Experience Sicily

Category: Architecture

  • Be Enchanted by Sicily in September 2017

    We’re thrilled to announce Enchanting Sicily, our September 14-28, 2017 tour. During Enchanting Sicily, our group of less than 12 guests will discover the region’s hidden corners, interact with locals, immerse ourselves in Sicilian culture and history, and explore UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Valley of the Temples, the Roman Villa of Casale, Mount…

  • San Bartolomeo Church in Scicli 

    For some reason, today I have Scicli on my mind. When I think of Scicli, I think of San Bartolomeo Church. Here’s a revisit to a past post, with a new photo. A pearl set in the midst of an ancient gorge, San Bartolomeo Church in Scicli is a sublime example of Sicilian late Baroque.…

  • Selinunte’s Graceful Temple E

    Selinunte was a Greek city built on the southwestern coast of Sicily by colonists from the eastern Sicilian Greek outpost of Megara Hyblea. Founded around 651 BC, it displayed its power by building massive temples to dedicated to the gods, like this one pictured, Temple E, which scholars believe was dedicated to Hera. The Doric-style…

  • They Left Their Mark 

    Arab-Norman architecture in Mazara del Vallo

  • Santa Maria della Catena, Palermo 

    Palermo’s Santa Maria della Catena church was built in a Catalonian Gothic style in the early 16th century. It stands to the east of La Cala, now a marina for pleasure boats, but in past centuries, the city’s main port that at night would be closed using a chain. The church’s name, Saint Mary of…

  • Dancing in the Hall of Mirrors

    Tarantella anyone? Villa Palagonia, a band featuring guitarist Joe Ravo, bassist Greg Maker, percussionist Dave Mancuso, and me, Allison Scola, on vocals, clarinet, guitar, and frame drums, will be performing this coming Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7PM in New York City at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 (185 Orchard Street). We invite you to come…

  • In Just 9 Days

    In the late part of the 7th century BC, the city of Selinunte was founded by colonists from the eastern Sicilian Greek colony of Megara Hyblea. Being the western-most Greek town in an area that was generally occupied by Carthaginian peoples, Selinunte faced a number of destructive episodes that finally ended in 409 BC. Carthage,…

  • Castelbuono’s Haunted Castle 

    The Castello dei Ventimiglia in Castelbuono meets all of your ideas about what a castle should be. It has a wall around it. It has a look-out tower. It was built in the 14th century. And it is haunted. Yup–legend says that Queen Constance Chiaramonte haunts the castle! Today, it is a town museum. This…

  • Noto, Oh Noto, Wherefore … 

    Because balconies in Noto are striking.