Known primarily for its ceramics, Caltagirone, it is impossible to visit here and not realize what the town is known for. Bright colored ceramics decorate almost every street corner, and ceramic shops are almost more frequent then the coffee bars.

Besides their ceramics, Caltagirone has a number of other reasons to visit, one of them being the Scala di Santa Maria del Monte. This enormous staircase connects the old town (the religious center) and the new town below (the secular center).

Each of the 142 steps is faced with a different pattern of ceramic decoration, and on the 24th and 25th of July thousand of color wrapped candles are placed on these steps in the festival of San Giacomo.

Public park and ceramic (of course!) decorated gazebo in Caltagirone (Nov 1998)

Looking down the Scala di Santa Maria del Monte (Nov 1998)

Looking up the Scala di Santa Maria del Monte (Nov 1998)

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