CATANIA

                                                                                  

It is said that one day Pluto, God of the Hades, had taken a fancy to Proserpina, the daughter of Cerere, goddess of the mother Earth and sister of Jupiter. He abducted her  while she was picking narcissuses in the green meadows at the stratums of the Etna. The girl came dragged down in the bowels of the Earth, in the world of shadows, in order to become his spouse.

  

Cerere, her mother, had given herself up to despair for the loss of the daughter and asked  Jupiter to relieve her pain. Jupiter, magnanimous, commanded that Proserpina had to spent 6 months of each year with her mother and 6 months with her husband Pluto.

 

A forerunner solution of the best legal sentences of these days. It is believed the sacrifice of Proserpina had determined the rising of the Spring and the abundance of the fruits that always rendered famous the land of Sicily. In honor of the delicate spouse, Pluto caused to gush forth a blue source, the Ciane Source, from which the homonymous river is born and  over whose sides grow the luxuriant papyrus.

 

Of this story, all that remains to us is the papyrus, the Ciane river and the  Etna. But, you will be able to sweetly sail on a barge in the calm waters of the Ciane, while waiters in white gloves serve you the most refined lunch, rich with savory typical local products. For those who love the adventures, there are guided excursions on the Etna, which is the most famous active volcano in Europe. As you are close, you will admire the fascinating magma eruptions to come from its crater.

 

On the island, the rest is sacred and must be tasted slowly like its wines well known in all Europe. Some Renaissance palaces property, belong to the sicilian nobility, will receive you in theirs historical suites, which are equipped for very comfort. They overlook the splendid sweet-smelling gardens, and the far away call of the hawk will carry you to the lazily sleepiness around you.

 

You, like Proserpina, will be able to spend a moment of your life in the mother earth, like a return to our origins, accomodated by the Princes of the ancient island aristocracy. You will be able to take a lunch  in their gardens or in the typical trattories . You will dance in the ancient halls, savoring the gattopardesca (from the film, The Gattopardo, featured  Burt Lancaster, and directed by Luchino Visconti) air of ancient memory. You will discover an exclusive Sicily, one that was never "exported" before. An unknown place, center of hospitality, with magical glamour and ancient  feelings of medieval knights.

 

  

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