Page 428 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

at the top. The staircase was originally conceived at the turn of the seventeenth century

as a road between the church (then the cathedral) and the town centre below; the steps
were added once it was clear that the incline was too steep. The risers in between
each step are covered with hand-painted ceramic patterns, added in the 1950s, no two
the same. Having puffed your way up, your reward is the magnificent view down
across town to the distinctive spire of the Sicilian Baroque church of San Francesco

all’Immacolata, with the plain stretching away into the distance beyond. At night the
steps are lit, and couples and families spread out on them, chatting away. In May, there
are floral decorations laid up the entire length, while on July 24 and 25 every year La
Scala is lit by thousands of coloured paper lamps as part of the celebrations for the
feast of St James (San Giacomo).

THE CITY OF CERAMICS

All the way up La Scala staircase, and in the alleys on either side, are ceramicists’
workshops and galleries, though you’ll also find shops and showrooms all over
town. Some are huge warehouses, others just a room in an old house, selling copies

of traditional designs or original work – plates, vases, jars, figurines – from just a
few euros to a few thousand. The other Caltagirone specialities are sculpted
terracotta whistles and presepi, or Nativity crib scenes; again, you can find
examples in shops and galleries all across town.

Piazza Municipio

The main square of the old town is Piazza Municipio, where the sturdy seventeenth-
century Corte Capitaniale, decorated by the Gagini family, is used for temporary art
exhibitions. Named after the locally born mayor, reformer and anti-Fascist Luigi
Sturzo (1871–1959), modern Galleria Luigi Sturzo is another exhibition venue.

Museo Civico

Carcere Borbonico, Via Roma 10 • Tues–Sun 9.30am–1pm, plus Tues & Fri–Sun also 4–7pm • €4 • 0933 41 812
Off Piazza Umberto, the square building with grilled windows and spike-studded

metal doors was a Bourbon prison in the eighteenth century, but now houses the
Museo Civico. There’s nothing essential to see inside, just the usual intriguing
collection of local curios, folklore items and architectural fragments, plus paintings by
the Vaccaro family who renovated the cathedral in the nineteenth century.

Museo della Ceramica and the Giardino Pubblico

Via Roma • Daily 9am–6.30pm • €4 • 0933 58 418

The road to the newer town crosses the Ponte San Francesco – studded with ceramic