The chapel of Santa Lucia inside the Cathedral is a majestic sacred space dominated by red and gold and the silvery light radiating from the statue of the patron saint of Syracuse. The central focus of this place is the niche that houses the precious simulacrum of St. Lucy. The figure is wrapped i...

This small district owes its name to the Jewish workshops where the "Cannamela", or sugar cane, was refined. According to ancient tradition, the plant was uprooted, collected in "bundles" and transported to the mill, where it was ground by a hydraulic wheel then pressed. The liquid, boiled in larg...

1492 can be defined as an annus horribilis (Latin for "horrible year") for the Sicilian Jews. It was when a thriving community, present since ancient times and growing over time to become a large part of the island's population, was chased from the island. Isabella and Ferdinand II of Aragon issue...

The battle of Himera, a city near present-day Termini Imerese took place between the troops of the Siceliotes, commanded by Gelon of Syracuse, allied by Theron of Akragas, and the Carthaginians, commanded by Hamilcar I, who was determined to destroy the Greek community in Sicily. Gelon and Theron g...

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 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...