This document provides an overview of Sicily's rich history and culture by summarizing the influences of different civilizations on the island. It notes that Sicily experienced domination by Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, and others, all of whom contributed to Sicily's history, culture, and traditions. The document then highlights some of Sicily's important historical sites from these different eras, including Greek temples, Roman villas, Norman palaces and churches, as well as art and architecture from Renaissance to contemporary periods. It concludes by inviting visitors to experience Sicily's history, nature, food, and relaxed lifestyle.

1. 2TH LTT Course of the ERASMUS+ project - SMILE
SEA AND MUSIC IN LIFELONG EDUCATION
Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain
Istituto Magistrale Statale “REGINA MARGHERITA”
Palermo (Italy)
Liceo Musicale e Coreutico
Tuesday 26th March 2019 – Monday 1st April 2019

2. SICILY: A MIXTURE OF CULTURES
Our land has experienced
lots of different
dominations in the past:
from The Greeks to the
Romans, from the Arabs
to the Normans, the
Bizantines, the French,
the Austrians and the
Spanish. All of them have
left something to us, to
our history , culture,
language, traditions and
our way of living, eating,
drinking and having fun or
being sad.
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3. HERE WE’D LIKE TO SHOW YOU OUR LAND: SICILY
THE BIGGEST
ISLAND IN ITALY
A MIX OF
CULTURES,
HYSTORY,
NATURE, ARTS
& CRAFTS,
FOLK, TYPICAL
FOOD &
SWEETS
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4. MYSTERIOUS PREHISTORIC TRAVELLERS CAME TO SICILY
Graffiti of the Addaura
cave in Palermo (Pa-
leolithic age, before
10/50.000 B.C.)
Graffiti of the traveller
from Genoa in
Levanzo island (before
10/50.000 B.C.)
Prehistoric village of
Mursia in Pantelleria
TP (20,000 B.C.)
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5. PHOENICIANS IN SICILY: ART AND TRADE
Auriga (Mozia, V
sec. B.C.)
Phoenician ship
(Termini I.)
Tablet with Punic
funeral banquet (III
B.C., Palermo)
Golden phiale (IV
sec. B.C., from
Caltavuturo)
Punic ship from
Marsala (III sec. B.C.)
Phoenician necklace
with little pearls
4

6. IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY, THE
GODDESS ATHENA THREW
MOUNT ETNA ONTO THE ISLAND OF SICILY
Half of Sicily was colonized by Greeks in the 8th
century B.C. Initially, the most important colony
was established at Syracuse in 734 B.C. Other
important Greek cities were Gela, Akragas, Seli-
nunte, Himera, Kamarina and Zancle or Messene
(modern-day Messina). These city-states were an
important part of classical Greek civilization, which
included Sicily as part of Magna Graecia - together
with CYPRUS - and the other parts of the
Mediterranean lands, in red in the nearby map!
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7. GREEKS IN SICILY: THE RISE OF MAGNA GRECIA
The Telamone of
Olympeion temple of
Agrigento, ancient
Akragas, (between
480 e 470 B.C.)
The temple of
Concordia by night
in Agrigento (440-
430 B.C.)
The Greek theater of
Syracuse (between V
sec. B.C., and III sec.
A.D.)
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8. THE TRANSITION FROM MAGNA GRECIA TO HELLENISM
The Agorà in the city of
Morgantina EN (aban-
doned towards 30 B.C.)
The statue of Demetra (or
Kore) called Venere of
Morgantina, stolen and
returned from the USA in
2011 (V sec. B.C.)
The Greek-Roman thea-
ter of Taormina with Etna
(from III sec. B.C. to II
sec. A.D.)
Two extraordinary Helleni-
stic coins, still shining, re-
cently discovered near
Caltavuturo (ab.Isec.A.D.)
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9. IN THE ROMAN AGE SICILY BECAME THE
CENTRE OF THE EMPIRE AND ITS
BRIDGEHEAD TOWARDS AFRICA
At that time Sicily was the granary of Rome
and a place of passage of precious goods
and exotic and ferocious animals for bloody
games in amphitheaters and circuses
The Emperor Claudius, portrayed as
Zeus (about 40 A.D., Archeological
Museum of Palermo) 8

10. THE ROMAN AGE
Roman Villa del Casale
in Piazza Armerina -
EN (IVsec.A.D.)
The corridor of the gre-
at hunt: animals car-
ried on board of ships
(1) and on carts (2)
Room of the children
playing with little carts
towed by peacocks
Room of the girls in
bikini, playing sports
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11. …THE RISE OF ARAB-NORMAN ART AND
ARCHITECTURE, THAT RECENTLY BECAME
A WORLD HERITAGE SITE
In the Middle Ages, after the expulsion of the Arab
invaders by the Norman kings, the engineering and
construction skills of the Arabs were used to build
large palaces, churches and fantastic gardens,
irrigation systems, water reservoirs and water
distribution, astronomical observatories...
William II of Sicily, “the Good” dedicates
the Cathedral of Monreale to the Virgin
Mary (Byzantine mosaic, after 1172)
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12. THE ARAB-NORMAN AGE
The Cathedral of
Palermo (1185)
The Byzantine Mosaics
in the Monreale Cathe-
dral, nearPalermo(1172)
The Muqarnass ceyling
of the Palatine Chapel
in Palermo (1140)
The Apse of the Palati-
ne Chapel with Panto-
crator Christ (1140)
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13. THE ARAB-NORMAN AGE
The Norman Churches
of S.Cataldo (1154) and
S.Maria of the Admiral
(1143)in the city centre
of Palermo
The cloister of the
Cathedral of Monreale
with the fountain (XIIsec.)
The site of S.Giovanni
of Hermits with church
(mosque from VI sec.)
and cloister (XIIsec.)
The Zisa palace with
hunting gardens of the
Norman Kings (1165)
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14. IN SICILY, IN THE MIDDLE AGES
THERE WERE OVER 200 CASTLES…,
…impregnable fortresses, of which the most
famous are those of Swabian origin, built with tall
towers to control the territory and defend the
cities, and with large halls where the nobles
organized rich banquets.
Norman Castle of Adrano, near Catania,
of the Count Ruggero I of Sicily (XI sec.)
13

15. THE NORMAN AND SWABIAN AGE
The Castle of
Caccamo (sec.XII) built
by Matteo Bonello
The Castle Ursino in
Catania built by
Federico II of Swabia
(from 1239 to 1250)
The Arab-Norman
Castle of Castellam-
mare del Golfo (built
by Arab from X sec.)
The Castle of Musso-
meli, built by Manfredi
III Chiaramonte, Count
of Modica (after1364)
onprevious Swabian
structures 14

16. SICILY HAS INTERPRETED ITALIAN
RENAISSANCE IN A CREATIVE AND
ORIGINAL WAY
In the XV and XVI centuries, Sicily was first subject
to the Aragonese government, then became part
of the Habsburg Empire of Charles V and of the
Kingdom of Spain of his successors.
Because of Aragonese and Spanish domination,
Architecture gets inspired by the Spanish Gothic
style.
Antonello da Messina was one of the greatest
painters in Europe, influenced by Flemish art.Portrait of an unknown sailor
(Antonello da Messina 1470 – Oil on
board – Mandralisca Museum, Cefalù)
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17. RENAISSANCE
Antonello da Messina:
L’ Annunziata (1475)
Francesco Laurana:
Eleonora ofAragona (1468)
The Spanish-Gothic gate,
the windows and the
courtyard with two orders of
low arches in the Abatellis
Palace, the Museum of
Middle Ages and Modern art
in Palermo (built in 1495 by
the architect Matteo
Carnilivari)
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18. IN SICILY THERE IS ONE OF THE MOST
EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION OF
BAROQUE BUILDINGS OF ALL OF ITALY
 The “Pretoria Fountain” in Renaissance style, commonly
called “Fountain of Shame” in the city center of Palermo
(Francesco Camilliani, 1554 – in Palermo in 1581)
 The “4 Canti” Square, called also “the Theater of the Sun”
in the city center of Palermo (Giulio Lasso, 1608-1663)
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19. BAROQUE STYLE
The great hall of
Palazzo Ganci-
Valguarnera in Palermo
(sec.XVII)
Porta Nuova rebuilt
(1583) for Carlo V’s
entrance in Palermo in
1535
The Cathedral of Noto
(XVIII sec.)
Palazzo Ducezio
in Noto (XVIII sec.)
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20. ECLECTICISM AND CLASSICISM IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY HAVE
INFLUENCED FIGURATIVE ARTS IN SICILY
 Bronze quadriga on the Politeama theater, with Apollo, god of
music, and Euterpe, muse of opera (B. Civiletti e M. Rutelli, after 1880)
 Chinese building, Giuseppe V. Marvuglia, Palermo 1799-1802
 Statue of Hercole on Doric Column, after 1750
19

21. ECLECTICISM
AND LANDSCAPES
View of the bay of Palermo,
F.Lo Jacono (after1850)
View of the Salt Flats of
Trapani, A.Leto (after1850)
View of Palermo, F. Lo
Jacono (after1850)
View of the Volcano ,
Etna, F. Lo Iacono
(after1850)
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22. IN SICILY AND PALERMO, ART NOUVEAU
– LIBERTY STYLE HERE – TAKES
CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKES IT
UNIQUE IN THE WESTERN WORLD
 Liberty stained glass, Palermo, early 1900
 Chaise longue, Ducrot workshop production, Palermo 1900
 Bathouse at Mondello, Rudolf Stalker, after 1910
 Floral decoration on the ceiling, Villino Florio, Palermo, early 1900
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23. LIBERTY STYLE
The Massimo Theatre,
Giovan Battista (classical
features) ed Ernesto Basile
(libertyfeatures) (1875-1897)
Door decoration in Villa Igea
(1899), Palermo
The Ribaudo Kiosk, Erne-.
sto Basile (early1900)
The Villino Florio, Ernesto
Basile (1900)
Liberty stained glass (early
1900)
22

24. CONTEMPORARY ART
WHERE NEW MEETS OLD, WHERE NEW
MEETS NATURE AND SOMETIMES
NEW GOES BACK TO THE ORIGIN
 Mitoray’s Art installation in the Valley of the Temples of
Agrigento, 2011
 Art installation known as Fiumara d’Arte in Tusa
(Messina), after 1982
 Cretto di Burri (1984-2015) on the ruins of Gibellina
village, destroyed by the earthquake of 1968 23

25. CONTEMPORARY
ART
The Vucciria,
Renato Guttuso (1974)
Stromboli Volcano ,
Renato Guttuso (1953)
The Nomadic,
Pippo Rizzo (1929)
The two Carabinieri,
Pippo Rizzo (1953)
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26. ENJOY SICILY ! But… you can also come to Sicily and to
Palermo
• to walk around
• to relax and enjoy the weather
• to go to the seaside
• to eat all our specialities and our street
food
• to drink our wines
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27. ERASMUS PLUS - SMILE
SEA AND MUSIC IN LIFELONG EDUCATION
Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain
Istituto Magistrale Statale “REGINA MARGHERITA”
Palermo (I)
Liceo Musicale e Coreutico
Good Bye