Go For the Gold: The Gorgeous Golden Mosaics of Palermo, Monreale, & Cefalù
Sicily has some of the most gorgeous golden mosaics in the world. Here's where to see these UNESCO World Heritage sights in Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalù.
Sicily has some of the most gorgeous golden mosaics in the world. Here's where to see these UNESCO World Heritage sights in Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalù.
I Can't Believe I Ate All of That On Such a Short Trip
Congratulations to the city of Palermo, which has been awarded the distinction of Italian Capital of Culture for 2018. The Italian Culture Ministry (Ministero di Beni Culturali) awards the prize each year in an effort to promote tourism. Along with the distinction, the winning city receives 1 million euro which…
The Daily Mail reports on three depopulated Italian towns — Gangi (Sicily), Carrega Ligure (Piedmont), and Lecce nei Marsi (Abruzzo) — that are offering real estate for about €1 down…plus a commitment of €25,000 in renovations and upkeep. They are set in villages which are just a hairs-breadth away from becoming…
On Tuesday, the Museo Archeologico di Morgantina, a small archeological museum in Aidone (Enna), Sicily, held an inauguration for the repatriation of an ancient sculpture of Aphrodite.
The brave work of the anti-mafia organization AddioPizzo.org was recently brought to my attention. “Addio Pizzo” means “Goodbye, Pizzo,” the latter word meaning the protection money that hundreds of businesses throughout Sicily have had to pay to the powerful, omnipresent mafia. AddioPizzo was formed in 2004 after a group of…
Carnival time is when Italians prepare to “take away meat” (carnem levam) by throwing lavish parties and parades featuring masks, floats, and lots of food. Carnival season usually lasts several weeks, with the biggest celebrations taking place in the days before the beginning of Lent. Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, called Martedì…
Large parts of Italy were once united under the Spanish flag, with conquests in Naples and Sicily by the houses of Aragon and Bourbon, among others. Even Milan and Parma were under Spanish rule at one point. I confess that I am not an expert on Spain’s influence on Italy,…
This one comes from the U.K.’s Italy Magazine, which tells us that the Corleone villa of former Mafia boss Salvatore Riina has been turned into farmstay housing, a.k.a., an agriturismo. The Pio La Torre Cooperative, named for a martyred anti-Mafia activist, belonged to Riina before it was seized by the…
