Sperlinga is a small town in the province of Enna not far from the North coast of Sicily and situated almost midway between the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains. It is known and visited both for its handsome castle and for its troglodyte-dwellings, inhabited until even very recently and these rough houses hewn out of the…
Museum of Sicilian Folk music These photos are of an interesting museum of Sicilian folk music and folklore in Gesso, the province of Messina. The museum has an assorted collection of instruments – including bagpipes, flutes, accordions and mandolins – as well as a small collection of implements used for making ricotta wine and bread….
After a period of several years’ closure for restoration, the castle in Milazzo is open once again. Many visitors to Milazzo are just passing through on their way to the Aeolian islands and don’t pause to look at what the town has to offer, but as one of the largest castles in Europe, the castle…
This is one of just twenty one surviving Abies Nebrodensis. Despite its name (which might suggest it is found in the Nebrodi mountains) this extremely rare species of fir tree is found only in the Vallone Madonna degli Angeli in the Madonie mountains in Sicily. This highly endangered species had until recently been threatened by grazing,…
The two towns of Petralia – Petralia Soprana and Petralia Sottana – are among the most charming and well-preserved of the whole of the interior of Sicily. Largely untouched by modern building, and dating back to at least pre-Roman times, they provide an insight into what life was like in Sicily’s past. Narrow, cobbled streets…
At Le Macine in Filicudi we have a poignant reminder of the industrial past. Up until the beginning of the twentieth century, mill stones were quarried and carved here, then loaded directly onto ships to be taken to mills in Palermo, Naples. With the mass emigration from the Aeolian Islands at the beginning of the…
Badiazza is a splendid example of a fortified church from the Norman period in Sicily. Though difficult to reach without your own transport, it is well worth the effort. It is tucked away in one of the most beautiful of locations – in the valley of the river San Michele at the foot of the…
The Monastery of San Filippo di Fragalà just above Frazzanò in the Province of Messina dates from 1090 and was built by Count Roger (Roger I) for the consort of his wife Adelaide. No longer in use as a monastery, it is nonetheless testament to the stronglhold of the Norman presence in this part of…
Until 1492, there was a sizeable Jewish population in Sicily, but being then under the direct rule of the Spanish and with the edict of Ferdinand and Isabella for the expulsion of jews, this not inconsiderable proportion of the population was forced to emigrate. The Palermitano tradition of eating ‘u pani ca’ me’usa’ – literally…
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