All language subtitles for The Worlds Most Scenic Railway Journeys Series 3 Part 3 Sicily 1080p

NARRATOR: join us on an
extraordinary journey back in time...

...through a landscape forged by the
earth's forces and ancient civilisations...

The best archaeological
Roman monuments

are physically connected
with the historic town.

...on a railway line that crosses
seven World Heritage sites...

It became one of the centres of the ancient
world. It has everything going for it.

...and forged its way
through mountains...

This is a splendid
engineering work,

the most famous in Sicily.

...ending at the volcano
which dominates the whole island.

Take a look now.
There's ash. It's coming out.

We'll meet the people who live and
work along this very special train line.

It's wonderful,
the landscape you can see,

can admire on Etna.

This is no ordinary
railway journey.

This is one of the most scenic
railway journeys in the world -

Sicily.

Sicily,
an island almost frozen in time...

...where the remains of ancient
civilisations can still be admired.

We'll start our train journey
in southern Sicily...

...a sun-soaked land tucked away
at the head of the lpari Valley.

It's early morning...

...and this 18th-century town
of Comiso is slowly waking up.

TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT IN ITALIAN

To whisk us away
is the regional Minuetto.

Powered by two V8 diesel engines,
it may look small

but packs a combined
1500 horsepower.

In charge of our train
is 36-year-old Marco,

who's been working on this line
for 16 years.

I am a train manager.

I give information to customers
and control the tickets.

This train is modern.

Is 160 seats.

This line is used by tourists
for three or four months,

and also the commuter passenger.

The train line is spectacular. ls
the best of Sicily, in my opinion.

In the track you can see
the best of baroque in Sicily.

Our journey will take us
from Comiso

in the southeast corner of Sicily

to the top of Mount Etna.

To begin with,
we'll stop at a castle,

then climb towards
the city of Ragusa.

Our train then heads east
to Modica and the coast

to the historic city of Siracusa.

Heading north,
we skirt the Ionian Sea

to this area's capital, Catania,
sitting under Mount Etna.

The final leg of the journey
is the unique train

that circles the volcano,

and then a special trip
to its summit.

The lpari Valley is a place rich with
Sicily's famous olives, carobs and grapes.

Looking out over
this peaceful limestone landscape,

this serene view
has mostly remained unchanged

since the line was built
150 years ago.

That's part of its fascination
for local history guide Simona.

From 1861 to 1893,

the very beginning
of unification of Italy,

the landowners and
the noble families debate a lot

about how to do the rail line
in this side of Sicily.

They need a railway.

They need to reach Siracusa's port

in order to sell their product.

It was along this eight-mile stretch from
Comiso to our first stop, Donnafugata,

that the line's construction
took a rather unusual turn.

A local royal baron fancied his own
bit of railway - and station.

A touch of luxury for him,

but a much more difficult route
for the engineers.

The railway from Comiso to Ragusa

had to pass on the top
of the canyon.

Francesca, who grew up near here,

knows much about this eccentric
baron and his very own stop.

We are at Donnafugata
train station.

It's a bit of a special kind of
station because it is not in a town

but by a castle.

It's a residence for
the Barons Arezzo di Donnafugata.

It's not actually a castle.
It is a country mansion.

It was built as you see it today in
the second half of the 19th century.

The reason why he transformed it
into a neo-Gothic castle

was actually because, at that time,
the Sicilian aristocracy

looked at England as an example.

The baron was intrigued
by Hampton Court

and thought he'd emulate Henry VIII
in rural Sicily,

including a replica of
the king's aristocratic pastime.

We are heading to something
that brings us back to Britain,

which is the maze.

Designed exactly
as Hampton Court's Maze,

but it's not made of hedges.

It's made of stone.

The objective of the maze
is to get to the centre.

SHE CHUCKLES

We got lost.
SHE CHUCKLES

There we are. This is the centre.

Now we have to find our way back.

Oh! I made a mistake.

SHE LAUGHS

I made it.

Leaving these royal pleasures
behind,

we head east towards an area
of outstanding beauty.

And driving us there is Amedeo.

As our train heads south,

it now enters the heart
of this hidden area of Sicily

with not just one but seven cities
with World Heritage status.

We're gliding through Sicily
on our historic railway voyage

to the dizzying heights
of Mount Etna.

From Comiso we travelled
eight miles to Donnafugata.

Now we continue uphill
toward Ragusa,

the first of seven UNESCO World
Heritage towns along our journey.

Then on to Modica,

and after 8O miles
we'll reach Siracusa on the coast.

Only 45 minutes into our journey

and our train is climbing
to over 1,600 feet...

...a mountainous region
split by huge canyons

till it arrives
in the ancient town of Ragusa.

This is my stop. Bye-bye.

Following an earthquake in 1693,

the old town was completely rebuilt
in this dramatic baroque style.

Towering over the old town is the
magnificent Church of St George,

a treasure box made of stone.

It's no wonder the city
is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

However, one of its greatest
building achievements

is not on top of the city's hills
but below them.

We're about to encounter
a lesser known masterpiece,

built 140 years ago.

It's a true hidden gem
of Sicilian railway engineering.

My favourite part of the train line is the
helicoidal track from Modica to Ragusa.

It's important for us because it's
a special piece of engineering.

For the next mile, our train is
travelling down inside a mountain.

To cope with
the incredibly steep 700ft slope,

the engineers
had to reduce the gradient

by taking the railway in a complete
circle through the rock.

Built when most locals
travelled by horse and cart,

it's an extraordinary feat
of ingenuity and hard work.

One that Emanuele has spent
the last 40 years writing about.

The big challenge was
building these tunnels by hands.

There were not sophisticated tools.

They collected all the people
to break stones by hands.

It was on the 18th ofjune 1893

that this incredible spiral tunnel
section of the railway was finally opened.

It's coming.
That's it. Here we are.

It's a 668 train.

The beginning
of the spiral track.

It goes straightaway
a big circle of 300 as a radius...

...and it goes out from
that black hole of the tunnel.

Ah, here we are.

That's it.

Ciao!

This is a splendid
engineering work,

the most famous in Sicily

and even in Italy.

Sadly, the main engineer, Giuseppe
Mazzarella, never got to enjoy its success.

He was worried about
the two curved tunnels meeting up.

His 92-year-old
great-granddaughter, Concetta,

recounts what happened
on the brink of his triumph.

The tunnel was not without
its dangers, though.

Emanuele was very close
to his father, a train driver,

and in the clays of steam this was
a dangerous career to be in.

In 1963,

a big heavy train was in the middle
of this spiral tunnel,

and the train stayed for hours
because they couldn't move.

They were dying
because of carbon monoxide.

Another train came down slowly
to help them out.

When the train was out,
people were collapsing.

The person who went bravely
with his steam engine

was my father.

That's it.

He stayed in the hospital
for one week.

I was really proud of it.

That's why...

you know, humbly talking,

that's why these books.

Emanuele, so proud
of his father's heroic rescue,

is still moved by the memory.

It's a tremendous piece of railway
here in Sicily.

As we climb up through
these Sicilian mountains,

the construction challenges
did not stop at Ragusa.

Over the next seven miles,

steep-sided ravines forced the
engineers to build six large bridges...

...a staggering 43 small bridges...

...and carve 13 tunnels.

BOY SPEAKS IN ITALIAN

As we escape
the final mile-long tunnel...

TRAIN WHISTLE

...we reach the town of Modica.

Like Ragusa, Modica was also destroyed
by the devastating earthquake of 1693.

It, too, rose up from the rubble,

and now it's not just these buildings
that have been around for centuries.

The Spanish left something else
behind 500 years ago.

I'm Pierpaolo Ruta.

I'm the sixth generation
of the Bonajuto family,

and I live in Modica, Sicily.

I am a chocolate maker.

When Spanish people
arrived in South America

and discovered this kind of product

that was made
smashing cocoa seeds on stones,

chocolate at that time
was very, very bitter,

never mixed with sugar.

And many Spanish researchers think
that Sicily was very important

for the meeting
of sugar and cocoa seeds.

And one person who mastered this
divine concoction was Francesco.

Pierpaolo's great-great-grandfather

created this chocolate factory
150 years ago.

We are melting the cocoa mass
at about 45 degrees Celsius.

As you can see,
the chocolate is still grainy

and the sugar never melts
inside the bars.

And that's why we have to shake
the chocolate into the moulds.

RATTLING
This is the music of my childhood,

and it is the smell
of my childhood.

This is the smell
of my grandfather.

It's very important for me
for keeping this kind of tradition.

Today this tiny chocolate shop
attracts tourists from all over the world,

selling a staggering
800,000 chocolate bars a year.

That's 30 tonnes of deliciousness.

Imagine that you were living
in the 16th century.

Tasting the first chocolate was
very similar to this kind of chocolate.

With our sweet tooth satisfied,
our train ventures east again...

...on a route where you are never too young
to delight in a bit of train spotting.

BOY:

BOY:

What better
than a father and son day trip?

FATHER:

8O miles from our start...

...we've finally reached
the glorious coast...

...as we slowly roll
into the station at Siracusa.

It's a place
bathed in ancient history,

the perfect stomping ground
for British archaeologist Michael,

who's made it his second home.

I've been researching and teaching
the history and culture of Siracusa

for the last 15 years.

Siracusa was one of the greatest
cities of the ancient world.

It's a place replete with history,
with archaeology.

It's an absolutely beautiful place to live
today because it has beautiful architecture.

The food here is amazing,
the wine is superb.

The sea is a delight to swim in.
It has everything going for it.

Its strategic position on a trade
crossroads in the Mediterranean

made Siracusa one of the most
desirable cities to conquer in Sicily.

But it's Siracusa's half-mile-long
island, called Ortigia,

that really holds a special place
in Michael's heart -

and has an incredible secret.

We're coming up
through the palaces of the city

into the cathedral square
of Siracusa,

one of the most beautiful squares
in all of Italy.

The shape is so unusual.

You see a long, straight line
on this side.

Follows the route of an ancient
Greek road laid out 2,700 years ago.

On this side you have
a beautiful, gentle curve,

the buildings all beautifully
laid out, one against the other.

From the facade, this appears to be a
beautiful example of a baroque church.

But in fact
this building started life

as an ancient Greek temple
in the fifth century BC

dedicated to the goddess Athena.

Around us would have stood some of the
greatest works of art of the ancient world.

This was one of the richest,
most spectacular temples

that the Greeks ever made
on the island of Sicily.

In the sixth century AD, after 1,000
years of use as a Greek temple,

the Christians took this building
and turned it into a church.

But then in the ninth century AD,

the island was seized by Muslims
coming from north Africa

and was probably
turned into a mosque.

When the Muslim kingdom was in turn
conquered by the Norman knights,

this became once more a cathedral,

dedicated to
the Roman Catholic church.

To have three different religions
worship on one site over 3,000 years

is extraordinary.

Siracusa is a magnificent
ancient Greek city in Italy.

Now our train heads towards
Sicily's biggest natural wonder,

Mount Etna,

a volcano that has destroyed
the island as well as built it.

And we'll explore the city brave
enough to sit directly on its slopes.

From here we have a special view.

One of the best preserved
Roman monuments in Catania.

We're on a serene and beautiful
journey through Sicily,

heading to the highest,
most active volcano in Europe.

After 140 miles of rocky ravines

and the glorious baroque buildings
of the southeast,

we're now exploring
the dark lava fields of the north.

After Siracusa, we'll glide
along the shimmering Ionian coast,

crossing the old salt lakes
of Augusta,

and after 20 miles
we'll reach the city of Catania.

Its unique microclimate makes it the
perfect growing ground for blood oranges,

brought to this area
more than 200 years ago.

TRAIN WHISTLE

After travelling for over three
hours from Comiso to Catania,

our ride on this little diesel-powered
Minuetto is about to come to an end.

Waiting at the station is Eleonora,
professor of archaeology,

passionate about her city,
and our charming guide for today.

My name is Eleonora Pappalardo.

I live in Catania,

which is my city
since the time I was born.

Catania is important for its
strategic position just near the sea

and for the richness
of its territory.

Catania's long history
can be traced back 3,000 years.

It was such a desirable place
that it's been conquered by many,

from the Greeks and the Romans
to the Spanish and the Arabs.

Casting its formidable shadow
over the entire city

is the magnificent and very active
Mount Etna.

There's a strong link
between the long history of Catania

and its volcano, Etna,

which has, through the millennia,
forged the landscape

and provided also
material for constructions.

Which is why this place
is known as the Dark City.

The Sicilians didn't just
build this city out of lava.

They gave it some extra style by
accentuating the lava with white limestone.

Here you can have
the idea of the Dark City

because inside we are just surrounded
by buildings made of lava stone blocks.

You can immerse yourself
in the colours and sounds

typical of this city.

HE SHOUTS IN ITALIAN

MARKET HUBBUB

These ancient arches

have sheltered Sicily's largest
open-air fish market for 400 years.

MARKET HUBBUB

It's good. It's perfect.

Grazie.

It's a Sicilian sushi.

For the men and women
living in Etna's shadow,

the earth can often move.

For us, it's also normal sometimes

to suddenly feel the earth
trembling at our feet.

It can happen that we get up
in the morning, we open the window

and we find everything around us
black, covered by volcanic ashes.

But for us it's quite normal.

We clean everything
and we start our day.

Mount Etna isn't the only
great presence from the past.

Built over 2,000 years ago
and almost entirely of lava stones,

this impressive Roman amphitheatre
could host 17,000 spectators.

What we are seeing here

is just one-tenth
of the original structure,

the rest running underground,

hidden by the modern city.

Lucky for us, Eleonora knows how
best to view Catania's layers of history.

Behind every door,
or special hotel,

is another spectacular
archaeological wonder.

From here we have a special view.

In Catania, the best
archaeological Roman monuments

are physically connected
with the historic town.

Up to 1950,
all the area of the theatre

was completely covered
by private houses.

The theatre
over via Vittorio Emanuele

is one of the best preserved
Roman monuments in Catania.

It's clear Catania
has embraced its volcano.

But its people took it
one step further.

This towering 11,000ft giant
may loom over the city...

...but to serve the people
who live on the volcano,

they constructed
its very own railway,

the Circumetnea.

This special 70-mile train line
circles Etna

and is a vital link for 15 towns
and villages to the capital.

It's an essential lifeline to the people who
live and work under and on this great mountain.

We're about to explore it
in all its glory.

It's the last stage of our
spectacular journey through Sicily.

We have travelled from the rural beauty
and dramatic baroque cities of the south...

...to the extraordinary architecture
of Catania.

We've left the main line

and we'll be travelling on the very
special railway that circles Mount Etna,

the Circumetnea.

From Borgo station,

the line travels
70 miles around the active volcano,

climbing 3,000ft towards Randazzo
and Etna's wine region

before reaching
the end of the line at Riposto.

Getting ready at Borgo station
is the legendary Fiat train,

built 50 years ago.

Also still going strong after more
than three decades working on our train

is Antonello.

Interestingly, it was a Cornish
entrepreneur, Robert Trewhella,

who built the line in 1889.

It takes two hours
to almost circle the volcano,

crossing from
lunar-like landscapes...

...to the fertile farm regions
famous for their pistachios and wine.

Created 500,000 years ago

by the collision of the African
and the Eurasian tectonic plates,

Mount Etna now covers an astonishing
area of nearly 750 square miles.

Also on board the ADE
diesel-powered train

are English teacher Francesca
and her husband Santino.

It's wonderful,
the landscape you can see,

can admire on Etna.

All the eruptions destroy
some stretches of the railway.

The Circumetnea still is threatened
by its fierce host

and has been destroyed three times.

The most recent eruption,
on the 17th of March 1981...

...stopped just one mile
outside the town of Randazzo,

interrupting the railway and
destroying houses on its course.

TRAIN WHISTLE

We've now come to the end
of our train journey.

And at Randazzo, you can enjoy
Etna's very own vintage,

a unique,
slightly smoky-tasting wine

from one of the 140
local vineyards.

WOMAN: Salute!

After that,
there's only one thing left to do.

Just a few miles from the railway,

you can climb to the very top
of this majestic mountain.

Nature photographer Giuseppe, who's
lived his entire life on Etna,

has been exploring and documenting this
incredible volcano since he was four years old.

Today is a good day to go up,

also because there's an activity of
Mount Etna from the southeast crater.

So there's an emission of ash.

Explosion during the night, it's
possible to see the red glowing.

Special 4x4 trucks

take us on the final climb
to the summit,

crossing three recent lava flows.

So now we are on 2,900 metres,

very close to the summit,
the crater's rumbling.

This is the southeast crater.

It is the youngest of all
the summit craters on Mount Etna.

Despite the volcano emitting 5,000
tonnes of sulphur dioxide every day,

there seems to be no shortage
of intrepid tourists.

We have a lot of people today.

In a normal period we have 400 people
that can turn around the summit craters.

This is one of
the most famous places for people,

and also for the cinema production.

Take a look now.
There's ash. It's coming out.

So now maybe there's a new face on the
southeast crater with the emission of ash.

LOW RUMBLING
Still rumbling.

To capture these spectacular
explosions takes time, patience...

...and nerve.

I have many favourite moments, but
there's one for sure really important,

and it's on top of the southeast
crater, viewing the sunset.

There was a huge pressure of gases
that melted the rocks.

Never seen, never described before
and was really nice.

We stayed about for two hours
there in silence,

enjoying this marvellous show.

And great footage, for sure.

Documenting Etna
can be a risky business.

During the 2017 eruptions,

Giuseppe pushed his luck
to the limit.

We were really close,
about one metre from the lava flow,

with poisonous gases everywhere,

very high temperature -
close to 1,000 degrees Celsius.

So it was a big challenge for us
trying to save the equipment,

to try to shoot new footage,

and enjoy also.

Very big reward, for sure.

It's this great passion
for the volcano

and the breath-taking pictures

that keep Giuseppe coming back
time and time again.

Our train journey has travelled
around the southeast corner of Sicily,

crossing challenging valleys,

a route that highlights
the rich history of the island

in some of
the most breath-taking landscapes.

The trip from Comiso to Mount Etna

is a beautifuljourney,
created by man...

and nature.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media