Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-12
LAVA BUILT TOWNS.
Impressive Evidences of Etna's De.
structive Power Afforded by
THE CITIES OF MODERN SICILY.
Half-Ruined Structures That Are Famous
in Classic Literature.
A JOURNEY TO THE CRATER's MOUTH

| CORRESPONDENCE OF THE pIsPATcH.l
CATANIA, SICILY, March 24-One has
to resist the strongest possible tenn mDtation to
classic musings at Catania. In the pagan
and Christian history of the eastern shore Of
the island o! Sicily, or that portion extend
ing from Messina at its northeastern ex-
tiemity past Catania, about midway be-
tween, to Syracuse, in nearly direct north
and-south line, one can Utmost rea the his
tory OF the world. Exactly half way be-
tween Messina and Syracuse, its summit
about the same distance from that part of
the Ionian Sea known as the Strait of Mes
sina, as it lies trife west of north of Cata-
mia, stands that origin of countless mytho-
| logic furies and incalculable actual destruc-
ton. the most majestic and fearful volcano OF
all Europe, Mt. Etna.
From any of the tiny lava peaks in the
suburbs OF Catania, within ones range OF
| vision the fancy can summon to their olde
| places the myth-wraiths of Jove's most pow
er nj helpers, lrowni1g from Etna's smok y
| crest; the wrath of Empedocles wanderin g
on Etna's side, clothed in purple and bear
ing Delphic crown, five centuries before
Christ; of Dionysius, the elder, 200 years
later, after destroying Naxos scaling the
walls of little Mola above, like a ferocious
beast to butcher its defenders; of the silver
tongued Alcibiades. down there in the amphi-
theater, built between 400 and 500 years
before Christ, which you can to-day see
BENEATH AGES OF LAVA.
enthralling the Catanians with his loving
speech, while the Athenians were treacher-
ously entering the city along the shore; of
the demigod warriors and philosophers
flashing like meteors within the scenes of
the Roman Amphitheater, scarcely less
majestic than the Coliseum, whose irag-
ments still exist beneath the street of Slesi-
choros; of that old lawmaker we ought to
have at Washington, Charondas, who de-
creed that legislators should only make, or
1nmake laws while standing with halter
around their necka before the people, ready
Tor hanging, should their propositions fail
to prevail; of st. Paul fervidly preaching q
simple faith in simpler way than
Christianity now enforces its unyielding
and aggressive creeds, down there among
the lowlv upon the Ionian shore; away to
the south, the wraiths OF countless hosts
OF invaders who perished upon the
Catanian plains, once the granary
of the world, where Ceres, with her
own divine hands, sowed the first wheat and
taught men to till the soil; and beyond,
ShlTLiUR Tue 1Ouldu LDOSe
wraiths Of myths and humans that knew the
birth, acme, decay. despair and destruction
of that most magnificent of all Hellenic
cities, glorious, sad, transcendent, pitiable,
Syracuse, For truly all this and thousand
fold more are seen with the eyes Of sense and
thought, while the lightning flashes O. fancy
course the realms Of mythology and history.
There, at Etna, Enceladus, bound beneath
Jupiter's earthly throne, turning upon his
fiery bed every century or so, shakes the
world with his earthquakes. Here, at Cats-
mia, 20 centuries Of storied treasure and art
lie buried beneath seas of liquid fire.
Beyond, at Syracuse. the noblest magnif-
cence OF Greek achievement is crumbling
beneath centuries OF filth. The sea. the mo-
rasses with their deadly miasma, and the
ever threatening iuries of Etna, alone re-
main. Resplendent civilizations are an
nihilated. Etna roared, the seas engulfed,
the morasses swept hosts away. That was
2, 500 years ago. We say of that time. Super
stition was the mother of Mythology. Let
Etna roar, tidal wave engulf. or stinking
swamp breed pestilence to girdle the earth.
a more sodden superstition and fatalism are
here to accept the old, and create new, buga-
boos to-day. What availed st. Paul's aus
terity, St. Peters benignancy, or even that
a Christ was born, to such as these?
EVIDENCES OF ETNA'S WRATH.
But how can you long continue with the
gods, when vile beggars chase you from one
classic point to another, and alert and ven-
turesome feas, brave as another Italian
whose discoveries we are about to celebrate,
swarm over new worlds OF conquest upon
your toothsome American anatomy? 1t is
impossible. And SO you see Catania with
eyes of to-day. The streets are paved with
lava. fountains are carved from lava, floors
are tiled with lava, interiors are built from
lava, the very dishes one eats from are turned
out of lava, and the bread one gets is hard,
shiny and tasteless as lava itself. You can
never get away from constant conscious
ness OF the source of destructiveness and
revivifcation bowling Etna is to Catania, to
its near cities, the dense population herding
all about its base, and even to smiling and
exultant nature ITSELF Over 80 eruptions Of
Etna are OF historic record. 1t spews out
rivers OF liquid fire every generation or so.
These obliterate cities, villages, the very
face Of nature. The people run away and
let the lava cool. Then they come back and
dig out their homes, or com posedly cut blocks
from the handy substance and build anew.
Perhaps 90 600 souls exist in Catania. The
palaces which border her principal streets
are very new, splendid and great; perhaps
the Biscaria Palace, which houses vast stores
OF Greek sarcophagi, terra cottas, vases and
sculptures, excavated from the lava, being
the most imposing. Then there is the Ma
rina, where the lowly gather and listen to
the music OF Government bands, a filthy
place much loved by the lazzaroni. But
the Bellini Garden, out on the heights to-
ward Etna, is surprisingly beautiful; and
in this you will see military officials re-
splendent in uniforms and decorations, lords
and princes covered with
INSIGNIA OF RANK,
all the really interesting aristocracy of
Catania, and truly the most winsome, soul
tul.eyed, empty-headed women of Sicily. |
Or the Greco Roman remains the theater
can be visited by the use of guides and
torches The ancient Odeum is near; and in !
.Archebusiri street will be ound what is lett |
OF the Roman Amphitheater. Under the |
Piazza del Duomo, adjacent to the great |
Cathedral are the Roman baths; but the |
best preserved specimens of these are seen |
underneath the Carmelite Church, where |
there still remain, in marble, the warm bath, /
the hot water bath, the vapor bath, and the |
freroom and the disrobing room. There are
many medieval hall-ruined structures of in
terest in Catania; while the unfinished Mon
astery of San Nicola is, excepting that of
Mafra in Portugal, the largest and most i'm
posing in all Europe.
But the traveller is not so much attracted
to Catania by its reminders OF a mighty past