Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte, Caltagirone

Caltagirone, a hill town in the interior of south-eastern Sicily, is known above all for its ceramics, and its great stairway is where that craft goes on public display. Laid out in 1606 under the direction of Giuseppe Giacalone, the Scala di Santa Maria del Monte climbs more than 130 metres from the lower town straight up to the church of Santa Maria del Monte at the top of the hill. It originally had 150 steps; a remodelling in 1844 left the 142 that are climbed today.

Since 1954 every riser has been faced with hand-painted majolica tiles — the detail that turns a steep civic staircase into a work of art. The tiles form a small history of Sicilian ceramics read from bottom to top, with motifs arranged by period — from patterns in the Arab tradition up to contemporary designs — so the climb becomes a walk through time. One step, the 103rd, bears a reference to the 103rd Psalm. Looking back down from the top, the whole flight narrows into a ribbon of colour against the rooftops.

The staircase is at its most spectacular on the nights of 24–25 July, for the feast of St James, the town's patron, when some 4,000 oil lamps are set out on the steps to draw a vast image that glows over the town; the illumination is repeated in mid-August. In May the Infiorata covers the steps with flowers. Caltagirone was largely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and is one of the Late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2002.

Getting there

The staircase rises from the centre of Caltagirone, a few hundred metres from the main squares. The nearest airport is Comiso (CIY), about 28 km away. The stairway is a public street; the steps are steep and the upper sections are best taken slowly.