The current wrought iron balcony is not the original one, which was dismantled during the Second World War to use its metal for the war effort, but comes from another site and was cut and adapted to the church façade. [dettaglio_immagine id="18819"]...

Gorgon was the name originally given in Greek mythology to three deities and later identified with one of the three: Medusa. The effigy of the Gorgon was a thickset body of a woman with wings. She wore a monstrous mask with a round face and a flattened nose, barred eyes and an open mouth with a ha...

Gelon was a colourful figure in Sicily's history: a valiant captain and great sportsman, he was tyrant of Gela and later lord of his beloved city Syracuse. The Sicilian tyrant was an example of the close link in Greek tradition between sport and politics. In fact, he was the winner at the 488 BC O...

A telamon is a male sculpture used as support in a building, instead of a pillar or column. The telamon is also called Atlas, a mythological character forced by Zeus to hold the heavens on his shoulders as a punishment. These sculptures can be depicted either standing or crouching. The female ve...

A telamon is a male sculpture used as a structural or decorative support instead of pillars or columns. The term is synonymous with Atlas, a mythological character forced by Zeus to hold up the heavens with his shoulders as punishment for having allied himself with Zeus' father, Cronus, who led the...

Widespread in both Greek and Roman tradition, the symposium was a convivial custom that generally followed a banquet. The guests drank, sang songs and enjoyed a variety of entertainment in the Andron, an area reserved for men. The only women admitted to the symposia were the hetairai, entertainers ...

[caption id="attachment_6896" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Il sarcofago di Adelfia, conservato al Museo archeologico “Paolo Orsi”, prende il nome dal-la moglie del conte Valerio, un alto funzionario della corte imperiale. Il reperto è decorato in marmo. Sul fronte, al centro, all'interno d...

The rose window is a large circular window that is often found on church façades. It has a decorative function, and is usually enriched by stained glass windows that create special light effects inside the church. [dettaglio_immagine id="18712"]...

The plane tree, or platanus, has wide jagged leaves with five pointed lobes that resemble the palm of an open hand. As a matter of fact, the name "platanus" means wide and flat. Its resemblance to the palm of a hand made this plant sacred to Mother Earth, as shown by some Cretan sculptural depic...

The Latin poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses describes the legend of the beautiful nymph Arethusa. One day, after a long run in the woods, she decided to freshen up in the waters of the river Alpheus. When she finished bathing, the girl began running again, when a voice urged her to stop: it was Alphe...