52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #15. Joyful Folk Art

Such wagons where used for centuries to transport goods throughout the island. Drivers were known for their melismatic songs, which were often employed to entertain each other at rest stops and to stay awake while traveling during the night, when it was cooler to protect the fish, fruit, vegetables or other such perishable goods they carried.

The designs, which take on a more baroque style on the east side of Sicily, were a way to display how successful a driver was at completing his missions, for the more distinct the designs and the more elaborate the decorations his horse or mule possessed, the more successful one could gather he was. Perhaps it’s because he aptly venerated Saint George!

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