meeting of cultures
Nowhere better represents the meeting of cultures than the island of Sicily.
Sicily has always been at the crossroads of east and west. Cut off by the sea, the island has been invaded, colonised and loved by countless peoples, resulting in a unique cultural mix of extraordinary richness.
This delightful mix, not without its contradictions, makes it impossible to talk of just one Sicily. To paraphrase Pirandello, “there is one, there is none, there are one hundred thousand different Sicilies.”
One of these cultural charms is Vittoria itself, which with its inimitable Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a wine once forgotten and now rediscovered, tells a unique story.
culture
Sicily has been home to some of the most famous Italian writers in the world.
Among them are the following: Pirandello (1867 - 1936), Salvatore Quasimodo (1901 - 1968), Leonardo Sciascia (1921 - 1989), Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896 - 1957), Giovanni Verga (1840 - 1922) and of course, Andrea Camilleri (1925 - 2019). All of them contributed to creating a very special reputation for Sicily in the literary world.
In Sicily – everything is culture – and art. There are works of antiquity such as the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, and works of nature such as Mouth Etna and Scala dei Turchi near Montallegro.
dialects
There are a great many dialects spoken in Sicily, which are a reflection of the diverse nature of the communities in individual cities.
Everyone proudly speaks their dialect, as it is a language with its own history and grammar.
Over the centuries, each dialect has taken on characteristics which have made it unique, enriched by local flavours and dishes. The contributions of past generations of Sicilians are very much in evidence.
