Experience Sicily

Category: History

  • The Sanctuary Of Malophoros, Part 2

    Unlike many of the other temple ruins that one can visit throughout Sicily at Agrigento, Segesta, and on the acropolis of Selinunte, the sacred area of the Santuario della Malophoros (at Selinunte) was not a single rectangular building with Doric-style columns. It was an enclosed, walled, complex (a temenos) with a regal entranceway (called a…

  • Erice’s Labyrinth-like Street Plan

    It is easy to get lost in the maze of streets in the Medieval hilltown of Erice. In the past, the labyrinth-like street plan was a strategic design, meant to confuse and trap invaders. Today, however, wandering into a clandestine corner to “get lost” is delightful for lovers. Venus’ romantic energy is still present in…

  • Tonight: Wintertime, Sicily-Inspired Yoga

    Could it be Warrior II?! Join us Friday at 5:30PM (Eastern) for Sicily-Inspired Yoga: Embrace Winter’s Inner Wisdom. Clio Mallin, host of Experience Sicily’s future Yoga in Sicily tour, will led us in a wintertime practice aimed to create balance in your body, mind, and heart. You’ll feel grounded as you nurture your seeds of…

  • The Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros, Selinunte (Part I)

    The ancient Greek community of Selinunte was founded as a sub-colony of Megara Iblea in 651-650 BCE. One of the first sacred sites in the western Sicilian city, which is considered one of the world’s largest archaeological zones, is the Santuario della Malophoros or the Sanctuary of the Fruit Bearer. “Malophoros” implies pomegranates or apples,…

  • Sicily-inspired Yoga: Winter’s Inner Wisdom

    Next Friday at 5:30PM Eastern, Clio Mallin  and Experience Sicily will present Sicily-Inspired Yoga: Embrace Winter’s Inner Wisdom. Join us to embrace the cocoon of winter, when your seeds of promise are below the surface. Winter as a time to relax, quiet down, connect to what’s important, pause, and listen to inner wisdom. Our gentle…

  • Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Temple E at Selinunte

    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 BCE, it displayed its power by building massive temples dedicated to the gods, like this one pictured, Temple E, which scholars believe was dedicated to Hera. The Doric-style temple…

  • Commemorating The Tremendous 1693 Earthquake In Sicily

    After a magnitude (hypothetical) 6.2 foreshock on January 9, 1693, at 9PM on January 11, 1693 the earth shook in southeastern Sicily like it hasn’t since. Etna was erupting, and a tsunami struck the Ionian coasts of eastern Sicily and the Strait of Messina. We don’t know the exact scope of the earthquake’s power according…

  • Giuseppe “Peppino” Impastato, Organized-Crime Fighter

    January 5 is Giuseppe “Peppino” Impastato’s birthday. Impastato was a political activist who vociferously exposed and confronted the mafia in his hometown of Cinisi. After his uncle Cesare Manzella was brutally killed in a car bomb in 1963, when Impastato was 15 years old, his outlook on the Cosa Nostra, of which his father was…

  • Messina’s Clock Tower, Part 2

    Inaugurated in 1933, the complex astronomical clock of Messina, which possesses the entire bell tower, is thought to be the largest in the world. (Continued from yesterday…) Part 2: The lower “balcony” sports rotating biblical scenes that change according to the period of the year. This time of year, on display would be the nativity…