Termini Bassa (Lower Termini)
Cathedral of San Nicola di Bari
Termini Imerese is located in Palermo Province in the Sicilia Region. It is approximately 38km from Palermo and 869km from Rome. It is located on the north coast of Sicily. Termini Imerese derived its name from the Latin for "Thermae Himerenses", which means Hot Springs of Himera.
Termini Imerese is famous for its thermal water spas. These thermal waters flow from two sources at a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius and contain chloride, salt and idoine. The first spa was built by the Romans. There are remains of the arched Roman aqueducts which once carried the waters from the spa to the wealthier families.
Later, on the site of the first two spas, arose another two buildings in the place of the original spas which were destroyed during the many territorial wars that occurred during the history of Sicily. The first of the new buildings was built in the eighteenth century. The second was designed by Architect Damiani Almeyda in the 1800's. Today, the modern recently restructured Grand Hotel delle Terme offers various therapies using the thermal waters from these spas.
The comune of Termini Imerese's population is approximately 26,000. The comune is divided into two parts. Termini Bassa (Lower Termini) and Termini Alta (Upper Termini). Most of the comune's historical attractions are located in Termini Alta which comprises most of the comune's historic center. The railway-bus station and the hotels are located in Termini Bassa.
Looking out over Termini Imerese toward the sea is a spectacular sight. Off to the east of Termini, you can see the steeply rising slopes of Monte San Calogero, which is the peak that marks the beginning of the Madonie Mountain range. The view from the sea presents a picturesque picture of a Sicilian seaside comune.
Entering the comune, you can pass through one of the ten gates that once opened in the 16th century wall that surrounded Termini Imerese. If you enter through the Porta Palermo gate, you will see the Villa Palmieri Park which is laid out on one of the bastiones of the city. There is a beautiful view of the Bay of Termini Imerese from this park. Within these gardens in Villa Palmieri Park, there are remains of a Roman structure, which was possibly the town forum or the basilicata of an early Christian church.
Not far from the Ville Palmieri Park. on the Via Anfiteatro, are the remains of part of the cavea and some of the pillars of the Roman Amphitheatre. In the Via Santa Caterina, there is the Chiesa de Santa Caterina which was built in the 1400's. Inside this church, the interior walls are decorated with valuable frescoes that depict the life of Saint Catherine d'Alessandria. The descriptions of the frescoes and what they portray are described in great deal below the frescoes in the Sicilian dialect. These frescoes were painted by Nicola and Giacomo Graffeo, who were brothers.
If you go down the Via SS Salavatore, you can reach via Giralbaldia and from here, the Piazza Duomo. In the center of the square, there is a stautue which was dedicated to Guiseppe La Masa. On one side of the square is the Termitan Cathedral of San Nicola di Bari which was built during the 1400's and then later was rebuilt during the seventeenth century. The statues on the outside of this cathedral date back to the sixteenth century while a fragment of the cornice on the right side is from the Roman era. The interiors have many Renaissance and Baroque sculptures and include a fifteenth century crucifix which was painted by Pietro Ruzzolone.
From the square, you can reach the city's museum via the Museo Civico. The museum has recently undergone extensive renovation and restoration and contains many artifacts of the area that were found during excavations of the area surrounding Termini Imerese. One of the items that is housed at the museum is a drainpipe with the head of a lion on it which came from the Temple of Victory (480 - 460 B.C.) Other items of interest in the museum include several lion's heads from the Temple of Victory as well as large stone slab with an Arabic inscription. It is believed that this stone slab may have been suspended over the gates of Termini Imerese during the Saracen domination period of Termini's history.
Via Belvedore will lead you to Belvedore Principe Umberto. Here you will find the Roman Forum. From this point, you can also see the magnificent views over the city and of the port and of Monte San Calogero.
To get to the lower part of the city, you have two choices. You can go back to the square and follow the Via Mazzini down or you can follow the "Serpentina" Paolo Balsamo which is a road which snakes down from the upper city. Following this route, you can see some remains of some Roman buildings. Following the Via Mazzini, you can see the Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia with its beautiful fifteenth century tryptych which depicts the "Virgin and Child" and SS, Battista and Michele. Almost in front of these is the church of the Monte which was built in 1600 and for a long time, was used by the citizens of Termini Imerese as a Pantheon. Finally, we reach the long flight of steps to the lower part of the town. Along the way, you will pass a medieval crenellated tower, an ex-Jesuit College (which is now the Law Courts), a Baroque church of the Consalazione with its Serpottinian School stuccoes. Corso Umberto e Margherita, the main street of lower Termini, starts here. Here you will find the old spa flanked by the new Grande Albergo delle Terme (The Grand Hotel and Spa), which has been built on the remains of the Roman and Arab spas and some of these remains are still visible.
The local artisans characteristics are of fantasy and skill. When shopping, you can buy beautiful work made of tufa stone, glass engravings, wickerworks and objects made of wrought iron. The wrought iron objects are often made following the ancient models such as a charming iron cradle swinging from an ornate wrought iron frame.
Termini Imerese has been under the domination of many countries and has been destroyed many times only to be rebuilt again. Many of the structures were literally reduced to ruins, such as the Temple of Victory built early under the orders of Gelon, a tyrant of Syracuse. The Carthegenians saw this Temple as a sign of defeat because it was built using the taxes they were forced to pay after the Greek victory of 480 B.C. Over the years, the city grew and under the Roman guidance, became a prosperous city. Thermae Himerenses was supplied with all the infrastructures necessary to prosper as a Roman city: a Forum, port, a bridge into town, an amphitheatre, a curia (Senator's house), and an aqueduct over 8km long named after Cornelio who was the builder of this project. The aqueduct was essential to the prosperity of the city which needed a constant water supply and it was so well-built that it continued to be used until the 1860's.
Written by Laura Johnson and published in the Comunes of Italy Magazine, 2000
For more information about Termini Imerese, a website is devoted entirely to this comune and has a mailing list and database associated with it as well.