i Mori

The Moor’s Heads are a classic representation of artistic Sicily. The Moors bring us back to the Arab domination in Sicily (IX-XI century). The Muslim period lasted almost two centuries but it is the one that has left the biggest imprint, probably, in the rich history of Sicily. Not so much in the monuments (very few) but in the daily life, in the etymology of many words, in the dialect, in the uses and customs. Moors are typical figures which come into play very often in Sicilian culture as for example in the Opera the Puppets or in the legend of the Moor’s heads. They tell of a legend in which a beautiful Sicilian fell in love with an Arab at the time that they reigned in Sicily (IX-XI century), being betrayed by the Moor, she beheaded him in his sleep and hung his head, as if it were a vase, on the balcony, also adorning it with a fragrant basil plant that aroused the admiration of unsuspecting  bystanders. In a certain sense, the Arabs have never left Sicily.

The pine cone is in Sicily, one of the most appreciated gifts. It is present in almost every Sicilian house: in the garden, inside the house or, even, above the roof, often in the highest point of it, as the last element of the construction, as if it was a guard. Apart from the splendid ceramic pine cones, in Sicily it was customary to give families a pine cone, to be hung on the door of the house, so that it would be a harbinger for that house and for its inhabitants, of fertility, abundance, and not only in the material sense, but also in the spiritual one.

 (photo) The Arab conquest of Syracuse (in 878), manuscript