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…
Tag: fountain
Siracusa’s Myth of Aretusa
This stunning Fontana di Diana in Ortigia, Siracusa that tells the story of the Nereid-water nymph Aretusa and her protector, the goddess Artemis/Diana. One day while hunting in the forest in Greece, Aretusa decided to take a refreshing swim in a stream. While in the water, she felt something move beneath her. It was the…
You Won’t Want To Look Away
Piazza Pretoria in Palermo, Sicily better known as Fontana delle Vergogna (the Fountain of Shame). What’s so shameful? Learn the full story at https://experiencesicily.com/2017/12/15/grace-and-shame/
Monreale Offers A Moment Of Peace
Whenever I visit the cloisters (chiostro) of Monreale Cathedral, I enjoy taking a moment at the fountain that anchors one of the corners of the garden. Its elegance and ancient beauty transport me to another era, somewhere far away. Somewhere peaceful. The cloisters were built by Sicilian and Venetian artisans in the early 13th century…
Travel to Sicily This May
Come with me to Sicily! We’ve got one spot left on our May 2018 Sicily tour, Myths & Mysteries of Sicily, for a couple or a single traveler! Together we will delight in a multi-sensory, off-the-beaten path experience that will stir your soul. Contact me today to travel to Sicily with a small group at…
Grace and Shame
This graceful and flirtatious woman is one statue in a series that adorns the (in)famous fountain that dominates Palermo’s Piazza Pretoria. Originally designed and constructed in 1554-55 by Florentine sculptor Francesco Camilliani for the garden of a Tuscan villa, it was purchased and augmented by the city of Palermo in 1573. Depicting nude gods, goddesses,…
Catania’s Persephone Fountain
This fountain, Fontana Ratto di Proserpina (The Rape of Persephone Fountain), exists in Catania at the Piazza Giovanni XXIII. It was sculpted in 1904 for Sicily’s second largest city by Giulio Moschetti (1847-1909). Moschetti is the same sculptor who created the Fountain of Diana in 1906 for Ortigia’s Piazza Archimede. With a nod to the…
Ortigia’s Diana Fountain
In the center of Siracusa’s Ortigia Island, in Piazza Archimede, is the Fountain of Diana. In 1906, Italian sculptor Giulio Moschetti (1847-1909) designed and constructed the modern, yet Baroque-feeling work that features the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, moon, and childbirth, i.e. the Roman Diana or Greek Artemis. Also present in the sculpture scene…
Palermo’s (In)famous Fountain
This (in)famous fountain that dominates Palermo’s Piazza Pretoria was originally designed and constructed in 1554-55 by Florentine sculptor Francesco Camilliani for the garden of a Tuscan villa. Purchased and augmented by the city of Palermo in 1573, government officials placed it in front of the Palazzo Pretorio, the city’s principal municipal building, with pride. However,…
Catania’s Elephant
Two rivers meet under Catania’s Piazza del Duomo to feed the Fontana dell’Elefante, or the Elephant Fountain. Designed by G.B. Vaccarini in 1736, this focal point of the cathedral’s square possesses an ancient Roman-era statue of an elephant made from black lava stone holding an Egyptian obelisk that boasts hieroglyphics about the goddess Isis, and…