Experience Sicily is hosting a very exclusive event on February 16, 2019 to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Sicilian Style, in New York City! We’ve rented a private kitchen and are so excited to have two outstanding chefs to cook dinner for you: Giuseppe Sciurca, from Termini Imerese, Sicily, and Antonino Elia, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Music duo…
Category: History
Trekking Amongst The Tombs In Sicily
I was blessed again today with the guidance of Nanni Di Falco, who led me through a small part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site know as the Pantelica Necropolis, a gorge cut into limestone by the Anapo and Cave Grande rivers that is dotted with hundreds of tombs from the 13th century BCE. It…
A Walk Through Thousands Of Years Of Human History In Sicily
Always on the move, today I took a hike in Sicily with Nanni, a nature and walking guide, through the Cava D’Ispica reserve, a deep gorge that follows a now, usually dried up river. Fresh, young, and emerald green Acanthus mollis plants (known in English as bear’s breeches) covered our trail, and scores of caves…
Embracing The Longest Night
As we observe the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, I recall how beautiful the UNESCO site Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily is at night, when the the monuments, like this, the Temple of Concordia, are lit. Even in ancient times (Concordia was erected between 440 and 430 B.C.E.), it was…
Packed With Punch in Cefalù
Some of the most extraordinary treasures can be found in tiny museums in Sicily, so don’t overlook them! An example is this crater featuring an illustration of a tuna fisherman/fishmonger from 370 to 380 A.D., found in the Mandralisca museum in Cefalù.
Awe-inspiring Mosaic Designs in Sicily
Every inch of the Cappella Palatina is embellished with intricate mosaics of inlaid marble, colorful stones, and golden glass tiles. This detail illustrates the multi-cultural mix (Norman, Arab, Greek, and Byzantine) that existed during Roger II’s 12th-century rule, when the Palazzo dei Normanni’s chapel was built.
Medusa And Women’s Power at The Met
Last evening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, we discussed the mythology and iconography of Medusa with Danielle Oteri of Feast on History leading the way. Along with Tony Allicino, and an astute group of attendees, I enjoyed a fascinating discourse about this ancient art and what it told us of women’s…
Randazzo’s Dazzling Cathedral
Like something out of a fairy tale, the (almost) 800-year old Santa Maria Cathedral in the City of Randazzo was constructed in the Frederick Gothic Style, a style encouraged by a civic and military program sponsored by Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. The black lava stone blocks of the…
In May, Take Your Breath Away
One of the most magnificent experiences you could have in Sicily is attending the festival of ancient Greek theater in Siracusa in the 5th century B.C.E. ancient Greek theater. Last May, our tour groups were each fortunate to have seen one of the productions in rotation–like this one pictured, Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus, which was…
Explore A Remote Sicilian Town In New York City
Corso Umberto I, Licodia Eubea, photographed in the 1940s … Please join me next Wed., Nov. 28 at 7PM in New York City for an evening of literature and old friends and new ones as we “explore” life in the remote Sicilian town of Licodia Eubea, Sicily. Author Natale Caruso, a native of the town,…