 2731,
lacasadelpoeta.it; €100), a nineteenth-century villa, where you’re invited to

immerse yourself in literature from their library or write in their “writing room”.
Those suffering from writer’s block can seek inspiration as they lounge by the pool.

The Duomo

Piazza Duomo • Daily 9.30am–1pm & 3.30–8pm

Enna’s Duomo fronts a shady little square, which has been rebuilt several times since
its foundation in 1307. It’s not much to look at from the outside, but the sixteenth-
century interior is a different story, with every surface covered in ornamentation. Look
closely at the bottom of the huge supporting dark-grey columns, the bases of which are
carved with snarling heads with human hands and snake bodies. Treasures from the
cathedral are kept in the adjacent Museo Alessi, which was closed for “works” at the

time of writing.

Piazza Vittorio Emanuele

The western extremity of Via Roma is marked by the sloping, rectangular Piazza

Vittorio Emanuele, focal point of the evening passeggiata. Off here, a long cliff-edge
promenade looks out to the little rust-coloured town of Calascibetta over the valley.
The plain, high wall of the church of San Francesco, which flanks the piazza, has a
massive sixteenth-century tower, previously part of the old town’s system of
watchtowers that linked the castle with all Enna’s churches.

Torre di Federico II
Via Torre di Federico • Mon–Sat 8am–6pm, Sun 9am–1pm • Free

An octagonal watchtower, 24m high, the Torre di Federico II is linked by a (now

hidden) underground passage to the castle. Built in the thirteenth century by Frederick