Let us enrich ourselves with our mutual differences!
This what the French writer, poet and aphorist, Paul Valery used to say.
And nothing could be more true to say and write.
Sicily offers many possibilities of discoveries and accessibility to people with different abilities
Any example?
The tactile multimedia museum in Catania !!!
The museum is situated in the upper part of the town in via. Etnea. You can get there by private car or by public transport. The front door has a keypad with raised buttons and braille.
It houses a rich collection of paper layers with draw reliefs and texts with characters in black and Braille;
Big display of casts and reproductions of monuments and landmarks of the area.
Among the facilities available there is an outside cafeteria, a first aid and customer care point.
The place is designed with the aim to become a meeting place and exchange between blind and visually impaired people.
On the ground floor are located the rooms of the tactile museum, where are exhibited reproductions of works of art in life-size and not; the showroom houses “Fragments of Light”, which exhibits globes, maps, subsidies for maths, educational games for the perception of children. Here you can find innovative educational and technological devices for blind and visually impaired people;
“No see cafe”, is an internet cafe that allows the use of the web by blind people; the dark bar and the garden path with plantar tactile itinerary.
A chance to live a unique experience!
Other museums or places with special accesibility and facilities
In Catania you can also visit a piece of history built by Frederick II of Swebia in 1239 and designed by the architect Riccardo da Lentini.
Let’s talk about Castello Ursino Museum!
Castello Ursino is located in the square (also known as Frederick of Swebia) in the heart of the historical center of the city.
Crossing the square, after about 50 meters, you arrive at the entrance of the building; here the visitor can find a tactile-plantar guide and a tactile map with text and Braille which describe well the itinerary and the main sites of your visit.
The paths inside are made easier thanks to the ramps that allow to win the gaps of the different levels of the old building of the museum.
The Castle is provided with:
Easy approach to the structure (presence of ramps, maximum sloping of 5%)
Reserved parking spaces;
Tactile map of the trail located at the entrance;
Free obstacles entrance and gaps very well marked;
Qualified customer service for the welcoming of people with different abilities;
Display with brochures, instruction and posters;
Indoor even floor paths of ramps linked to ramps and vertical access thans to lifts;
Toilet for people on wheelchair or different abilities;
Outdoor cafeteria and eateries.
In Syracuse, people that love the water and swimming can have extraordinary opportunities of fun and even scuba diving at the local Marine natural reserve of Plemmirio.
Plemmirio hosts the only place in Italy fully equipped to provide a scuba diving experience to the children and people with different disabilities; higly skilled operators have all the technical equipments necessary like mooring buoys and 13 different fully equipped diving points.
The list goes on…
Piazza Duomo in Catania
Cathedral of Sant’Agata, Catania
Archaeological area and the Greek-Roman Theatre, Catania
Benedictine Monastery, Catania
Via Crociferi, Catania
Botanical garden, Catania
Cyclops coast Marine Protected Area, Aci Castello (Catania)
Mt Etna, Nicolosi (Catania)
Ortigia, Syracuse
Piazza Duomo, Syracuse
Greek Theatre, Syracuse
Regional Archaeological Museum “Paolo Orsi” Syracuse
Nature Reserve and Wildlife Oasis in Vendicari, Siracusa
Nature Reserve of Pantalica, Sortino (Syracuse)
Tower of Frederick II, Enna
Castello di Lombardia, Enna
Morgantina archeological park (Morgantina – Enna)
Roman Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina (Enna)
Lake of Pergusa (Enna)
Grottacalda Mineral Park, Floristella (Enna)
Natural Reserve of Sperlinga Forest and Upper Salso, Sperlinga (Enna)