In Greek or Roman architecture, the final part of the cornice was called "cymatium moulding", often equipped with holes for the drainage of rainwater from roofs, called rain gutter channels, generally decorated with lion heads. Cymatium moulding was often decorated with palmettes or other decorativ...

The first capital on the right depicts St. John: a nimbate eagle, with its head surrounded by intense light, holds a plaque in its claws on which is engraved a passage from the Gospel taken from St. John. The second capital on the right shows a winged lion and also holds a plaque engraved with a pa...

The Siceliotes, a term derived from ancient Greek, were the inhabitants of the Greek cities of Sicily. They initially spread to the eastern and southern coasts of the island in the main cities: Syrakousai, Ghelas and Akragas. The Siceliotes were given this name to distinguish them from the Greeks ...

The burning mirrors, together with other surprising war machines, were allegedly used by Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse by the Romans. The only explicit references to the burning mirrors can be found in the lost work of the Latin historian Cassius Dio, which has been passed down to the pre...

Francesco Saverio Cavallari was born in Palermo in 1809 and was an architect, painter, archaeologist and professor. From 1826 he worked for the Duke of Serradifalco in archaeological explorations in Sicily. In 1884 he arrived in Syracuse, where he dedicated all his energy to the reorganisation and...

On the chapel walls there are four figures: the first on the left is a bearded saint with a nimbus, whose right hand blesses with his fingers outstretched according to the Eastern rite, while his left hand holds a cross. The figure wears a red tunic under a black cloak. The second figure is a youn...

Inside the chapel of the Crucifix, the work depicts the image of the Bishop Zosimus. The figure appears standing in pontifical robes while he blesses with a mitre on his head and a pastoral staff in his left hand. This panel has been attributed to the Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina. The An...

Francesco Paolo Priolo lived in Palermo between 1818-1892. He was a painter, a pupil of the famous Giuseppe Patania, and specialised in the production of copies and historical and religious subjects, often in watercolour. He had a neoclassical background. In the second half of the 19th century, he ...

A watercolour on paper, painted in 1867 by the artist Francesco Paolo Priolo and kept in the Museum of Palazzo Bellomo, depicts a curious event: in the year 61 AD, during a stop on his way to Rome, the apostle Paul was said to have spoken to the Syracusans at the Latomie. In the work you can see th...

In his monumental work, the Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library), the Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus wrote that the tyrant Dionysius, on account of his poetic inclinations, would invite experts to his court to comment on his compositions. When questioned, the poet Philoxenus admitted wit...