town of Milazzo, we load up and drive up a winding mountainside road and arrive at the Cathedral of the Black Madonna which is situated on the highest point overlooking Milazzo and neighboring communities.We park our vehicles and walk the last half mile to the cathedral built in 1957 in the classical style. It's hot and we sweat alot!
Upon entering the church, we are immediately bathed in comforting and elegant colors of soft pink, blues, greens, and golds. The floor is defined in geometric shapes and colors of stones that help to give one a sense of place in a very large architectural setting. We sit for awhile.
The locals are still absent as we wander about on the top of the mountain and thru the Roman amphitheater, ruins and public baths. Detailed mosaics decorate the bath house floors and a partial reconstruction has been done on the arched entrance to the baths. The early evening sunlight casts beautiful colors and shadows on the soft terra cotta colored stones. Palms and olive trees surrround the area.
As we decend the mountain top on foot, the local visitors are ascending the hillside. The streets are coming alive with visitors to the cathedral, and the church bells ring out to signal the start of mass at 7:00 pm.
Down the hill we go and we wrap up the day with cards and pizza at La Casetta B & B.
They have been very kind to us and we bid farewell to them the next morning.
1 comment:
hey - when did this post appear? hi john. i'm being stalker-ish and leaving you tons of comments.
Post a Comment