CHAPTER IV.
TOWNS SITUATED ON THE MOUNTAIN.
Paterno.—Ste. Maria di Licodia.—The site of the ancient town of Aetna.—Biancavilla.—Aderno.—Sicilian Inns.—Adranum.—Bronte.—Randazzo.—Mascali.—Giarre.—Aci Reale.—Its position.—The Scogli de'Ciclopi.—Catania, its early history, and present condition.
We have before alluded to the fact that Etna is far more thickly populated than any other part of Sicily or Italy; in fact, more so than almost any equal area in the world, of course excepting large cities and their neighbourhood. This is due to the wonderful fertility of the soil, the salubrity of the climate, and, on the eastern base, to the proximity of a sea-coast indented with excellent harbours. The habitable zone of Etna is restricted to the Regione Coltivata, nevertheless some of the towns on the north and west have a considerable elevation; thus Bronte is 2,782 feet above the sea, and Randazzo 2,718. All the principal towns are situated on the base road of the mountain, which was indeed constructed in order to connect them. Out of the sixty-four towns and villages on the mountain, the following are the most important: Catania, Aci Reale, Paterno, Aderno, Bronte, Randazzo, Aci S. Antonio, Biancavilla, Calatabiano, Giarre, Francavilla, Linguagrossa, Licodia, Mascali, Misterbianco, Nicolosi, Pedara, Piedemonte, Trecastagne, and Tremestieri.
On our return from the summit, we rested for awhile at Nicolosi, and in the cool of the evening started to make a giro of the mountain by way of the base road. Descending by the Nicolosi road as far as Mascalucia, we branched off to the west, and made for Paterno, passing near the town of Belpasso, which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1669, and subsequently erected on a new site. It still contains more than 7,000 inhabitants, although the district is extremely unhealthy.
Paterno, the second largest town on the flanks of Etna after Catania and Aci Reale, stands in the very heart of the Regione Coltivata, and possesses more than 16,000 inhabitants. According to Cluverius, it is the site of the city of Hybla Major ('′Υβλα Μεγα'λη), a Sikelian city which was unsuccessfully attacked by the Athenians soon after they first landed in Sicily. During the second Punic War, the inhabitants went over to the Carthagenians, but the city was speedily recovered by the Romans. Pliny, Cicero, and Pausanias allude to it, but its later history has not come down to us. An altar was lately found in Paterno dedicated to Veneri Victrici Hyblensi. Several towns in Sicily were called Hybla, probably—according to Pausanias—in honour of a local deity. Paterno was founded by Roger I. in 1073: it was once a feudal city of some importance, and possessed a cathedral and castle, and several large monasteries. Although much fallen to decay, it still possesses a good deal of vitality, and the population is on the increase.
On leaving Paterno the road turns to the North-west, and passes through the village of Ste. Maria di Licodia. Here originally stood the Sikelian City of Inessa (Ιηεσσα), which, after the death of Hiero I., was peopled by colonists from Katana (then called Αιθνη). The new occupants of the city changed its name from Inessa to Aetna, which it retained. The town later fell into the hands of the Syracusans, and in 462 b.c. the Athenians in vain attempted to take it. During the Athenian expedition both Aetna and Hybla were allies of Syracuse. In 403 b.c. Aetna was taken by Dionysius, who placed in it a body of Campanian mercenaries. Sixty-four years later (b.c. 339) the town was taken by Timoleon. For many succeeding years we find no further mention of it. Cicero speaks of it in his time as an important place, and the centre of a very fertile district; it is also mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy, and Strabo says that it was usually the starting point for those who ascended the mountain. Of its later history we know absolutely nothing.
Six miles to the north-west of St. Mariah di Licodia, the road passes through Biancavilla—a town of 13,000 inhabitants, and the centre of a cotton district.
The road continues in the same direction until the town of Aderno is reached; and here we arrived late in the evening, and gained our first experience of a Sicilian inn in an out-of-the-way town. After many enquiries we were directed to the only inn which the place could boast, kept by a doctor. No one appeared at or near the entrance, of course there was no bell or knocker, and we made our way up a dark stone staircase till we arrived at a dimly-lighted passage. A horrible old Sicilian woman now appeared, and showed us with great incivility the only room in the house, which its inmates were willing to place at our disposal. It was a fairly large room, with a stone floor which apparently had not been swept for weeks, and walls that had once been whitewashed; the furniture consisted of three beds placed on tressels, a plain deal table, and some primitive chairs. As to food they had neither bread, meat, wine, eggs, macaroni, fruit, or butter in the house; neither did they offer to procure anything. Even when some eggs had been obtained, and (after an hour's delay) cooked, there was not a single teaspoon to eat them with. The people of the town appear to subsist chiefly on beans and a kind of dried fish. If our courier had not been a very handy fellow and a tolerable cook, we should have been obliged more than once to go to bed supperless. As it was, the best he could do on this occasion was to get some bread, eggs, and wine, and—best of all—some snow, for the heat was intolerable. In a town of the same size—15,657 inhabitants—in England, we should have at least two really comfortable inns ready at any moment to receive and entertain the weary traveller.