Caltagirone

Not really on the way to anywhere, but definitely worth a visit, perhaps, as my father and I did, on the way back to Catania from Piazza Armerina. It is dominated by one industry, or art form perhaps - ceramics, especially decorated tiles. Tiles are everywhere, but most remarkably on La Scala, the magnificent staircase which leads up from the main piazza to the church of Santa Maria del Monte above - 142 beautiful steps, each one with its riser differently adorned with colorful tiles. This is a unique thing: many Sicilian towns have staircase-streets (Taormina, Sciacca, Erice and many others), but only at Caltagirone has it been made into such a stunning feature.

The centre is pedestrianised, which enhances the baroque grandeur of the space and its buildings - the Duomo, the Municipio and the Gesù church. There are two museumn with collections of ceramics, the Museo Civico, which was once a prison (and still looks like one!), and the Museo della Ceramica.