Experience Sicily

Tag: foto sicilia

  • A Journey In Sicily To Discover Your Vision

    “The Cyclopean Walls of Mount Erice” is a painting housed in the Palazzo dei Normanni (Royal Palace) in Palermo by painter Michele Cortegiani (1857-1919), (Oil on canvas, c. 1890). Monte Cofano pictured in the background is a magnificent limestone monolith on the Tyrrhenian coast that you’ll see with this same view when on Mount Erice,…

  • Sicily Shook On January 11, 1693

    After a magnitude (hypothetical) 6.2 foreshock on January 9, 1693, at 9PM on January 11, 1693 the earth shook in southeastern Sicily for what historians say was four minutes. Etna erupted, 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…

  • Recalling A Time of Chivalry In Sicily

    The UNESCO recognized opera dei pupi was a popular form of entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Before film and television, it was a favorite form of diversion for men and boys (It’s actually pretty violent and bawdy!). Our hero Orlando and the knights and their enemies recall the age of chivalry, originating…

  • The Cloisters Of Monreale

    Norman King William II, “The Good” (1153-1189), commissioned Monreale Cathedral in the late 12th century. The cloisters were built in the Arab Norman style in the early 13th century by Venetian artisans. Today, the cathedral is part of the UNESCO site that features nine Arab Norman monuments. Its cloister boasts 128 columns, all possessing different…

  • Swimming In Sicily

    During these gray days of January in the northeastern United States, I dream of summer in Sicily. Photos that I took of places I swam just months ago give me hope that it won’t be too long until I return to them. There are many different approaches to swimming in Sicily: beaches (both sandy and…

  • Hercules Went Clubbing In Sicily

    Hercules and the Hydra of Lerna, a fresco in the lobby of the main entrance of Villa Palagonia (18th century), Bagheria, Sicily… Hercules killed the serpentine monster during his second of 12 Labors, an ancient Greek and Roman myth.

  • Naughty Or Nice: La Befana Knows

    The visit of the friendly witch La Befana is celebrated on Epiphany Eve (January 5) throughout Italy. La Befana is recognized because of her broomstick, shawl, and sack filled with sweets and gifts for children. Legend is that she originally set out to meet the Baby Jesus, but never found her way to Bethlehem. To…

  • Say Yes To Sicily In 2020

    Whenever I’m in Siracusa, I make a point to stop by the Antico Mercato in Ortigia to say hello to Angelo. Perhaps my roots as the great-granddaughter of fishermen from Porticello make me feel right at home in amongst the swordfish. TIP: Life is slower in Sicily, so when you are visiting friends and family…

  • It Looks Like Snow

    Yes, it looks like snow, but this isn’t snow. In fact, I took this photo while hiking in Sicily in July! It is the natural wonder of Scala dei Turchi, or Stairs of the Turks, on Sicily’s south coast near Agrigento. The white cliffs pictured are made of a hard-mud material that is a combination…