Experience Sicily

Tag: erice

  • Watch What You Say

    Called Lingua di Suocera, or Mother-Law’s Tongue, perhaps these biscotti get their name from the acerbic taste of the central ingredient that’s wrapped within the sweet butter cookie: citron or lemon marmalade. It seems many Sicilian pastries have a sense of humor! These were photographed at Pasticceria Maria Grammatico in Erice.

  • Graphic Surprise

    Erice boasts many lovely shops selling unique crafts like these rugs.

  • Castle of Love

    Erice boasts a 12th century castle—Il Castello di Venere or the Castle of Venus—that was built on top of an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the goddess of love. However, before the Roman iteration and the still standing current Norman castle, centuries before, the site was dedicated to the ancient Elimi tribe’s mother goddess of…

  • Oh, Bring Us Some Buccellato

    During the month of December, especially in the mountain town of Caccamo in the province of Palermo, professional and home bakers prepare buccellato and other confections in celebration of Christmas. Buccellato is realized as a wreath-shaped cake or as pastries stuffed with dried figs and raisins or chopped almonds and chocolate. These buccellati pictured contain…

  • Good to Know

    Travelling tip: “Gabinetti Pubblici” means “Public Bathrooms.”

  • Lighthouse for Peace

    In July 2014, after years of decay and abandonment, a re-constructed Torretta Pepoli on Erice’s mountainside reopened. Named for, and originally built around 1870 by scholar and arts patron Count Agostino Pepoli (1848-1911), when first built, the little castle was a center of personal retreat as well as reception of artists and scholars. Today, the…

  • Window, Erice

    Window, Erice

  • Erice’s Mother Church

    The exterior of Erice’s Chiesa Matrice, or Mother Church, is modest, yet elegant. Built during Norman times in 1314, its bell tower is detached because its primary purpose was to be a lookout tower to spot potential invaders.

  • Èrice possesses narrow medieval streets that are distinct from other hilltop walled cities’ because of the design of their marble pavement. #sicily #sicily_travel #sicilia #sicily_tourism #italy #ig_sicily #italia #siciliaph #siciliafoto #erice #trapani #pavimento #pavement #marble #street #design #medieval