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procession (a sacred duty)
A tiny slice of the parade to honor Sant’Agata. It’s chaotic. And spiritual. And confusing. And somehow comforting.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
tools of the trade
I can’t even begin to understand everything we saw during the Sant’Agata procession. Devotees in the streets purchase candles (yard long ones, not like little American birthday candles) which are handed up as offerings to the men on the candalore ((gilded wooden constructions). At various points during the three-day long procession, the parade stops while candles are removed in order to make way for more. At one of these stops, we stood behind a pair of priests and I had plenty of time to work on an image of this wooden rosary and its shadow.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
devotee
On the morning of the first day of the Feast of Sant’Agata, I looked out my hotel window and saw a solitary devotee heading toward the cathedral.
It wasn’t long before the streets would be filled with people, many of them dressed in the traditional feast-day clothing like this gentleman. This moment, although I didn’t realize it then, was the only bit of quiet for a long time: the parades celebrating the Saint are loud and joyous.
Catania, Sicily
photographed 2.4.2025
most of a chair
This? Oh, just part of a chair.
Part of a chair that’s suspended from a window.
Part of a chair that’s suspended from a window in the usual fashion.
Hardly even worth mentioning, really.
Monreale, Sicily
photographed 1.30.2025
two saints and jesus
Yesterday I posted a photo of ancient Roman tiles on the floor of a villa.
Here’s more tile, this time Byzantine glass mosaics dating from the late 12th and the mid-13th centuries. These mosaics (6,500 m2; 70,000 square feet) cover the interior of the Duomo de Monreale, which is considered to be one of the finest examples of existing Norman architecture. Work on the cathedral was begun in 1174.
Fact check: According to a legend, William II of Sicily fell asleep under a carob tree while hunting in the woods near Monreale. The Holy Virgin appeared to him in dream, suggesting that he should build a church there. After removing the tree, a treasure was found in its roots, whose golden coins were used to finance the construction. It is more likely that the church was part of a plan of large construction in competition with the bishop of Palermo, who had ordered the large Cathedral of Palermo.
Duomo de Monreale
Montreale, Sicily
photographed 1.30.2025
One Day | One Image 