A trip to the Necròpolis of Pantalica is like a path through time.
Wherever the landscape is dominated by the limestone rock in a labyrinth of caves, caverns, ravines, canyons pierced by more than five thousand sepulchres.
Even today you can enter the necropolis and see the walls of ancient tombs...
When St. Lucy is celebrated, a table in Syracuse is not complete without the cuccia: a typical Sicilian dessert made with boiled wheat and sheep's milk ricotta or white or chocolate cream.These ingredients are combined with candied fruit, cinnamon, chocolate chips and grated orange rind. Today made ...
During the symposium, unlike at the banquet, wine was drunk in abundance accompanied by tastings of typical Greek food: cheese, olives, dried or exotic fruits and salty or spicy appetizers.
Young cup bearers mixed wine and water in large jars, often outside the symposium rooms, and put the liquid i...
Far from noise, in the silence of these walls you can feel the profound sensation of an emotion that overcomes us and tells us of distant times.
In these places full of memory you can only hear the breeze that rises from the sea and makes the gentle stalks of the dry herbs sway.
Along the dark c...
In ancient times, Greek temples did not only feature the pale marble and rough terracotta surface that we see today, a result of abrasion over the millennia.
They were actually decorated with bright colours obtained using cinnabar, ochre or mercury sulphide, and many other pigments already known an...
Prodigies of nature: the colours of rainwater in the Grotta dei Cordari
One of the most curious features of the Grotta dei Cordari is the unique effect created by rainwater, which penetrates from the vault through infiltrations and covers the ground, forming a thin lake of still and transparent water.
Thanks to its particular chemical composition, sometimes the rainwa...
Culinary practices and the spirit of sacrifice: mageiros
During the sacrifice, the figure of the chef (mageiros) was fundamental.
The mageiros held the role of butcher and sacrificer.
Their work involved the trade of meat, killing the victim, and preparing the food.
Of these three roles, the cook was undoubtedly the most familiar: the mageiros would...
The peaceful ponds of Pantalica are invaded by fragrant water mint, a strongly aromatic plant. It is the oldest of all the numerous species of mint.
The Romans had already discovered it and appreciated its qualities.
In that period, some sprigs of mint would be placed in sacks and jars of grain be...
A place like Ortygia, a strip of land surrounded by water, can only be associated with the smell of the sea.
An aroma of freshness intoxicates the nose of those who come to this land, mixed with the odours of salt, seaweed and fish.
Essences that evoke strong feelings and abstract ideas of travel,...
The smell generally associated with cemeteries is a combination of an acrid, stale smell and the tenacious and insistent scent of flowers.
However, though cemeteries now stand in the open air, when travelling back in time to the ancient underground burials of Syracuse, we must imagine environments...
MiC – Ministero della Cultura
Legge 77/2006 - Misure Speciali di Tutela e Fruizione dei Siti Italiani di Interesse Culturale, Paesaggistico e Ambientale, inseriti nella “Lista Del Patrimonio Mondiale”, posti sotto la Tutela dell’ UNESCO Regione Siciliana.
Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana.
Parco archeologico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento.
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