Tag: Palermo
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #16. Fantastic Feasts and Festivals
And then of course, there are annual and biannual commemorations for deities and patron saints throughout the region that include everything from making ritual breads for Saint Joseph and Saint Blaze and decorating the streets with linens and flowers for the Pentecost, for just two examples, to processions for feasts recognizing Easter, the Madonna, Christ,…
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #6. Royal Fairytales Are Real
Housed in the treasury of Palermo’s Cathedral, this work of art was created between 1220 and 1222. It was designed in Palermo in a Byzantine-Arab style and composed of gold, precious gems, semi-precious stones, pearls, filigree, glazes, and silver. According to scholar Jacqueline Alio, the Holy Roman Empress was interred wearing the crown. “It has…
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #3. Palermo Goes To 11
Then there are ancient sites next to psychodelic baroque (Chiesa di Santa Caterina and Casa Professa, to name just two mind-blowing experiences!) next to Arab-Norman style architecture, next to Liberty Style… Oh, and royal palaces! Check out these mosaic-tiled lions (pictured) in the chambers of Roger II from the 12th century. And don’t forget Castello…
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52 Reasons To Love Sicily | #2. Take The Train
(Pictured: The duomo of Cefalù, one of the UNESCO sites of the Arab-Norman Patrimony of Sicily.) Cefalù, Palermo Province
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Bagheria’s Cove Of The Heart
In Sicily, you’ll come upon guerrilla art often, like this heart placed at Bagheria’s Tre Piscine (the three pools), now with the secondary name Cala del Cuore (Cove of the Heart). It’s one of my most favorite places in the world. Rugged and hard to get to if you’re not prepared for it, it’s a…
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Curves And Vistas In Sicily
The shortcut to Palermo through Caccamo offers adventuresome drivers lots of curves and beautiful vistas.
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The Joy Of Strade Brutte In Sicily
When you take those “strade brutte,” meaning “ugly roads” that you are afraid for your car to drive down, you’ll see some beautiful scenery, like this hill that exists somewhere between Palermo and Trapani Provinces. (NB those are ruins of an ancient castle on top of the hill)
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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,…
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Treasures In Plain Sight in Bagheria
Meanwhile, while walking down the Corso Umberto I in Bagheria…. (Yes, this butcher shop is probably owned by a relation to Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore, who grew up in Bagheria. NB Bagheria has a lot of treasures hidden in plain sight!) Photo Credit: Filippo Buttitta