Early yesterday afternoon, we took a hydrofoil from Santa Marina, Salina, to Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands. Our hotel had a driver pick us up at the port, to drive us up the hill to the hotel. We have a magnificent view of downtown Lipari Town and its Acropolis. We set off quickly to explore the town. We first went to the Acropolis, which houses the Aeolian Islands Archaeological Museum. What we found far exceeded our expectations of a museum. The museum was houses chronologically by major time period, in eight buildings plus there are additional churches, cloisters, cemetery, theater, etc.
Human settlements on the island have been traced back to the Neolithic period, around 5500-5000 BC, through the Bronze Ages, to Greek and Roman settlements, Norman then Spanish occupation... to present day. The museum houses the best of the findings from all the Aeolian Islands. We were quite impressed by the quantity and the quality of the items exhibited as well as the exhibition itself. We went in the Cathedral San Bartolomeo, with its painted and vaulted ceiling, and decked out for a wedding. Beautiful!
After several hours in the museum, we walked down to the local marina/port, where everyone was enjoying Saturday evening. We had dinner and a gelato. We're enjoying Lipari!
Human settlements on the island have been traced back to the Neolithic period, around 5500-5000 BC, through the Bronze Ages, to Greek and Roman settlements, Norman then Spanish occupation... to present day. The museum houses the best of the findings from all the Aeolian Islands. We were quite impressed by the quantity and the quality of the items exhibited as well as the exhibition itself. We went in the Cathedral San Bartolomeo, with its painted and vaulted ceiling, and decked out for a wedding. Beautiful!
After several hours in the museum, we walked down to the local marina/port, where everyone was enjoying Saturday evening. We had dinner and a gelato. We're enjoying Lipari!
