There is an island in Italy. And on the island – volcano. And at the foot of the volcano – the city and the city – black-precherny elephant out of the real lava. The island is called Sicily and the city – Catania. But the elephant – a symbol of the city, whose origin is unknown to so far. Details can be found by clicking The Metropolitan Museum of Art or emailing the administrator. Therefore, residents told a lot of legends about the origin of her favorite thick-skinned idol. The most favorite and romantic is that once Catania was destroyed by lava, which is not stopping their measured progress. cover half the city.
To restore Catania was a competition among architects, who won Vakkarini. In the process of ‘digging’ houses and buildings from the lava Vakkarini virtually ‘fished out’ of lava little black elephant made of lava mark was regarded as a sign of reconciliation between the city and the volcano. The volcano is no longer filled up the city with lava, and elephant, which was placed in the heart of the city’s main square became his custodian. As for the other hypotheses, then in 1508, the elephant has already moved into the city during Drisi was placed on the west side only built by the municipality, and there he collapsed in the devastating earthquake in 1693, the elephant was broken legs and trunk, which was restored during the Vakkarini in 1735, and then it was placed in the center square. Egyptian obelisk, which bears the elephant – from octagonal granite tower height of 3.61 meters, and it hieroglyphs respective cultures Iside, which must have existed in ancient Catania, and which has obvious points of contact with the cult of S. Agata. Restoration of the fountain Vaccarini was completed in 1737 with the first pool in 1826 was added to the handrail iron, and in 1905 was with a second pool, then to take the present aspect again with no handrail in the eighties. You can talk brilliantly from a historical point of view to a single monument, we found sobrynnymi together three great civilizations, which form a civilian – a historical substratum of Catania: that ancient Egyptian, the sicula and the ancient Egyptian Christian. Ancient Egyptian obelisk brought to that appears to us as they were blooming trade and the vitality of Catania in antiquity, the sicula, submitted an elephant from lavicheskogo stone, a talisman, with which the residents attempted to defend against Catania Etna, and finally Christianity that provided the cross and the board, which reminds us of the basis of martyrdom (St. Agatha). and which represents the religious faith and patriotic love of the inhabitants of Catania.
