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| Ultimate Italy / Islands / Lipari |
| Citadel or Upper Town |
The castello with its splendorous ruins dates back to the 16th century. The Spaniards built it and most of the man-made sights in Lipari are contained within its walls. Go up Via Garibaldi to reach the citadel. You must navigate through long steps that slice the thick walls to reach the Upper Town. Part of the area is an archaeological park where clues of continuous civilizations dating back to 1700 B.C. have been unearthed. These ruins have been very useful to archaeologists in the study of settlements in other Mediterranean cultures. |
| Climb the steps from Via del Concordato to reach the Cathedrale di San Bartolomeo. This cathedral replaced an earlier Norman cathedral destroyed by Barbarossa on his killing rampage in 1544. However a Benedictine cloister from the 1100s survived Redbeard's assault on the cathedral. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Bartolomew, has a incredulous baroque façade. A silver statue of the saint, dating from 1728, can be seen in the northern transept. Open daily from 9am to 1pm, the church charges no admission. |
| Head south of the cathedral to see the archaeological ruins. Excavations here have found stones dating back to the Neolithic Age. There isn’t much to see at the site itself as all major finds are displayed in the archaeological museum. You can see some Greek and Roman burial grounds along with a contemporary Greek-style theater where concerts and ancient plays are performed in July and September. For details of the performances contact the tourist office. The site is open from Monday through Saturday from 9am to 7pm between April and September. During the other months it is open daily between 9am and 4pm. Admission to the archaeological site is free. |
Also in the Upper Town is the Museo Archeologico Eoliano, Via del Castello. It is open daily from 9am to 1:30pm and 3 to 7pm. An admission fee of €4.50 is charged to all visitors. Don not miss the museum as it is one of southern Italy's greatest archaeological museums. Among the exhibits you will find the world's finest Neolithic collection. The museum comprises of two buildings –one to the south of the cathedral in the 17th century Palazzo Vescocile (bishop’s palace). Go here to see the Neolithic and Bronze Age exhibits. The other building is Sezione Classica and lies on the south side of the Duomo. It contains exhibits from the classical and Hellenic periods. Apart from the archeological exhibits mentioned above, the museum also contains the world's greatest collection of theatrical masks. Models unearthed in tombs from the 4th century to the 3rd century B.C are on display. The museum owns some 1,200 of these masks and many of them depict scenes from Greek plays. |
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