The site, owned by a noble family from Catania, is one of the rare examples of Byzantine architecture in town. Together with the heir and owner Salvatore Bonajuto, we retraced the most significant moments of this place, from Bianca di Navarra’s concession to the studies on its dating Among the most fascinating places in...
When Orazio Paternò Castello, the future Marquis of San Giuliano, escaped by sea, a cloud of mystery rose over him. For a long time, no one has been aware of his destiny, while now the reason for his sudden escape is clear: he killed her wife in a jealous rage It was 1784 when...
According to those who were close to him at that time, Picasso had in mind the fresco Il Trionfo della Morte (The Triumph of Death), now preserved in Palazzo Abatellis (Palermo). An unexpected bond between the two masterpieces appears in the composition and portrayal of an imminent Death It is well known that great...
Hidden between a fish restaurant and a store of local stuff in Catania, after centuries the Fonte Lanaria still reminds everyone of one of the most significant moment linked to St. Agatha’s cult: the removal of her remains by the Byzantine commander Giorgio Maniace and the legendary origin of the traditional white habit worn...
January 23rd, 1387: an adventurous and fairy liberation plan involved Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada and the daughter of King Federico IV, Maria. She was been imprisoned at the Ursino Castle by the greedy vicar Artale, who did not accept her as the legitimate heir to the throne. Centuries later, we retrace the story of this...
The Sicilian artist Giulio Macaione has just presented his latest work Stella di mare at Lucca Comics 2018. Forced to move away from his home, his new comic book is a colorful homage to a land he keeps on drawing inspiration from. “I tell stories about Sicily to pay tribute to my land. I...
This slumbering city is often drowned by big clunky architectures that don’t make her beauty justice. Instead some others speak volumes about the city’s long history and are truly worth a visit. Let’s for just a minute imagine Catania as is used to be: carriages instead of cars, the music from Faust fades away...
Impressionism, the art movement that changed art history, arrived in Catania. An exhibition of oils on canvas, drawings, sculptures, photographs and pottery at Palazzo della Cultura, where you can discover artists’ “secret paths” and the origin of some of their masterpieces. Impressionists used to work en plein air, always trying to set that sense...
Sicily, to this day, holds a great mystery: what has happened to Caravaggio’s Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence? There are many fascinating theories on the matter, and someone even believes it used to be displayed at the meetings of the major mafia bosses Some stories seem to come from a novel of...
The British archaeologist, and anthropology professor at Stanford, is visiting the mountainside provincial capital to write a volume about the 25th anniversary of his excavation project in Çatalhöyük, Turkey. We gave him a tour of the city’s sights and eats. It’s 11.30 am and the sun is already quite high over piazza Duomo. Tourists...
