WHO WAS THIS BRITISH-SICILIAN GENIUS?
Someone capable of creating the second largest winery in the world, putting Marsala wine on the dining tables of US presidents, becoming the no. 1 share…
Anglo-Sicilian Observations
Prompted by some comments during an interview with the Anglicised Sicilian lawyer and writer, Simonetta Agnello Hornby, we thought we would take a look…
MUMMIES.. and Daddies and others.. in Palermo’s Catacombs
A visit to Palermo’s Catacombs is certainly not for the squeamish but it is one of those ‘not to miss’ places if you are visiting Palermo, simply because there…
Wild Orgies, Black Magic and a Weird Englishman in Sicily
In 1920 occultist, mystic, magician and mountaineer, Aleister Crowley, arrived in Cefalù with two of his American mistresses and their two children. Known as The Great Beast 666 he…
A Hood for the Horned
After the long Muslim experience, Sicily, in 1061 became the goal of the Norman conquest. Robert the Guiscard had become strong in Southern Italy and for the ambition which…
Apostolica Legatia (Apostolic Legation)
The last expansionistic move, which determined the future political balance of Europe, was that of the Norwegian, called the Norsmen (men of the North) and later, Normans. Up to…
An Hispano-Sicilian Tale
Before I start this article, I have to confess a personal interest: these locations are my two great cultural loves. They say that love is blind, but I want to…
The Sicilian Vespers
After the death of Frederick II, king of Sicily, his son Conrad was to succeed him to be, by his father’s decree, the next king of Sicily. Because…
The “Meddlesome Priest”
Two cathedrals, two branches of the same dynasty, a scandal and a murder. It sounds like the plot for a history novel, but it’s the real story behind…
ARCHIMEDES (287-212 B.C.)
Archimedes was born in Syracuse, Sicily, in 287 B.C. He was the son of the astronomer Phidias. Archimedes studied in Alexandria, Egypt, which at the time , was the…
