This is the building where punishment was conceived as redemption. It was defined “panoptic” because of the cells placed along its perimeter, through which keepers could constantly supervise the area. Nowadays, even if it is close to the street market of the city, its conditions don’t reflect its beauty and history An enormous and...

Sister Maria Cecilia La Mela, who belongs to a Benedictine seclusion order, dispels the myths surrounding her lifestyle and sheds some light on the old tradition of chanting for Catania’s patron Saint The first thing that is likely to come to mind when we think about cloistered religious orders is something resembling living behind...

From February 3 to 5 illuminations and fireworks light up Catania during the festival dedicated to its patron. At the same time, you can notice many ads and events organized by national and local companies, whose outcomes are not always lucky «Je ta­lia­ti­la che bed­da, Javi du oc­chi ca pa­ru­nustid­di, e naucca ca pari...

To dive into the worlds created by one’s favourite Sicilian writers can now become a reality. There is a track, going from Porto Empedocle to Caltanissetta, that touches some of the most iconic places in Sicilian literature: Pirandello’s house or Montalbano’s Vigata-inspiring Porto Empedocle, by way of natural beauties like Scala dei Turchi and...

Snail farming for food supply is an example of innovating an historical tradition. Two brothers, Michelangelo and Giuseppe Sansone, assisted by the marketing manager Davide Merlino, had the idea of relaunching snails and created a new method to obtain the delicious snail caviar within months. What if you chose to farm snails instead of...

Archaeoastronomy studies the correlation between ancient building’s orientation and celestial phenomena. On the shoulders of astrophysics and history, it tries to uncover truths long forgotten.  The valley of Argimusco, in the province of Messina, holds a great deal of relevance to the discipline and may become an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Andrea Orlando, a...

From the crossroad of Sicilian and American language, a new one came into the world: a hybrid reminiscent of Anglo-American for vocabulary, but adapted to local spelling and phonetics. The first languages ​​of influence to which you may think, when it comes to Sicilian dialect and its  origins, are French, Spanish and Italian. Catalan...

Sicilian flag is red like lava and yellow like wheat, with three legs like its three edges, but this is not all. This regional symbol has deep historical and religious roots, which make Sicilians what they once were and what they still are, as if it was the chest of their most untouchable secrets

Associated with Sicily all over the world, etymologically this word referred to one’s ostentation of power over others As soon as a Sicilian crosses the Strait of Messina and tells someone from when they come, they can hear the same reply: “Ah! Sicilia mafia”. A reductive and unfair association of ideas, which makes this...

Under the plaster of a seventeenth-century building in Ballarò, lies a room with the following Arabic inscription: «Whatever God wants, it will happen. Whatever He doesn’t, will not» Most of us must have certainly renovated their home at least once in their life. Let’s imagine refurbishing a room in your apartment and finding hieroglyphs...