Curiosities
Famous Places
The legend of Ulysses and the Cyclops, told in the ninth book of the Odyssey, attributes the origin of the stacks of Acitrezza to the wrath of the Cyclops Polyphemus, a giant with only one eye. The lege...
The Castle of the Slaves is famous all over the world because it was used as a film set by Francis Ford Coppola for the setting of the main scenes of the film trilogy "The Godfather". The film, which has always been cons...
The tradition of kiosks in Catania is a unique tradition in the world. In Sicily and even more in the city of Catania and its surroundings, in the squares it is possible to find particular structures. These have various ...
"I Malavoglia" is Giovanni Verga's most famous novel and the one in which the author manages to best express the poetics of Verism. In the small seaside village of Acitrezza it is now possible to rediscover the places wh...
The legend of Aci and Galatea tells of the love between a nymph, Galatea, and a shepherd boy named Aci. Legend has it that Polyphemus, a Cyclops who lived in the volcano, was madly in love with the young Galatea, a beau...
The famous novel by D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover, published in 1928 and later withdrawn for obscenities, hides a close connection with the city of Castelmola. The novel is inspired by the licentious conduct o...
The Devils of the Zisa are one of the most ancient and well-known legends of the city of Palermo. Castello della Zisa is known for its ventilation system which provides for the continuous circulation of air through the ...
In the popular culture of the city of Palermo a leading role is played by the Genius: a supernatural entity placed by tradition to protect the Sicilian capital. The Genius is one of the symbols of Palermo, which together...
According to legend, the term "liotru" derives from the name of the magician Heliodorus, with which in Catania the elephant symbol of the city is indicated. Heliodorus lived around 725 AD when Catania was a Byzantine pr...
"Storia di una capinera", directed by Franco Zeffirelli, is a film based on the novel of the same name by Giovanni Verga. Set in mid-nineteenth-century Catania, Storia di una Capinera tells the story of Maria Vizzini, pl...
The pantomime of “u pisci a mari” is a popular tradition of Acitrezza that dates back to the first half of the 18th century, when the wooden statue of the patron saint, St. John the Baptist was inaugurated. This pant...
"Malizia" was one of the most successful Italian erotic comedies, it is a 1973 film directed by Salvatore Samperi, starring the erotic icon Laura Antonelli in the role of Angela. The film was shot entirely in Acireale. ...
According to tradition, Aci Trezza is the home of the ice cream that was invented by the chef Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli in the seaside village. It is known that Procopio was born in Sicily, but the sources do not ...
The "cuddura di centu ova" is an Easter tradition by Forza D'Agrò. The "Cuddura cu l'ovo" is a large starchy dessert characterized by the presence of a variable number of whole hard-boiled eggs artfully arranged on the ...
The Amenano River is an underground river in the city of Catania. It has a long history full of anecdotes that have fueled myths and legends. Today it is the symbol of the city's tenacity, of the ability to rise from the...
The "Liotru", elephant, is today the symbol of the city of Catania. The origin of the statue of the "Liotru" that dominates the fountain of the elephant in Piazza Duomo in Catania is...
"L’Arte di Arrangiarsi" is a 1954 film by Luigi Zampa. The film tells the story of di Rosario Scimoni, played by Alberto Sordi, nephew of the mayor of Catania and a first-rate opportunist, so much so that he is always ...
"I Vicerè" is the most famous novel by Federico De Roberto published in 1894, the film version of which was edited by the director Roberto Faenza in 2007. Catania was an adequate scenario, with its monuments and its ar...
"La Matassa" is a comedy directed by Ficarra and Picone and Giambattista Avellino from 2009. The protagonist is the two Sicilian comedian Ficarra and Picone d is set in Sicily. It tells the story of two cousins, Gaetano ...
"Johnny Stecchino" is a 1991 comedy written by Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami. The story tells of Dante, driver of a school bus for the disabled, played by Benigni, who meets Maria, played by Nicoletta Braschi, who ...
"Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore" is a 1972 film, written and directed by Lina Wertmüller. The film tells of Mimì, a Catania laborer played by Giancarlo Giannini who, fired for his convictions, is forced to leave...
At the Arch of San Benedetto in via Crociferi in Catania is linked to a curious legend, dating back to the eighteenth century. In the eighteenth century the nobles had got into the hab...
The legend of the Ursini Giants is linked to Ursino Castle of Catania. Popular legend has it that the first inhabitants of the castle were not humans, but monstrous mythological creatures: the gi...
The legend of the Pii brothers tells the story of two young farmers named Anapia and Anfinomo. It is said that while they worked the land in a field at the foot of Etna together with their elderly parents, they were sur...