THE SEVEN GATES TO ENNA (SICILY)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

There were seven gates to get into the city of Enna. Over time, all but one either collapsed or were demolished for urban planning needs.

The only gate still existing is Janniscuru Gate. It stands on one of the slopes of Enna, a mountain city in the center of Sicily.

Enna did not need fortified walls to protect itself against enemy attacks, for the sheer cliffs that surrounded large part of the city, being natural strongholds, were enough to prevent the enemies from taking it.

What was the function of the seven gates in a city without defensive walls? They were there to check people and goods that entered the city and above all to collect taxes on incoming goods. At the time, the most profitable tax for a city was that called by the Romans portaticum (gate tax), but it also existed in ancient Greece. The tax collectors collected it at the gates of the city.

Near Janniscuru Gate, there is a small cave, where the publicans most likely collected taxes and kept accounts.

Since the world began, taxes have always existed! Unfortunately!

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE CHURCH OF SANTA CHIARA IN ENNA (SICILY)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

If you come to Sicily, do not miss visiting the Church of Santa Chiara in Enna. It has a long history.

For two centuries, it has been the chapel of a Jesuit monastery. After the Jesuits left, above all for political reasons, the cloistered Sisters of Santa Chiara took over, and then they too left, this time because of lack of vocations. After the end of World War II, the chapel was converted into a shrine of fallen soldiers. The altars and the holy statues and pictures were removed. In the walls were placed burial niches where the bodies of the soldiers who died in the war are still kept.

What makes the Church of Santa Chiara unique is the fact that the citizens of Enna placed in the niches not only the bodies of the Italian soldiers, but also those of the foreign soldiers: Germans, British, Americans, and Canadians. who died near Enna.

On one of the walls, there are tombstones that read IGNOTO (UNKNOWN). This is because the people of Enna at that time found it difficult to read and then transcribe the names in the identity tags of the foreign soldiers. They buried them in the church in the same way as they had done with the Italians.

While visiting the Church of Santa Chiara my thoughts went to the war in Ukraine. How many young soldiers on both sides are dying without knowing why! I hope that someday the world will change and no more young soldiers will die for nothing!

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE HEART OF CHOPIN

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

Before dying, Chopin requested that his heart be explanted and taken to Warsaw upon his death. Adhering to his will, his sister Ludwika put her brother’s heart into an urn filled with alcohol and took it to the Church of the Holy Cross, in Warsaw.

These days, Chopin’s body rests in Paris, while his heart is buried in Warsaw.

When we entered the Church of the Holy Cross, the melodious sound of the organ flooded the atmosphere. There was a tombstone in a wall of the church, which read in both Polish and English: here rests the heart of Frederick Chopin. We took a seat near Chopin’s heart and stayed there for a while, meditating on the spiritual heart of Chopin. Yes, music and art are universal languages; we should use them to communicate each other, I thought.

Now we are back home, in Enna, Sicily. I love to play a piece from one of his nocturnes.

While playing, I think of him as a piano teacher and hope he will forgive me for my amateur performance of his immortal music.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo



PANUZZI DI SAN GIUSEPPE (BREAD OF ST. JOSEPH)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

March 19, St. Joseph’s Day, is drawing near, and now it is possible to purchase the traditional panuzzi di San Giuseppe in the bakeries in Enna (Sicily). On this day, bread becomes an object of art; furthermore, it is particularly tasty.

Today, my wife and I were strolling in the street, when we came across a bakery that displayed St. Joseph’s bread. It had various shapes, such as a hand, to symbolize the work of an artisan, a hammer, pincers, and nails, to symbolize the tools of a carpenter. In fact, St. Joseph, Jesus’s putative father, was a carpenter, a rich carpenter, according to some. In my hometown of Enna, he is considered the patron saint of the artisans. The name Giuseppe (Joseph) is widespread.

In Leonforte and Valguarnera Caropepe (two towns near Enna), it is customary to set a table with a large amount of bread and tasty food on St. Joseph’s Day. These laid tables are called tavolate di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s tables).Visitors from all over Sicily come to see them. At the end of St. Joseph’s Day, the poor enter the houses and freely eat the food from the tables.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

THE SUNDIAL OF THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN IN ENNA (SICILY)

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

Although some philosophers claim that space and time do not exist, the fact is that since time immemorial man has felt the need to measure time. At first, they divided the month into days, based on the cycles of the moon; then they divided the day into hours and for that purpose, they created a precision instrument called a sundial.

It seems that the first rudimental sundials date back to the Neolithic, but it is certain that the Greek philosophers perfected such a device, to measure the time of the day. In 263 BC, the Romans placed a sundial in the Roman Forum, which had been built in Catania (Sicily).

Until the invention of the clock, people used sundials. Afterwards, they continued to build them just to decorate the facades of churches and palaces.

The sundial of the Church of St. John in Enna dates back to 1742, and it is still working.

Does time always flow at the same speed? It seems not. These days, time runs very fast. People are always busy and complain that they never have time. Was life better then or now?   

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

POPE JOHN PAUL II AND SICILY

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

Pope John Paul II came to Sicily five times. During his visit on May 9, 1993, he excommunicated the Mafia. Standing in front of the Temple of Concord in Agrigento, he scolded the Mafiosi and angrily said: “I say to the leaders (of the Mafia): repent, because one day you will face the judgment of God.”

As if by a miracle, after the great Polish pope’s anathema against the mafia, there have been no more mafia massacres in Sicily. Of course, his words had an effect.

Now John Paul II is watching us from heaven. I feel he is scolding someone else now, admonishing the leaders of the world to end this useless slaughter and make peace prevail over war.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo

WHO CONTROLS THE MIND?

Posted on by Ettore Grillo

“Everything depends upon our mind. But, who controls the mind? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe it is I who controls my mind or it is my mind that controls itself. In this case, I would like to know how the mind can control itself. If it is fidgety, how can it calm itself down? And, if it is peaceful, how does it keep calm? It is not possible that at the same time the controller and the controlled coexist—that is, a mind that controls itself.”

“It is obvious,” retorted Lorenzo, “that it is the ‘ego’ that controls the mind. So, with regard to me, I can assess with absolute certainty, that at this very moment I, Lorenzo, am control-ling my mind, keeping it according to my will, either calm or uneasy.”

The discussion in the hall of the Circle of Noblemen became animate. My Uncle Salvatore also joined in.

“That is not exact!” he said. “If it were true that I can control my mind, I would never allow it to become uneasy or dull, because, doing that, I would turn against myself. Nobody freely chooses to keep a restless or a dull mind. It follows that I cannot control my mind. (This is an excerpt from Travels of the Mind).

We can control all instruments, but who can control the mind of a politician? Let me know the answer, if you know.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:

– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily

– A Hidden Sicilian History

– The Vibrations of Words

– Travels of the Mind

http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo