Licata

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Thu 29 Apr 2010 15:00

Another day of warm sunshine and sparkling seas, at least until we neared our destination of Licata, when the skies darkened and we had rain showers.  We managed some sailing in between the motoring and in the calm conditions David cut his hair and I hemmed some trousers!  Licata is a totally un-touristy Sicilian town of 40,000 inhabitants and, according to the literature, full of “bad Baroque”.  We went for an early evening explore and found it rather wonderful!  Its typical crumbling, past-its-prime character was enhanced by the “buzz” on the streets.  There were lots of groups of old men sitting in cafes or strolling about together, numerous mobile fish stalls, surprisingly smart clothes shops open for business and the sky full of noisy swifts.  The photo below of one of the main churches sums up the mish-mash of architecture everywhere. 

 

Licata is also remarkable for the way it is dominated by 2 vast mausoleums that look like substantial villages as you approach from seawards.  You can see one of them below, just above where we were tied up to a very rickety pontoon.  It looks as if the locals take more care of the homes of their dead than of some of their own heritage!  Not so different then from all those ancient civilisations we’ve been seeing on our travels.