Ever since we can remember, Porto Empedocle has always been considered as a destination where to arrive and from where to start since it is a place by the sea.
And when we talk about the sea, we are talking about an element that favors the meeting of peoples, mercantile operations that develop trade, values originating from a sense of exploration and adventure. All this and more is what a shrewd traveler can recognize by visiting Porto Empedocle or by listening mysterious legends which fill this beautiful city with a singular charm rarely found in other places.
Who has had the good fortune to meet the president of theArcheoclub of Italy, he will have known a woman widely inserted in the cultural context of Porto Empedocle - a city of which he knows every aspect - through which to undertake objective actions to enrich and socially share the local culture which is not limited to having commissioned a celebratory mural by Andrea Camilleri, but which has been produced in many other initiatives including the positioning of a library cabin right in the center of the town and a special interest in environmental sustainability and tourism development.
Rely on the ancient legends of Porto Empedocle
And it is precisely by referring to the stories and legends of the city that this young manager relies to scientifically investigate historically documented facts. One of these refers to a alley which leads directly to via Roma thanks to a spectacular staircase which has the name of Gibilaro ascent. It is a old passage which once connected the upper part of Porto Empedocle, then the most inhabited and which today is the historic centre, with the beach where was the marine village.
The alley is located just behind an old religious building where, when work began to renovate the church, the found many human bones, suggesting that a cemetery once stood in that place.
This fact has given rise to great interest mixed with amazement so much that the famous writer Andrea Camilleri he wanted to take this place as an ideal location where to set the story experienced by his character Montalbano in the novel "The terracotta dog".
For the residents of Porto Empedocle, the Salita Gibilaro is called Armuzzi Prigatoriu, Namely Souls in Purgatory, which the classic iconography wants them to burn in the flames of purgatory.
The religious symbol of Porto Empedocle is represented by the Madonna del Carmelo with the Child Jesus who rises above the souls in Purgatory to save them from the flames of hell. It should not be forgotten that until recently individuals who died not a natural death were forbidden to celebrate their funeral in the church and these became for the people, the Armuzzi Prigatoriu. It still appears to be the custom today to entrust prayers to the Madonna del Carmelo for men of the sea so that she can protect them by leading them healthy to the port. Legend has it that every year the Madonna descends from Paradise to go to Purgatory to save nine souls, three of whom are killed, three suicides and three drowned.
The souls of the purgatory of Porto Empedocle
Even if more than two hundred years have passed, the alley remains one of the most evocative and still capable of instilling in the residents, a rather significant awe so much so that it seems that no one is able to stand in this alley as if he were invited by a mysterious voice to get away from that place as soon as possible.
A common belief is that the damned souls of Purgatory reside in this passage accompanied by the evil entities that are close to them. In the tales of the oral tradition, there are a couple that predate the writings of Pirandello and Camilleri.
The first legend it narrates that the fishermen came down from their houses to go to the sea, quickly crossing this haunted alley before dawn to go fishing, well aware that the path was infested souls of purgatory. It happened that one night a fisherman who was going down the alley by himself suddenly found himself in front of two walls that had mysteriously risen up in front of and behind his person so as to leave him no escape route. Finding himself defenseless and with no alternative whatsoever, he knelt down crying and frightened, leaning against a wall and imploring Our Lady of Mount Carmel who, seeing the desperation of the fisherman lost in the darkness and mocked by evil presences, ran to his aid and with a miraculous bundle of light made the two walls disappear. Since this episode occurred, a votive aedicule was erected in the same spot where the Madonna del Carmelo is painted and is always paid homage by the faithful.
Walking the alley in the opposite direction, i.e. starting from via Roma, you can see a XNUMXth-century wooden sign depicting a lion and which was most likely the sign of a pharmacy called Lion Pharmacy. And it is precisely from this animal that one was born second legend which combines the Greek term drug – i.e. remedy – with the lion.
Legend has it that if a family was in poverty and wanted to change its destiny, it had to go at a certain time of night only after having recited a few invocations, inside the alley where the bravest element of the family would be sacrificed and would disappear between walls mysteriously appeared and then kidnapped by lions.
At this point there was no more news of him but the family changed its fate, becoming rich and powerful.
If you are curious to learn more about the subject, all you have to do is go to Porto Empedocle and look for the truth.
© Image by Antonio Pignato, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
