12 Sicilian Love Stories
L'amuri e come a tussi ... nun si po ammucciari (Love is like a cough ... impossible to hide) an old Sicilian proverb
Sicily is an island full of myths, legends and romance.
There are many love stories associated with the island both fact and
fiction. From stories of nymphs and river gods from Greek mythology, love
struck Hollywood movie stars, books written by some of the worlds most famous
literary authors of all time, films about Sicily and filmed in Sicily and dramatic operas that depict lives of lost loves and loveless marriages. Some with happy
endings and some with not so happy endings.
Sicily is a place where once you visit you are immediately seduced
by its beauty, food, culture and its people.
I myself first visited Sicily after reading an article in a
magazine. The article was called "Alternative Valentines Weekends
Away". After a lot of research I booked a flight to Catania and a villa in
Taormina and immediately fell in love as soon as my feet touched the tarmac at
the airport, so much so that two years later we bought our Sicilian house.
So with love and romance in mind and with it being the most romantic month February, in no
particular order, here are 12 tales of Sicilian love, fact and fiction.
Aci and Galatea ... a Greek Love Story
In ancient Greek times there once lived Aci, a
handsome shepherd boy who fell in love with Galatea, a beautiful sea nymph,
with whom Polyphemus the Cyclops, who lived on Mount Etna was infatuated with.
Polyphemus was jealous of the two lovers so he
murdered Aci by throwing him against a large rock.
In appeasement of the Gods, Aci was transformed into a
river so that Galatea could swim in it and be with her beloved Aci forever.
Aci's name was also given to the three towns on the
eastern coast, Acireale, Aci Castello and Acitrezza.
Where to go ... In the beautiful town of Acireale you will find
in the public gardens a beautiful sculpture of Aci and Galatea.
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Aci and Galatea
Public Gardens of Acireale
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Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) by author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
is a novel that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the
period when Garibaldi swept through Sicily with his forces to overthrow the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The novel's main character is Prince Fabrizio of
Salina.
During the book we learn about the romance between the Prince's nephew Tancredi
and the beautiful Angelica. Whilst staying at the families country home in
Donnafugata, Tancredi falls in love at first sight with the local
mayor's daughter Angelica at a dinner hosted by his uncle. This devastates Prince Fabrizio's daughter Concetta
who is also in love with Tancredi.
Later in the book the author gives us every detail about the young romance
between Tancredi and Angelica. The two of them love to wander through all the
secret rooms of Donnafugata and meet for secret trysts amongst the citrus trees in the
surrounding land.
A grand ball is held for the Prince's aristocratic friends and it is here that
Angelica is presented as Tancredi's bride to be after the Prince watching them
dance happily together comes to realize and accept that whatever happiness the
couple feel should be celebrated.
Where to go ... The novel was made into a movie in 1963 staring Burt Lancaster,
most of the movie was filmed in the beautiful Villa Boscogrande in Mondello a
seaside resort north of Palermo.
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Villa Boscogrande
Filming Location for The Leopard
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Michael Corleone and Apollonia ... The Godfather Part I
In The Godfather Part I, after having to leave America for safety
in Sicily, Michael Corleone takes a walk to visit Corleone the town of his
father's birth.
Whilst walking he encounters a breathtakingly
beautiful Sicilian woman and falls in love at first sight. His bodyguards
comment that in Sicily women are more dangerous than shotguns and exclaim that
he has been hit by a thunderbolt.
After stopping for a drink at Bar Vitelli the trio
enquire about the beautiful girl with a purple ribbon in her hair that looks
more Greek than Italian. The owner of the bar says "NO" and it
becomes apparent that the girl is the bar owners daughter. At this point
Michael asks for his permission to court his daughter and offers his hand in
marriage, thereafter a grand wedding is held.
Tragically, Apollonia is killed by a car bomb intended
for Michael planted by one of his trusted bodyguards.
At the end of The Godfather Part III an elderly
Michael sits alone thinking of his life and lost loves suddenly slumping over
in his chair and falling to the ground.
Where to go ... Don Corleone takes his name from the
town of Corleone however the town in Sicily's mountain interior was not deemed
suitable to be used as a movie location. Therefore the movie was filmed close
to Taormina in the hillside towns of Savoca, Forza d'Agro and Motta Camastra.
The scene of Apollonia's death was filmed at the Castello degli Schiavi in
Fiumefreddo.
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Bar Vitelli in Savoca
Location for Michael's Proposal to Apollonia
|
The film Cleopatra is best remembered for the love affair between
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton who fell in love on set.
Whilst filming the blockbuster movie the couple snuck away and no one knew
where they had gone.
They were in fact sipping cocktails in Taormina's glamorous bars and cafes
whilst staying at the Grand Timeo Hotel where it is said that on another visit
Elizabeth broke a guitar by smashing it on Richard's head during a row.
In a excerpt from his diary written in Taormina on 30th July 1967 he wrote
"A slow day, marking time, with a walk in which we bought sunglasses at a
little shop. As we left, the crowd which had gathered applauded us. Elizabeth
thought it very sweet, which indeed it was. We dined in somnolence and some
self-satisfaction as we compared our ancestors and former wives and husbands.
Elizabeth has become very slim and I can barely keep my hands off her. She is
at the moment among the most dishiest girls I’ve ever seen. The most. I mean
the dishiest".
Where to go .... Follow in Elizabeth and Richard's footsteps and sip cocktails at the Wunderbar
Caffe in Piazza Aprile IX in Taormina.
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Piazza IX Aprile
Taormina
|
From March 1920 to February 1922 Taormina became home to the
author D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda living as the guests of Don Cicco
Cacopardo in a house called Fontana Vecchia.
The writer fell in love with Taormina and once wrote in a letter to a friend
"We love Taormina and in particular our house, I like this place more than
any other, I love the sunrise over the open sea to the East".
It is said that he wrote Lady Chatterley's Lover here after drawing inspiration
from an English noble lady living in Taormina who fell in love with her Sicilian
gardener.
Where to go ... On Via Fontana Vecchia in Taormina you can see the house where
D H Lawrence lived and wrote. Visits are by appointment only.
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Via D H Lawrence
Taormina
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Alpheus and Arethusa ... Greek Mythology
Arethusa was a Greek nymph who fled from her home in Arcadia
beneath the sea and came up as a fresh water fountain on the island of Ortigia
in Syracuse.
The myth of her transformation begins in Arcadia when
she came across a clear stream and began bathing, not knowing that stream was
in fact the river god Alpheus whose waters flowed down from Arcadia to the sea. Alpheus
fell in love with Arethusa but she fled after discovering his presence and
intentions as she wished to remain a chaste attendant of the goddess Artemis.
After a long pursuit by Alpheus, she prayed to her goddess to ask for protection. Artemis
hid her in a cloud, but Alpheus was persistent with his love for her. Arethusa
began to perspire profusely from fear and soon transformed into a stream.
Artemis then broke the ground allowing Arethusa
another attempt to flee. Her stream travelled under the sea to Ortigia but love
struck Alpheus followed her through the sea to reach her and mingle with her
waters so that he could be with his love forever.
Where to go ... The fountain of Arethusa is a
natural fountain on the island of Ortigia boasting abundant papyrus plants and
a variety of ducks happily swimming in the fresh water fountain where Arethusa
returned to the earths surface.
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Fountain of Arethusa
Ortigia, Siracusa
|
In this Academy Award winning film Salvatore (Toto) a filmmaker
recalls his childhood when falling in love with the movies at the cinema of
his home village and forms a deep relationship with the cinema's elderly
projectionist.
About a decade into the movie Toto now in high school
is operating the projector at the Cinema Paradiso after a tragic accident
leaves his mentor blind. Their friendship has strengthened and Salvatore often
looks to him for help and advice. Salvatore has been experimenting with film,
using a home movie camera and he has met and captured on film a beautiful girl
with blue eyes, Elena who is the daughter of a wealthy banker.
Toto woos and wins Elena's heart only to lose her due
to her fathers disapproval.
As Elena and her family move away, a heart broken Toto
leaves town for compulsory military service. His attempts to write to Elena are
fruitless and his letters are returned as undeliverable.
After returning to Sicily without Elena he decides to
move to Rome to pursue his dream of being a film maker only returning to Sicily
for the funeral of his old friend the projectionist. Whilst in Sicily he is reunited with a now married Elena.
Cinema Paradiso is one of the most beautiful, moving
and memorable movies ever made and is a must watch.
Where to go ... The fictional town of Giancaldo is
based on Bagheria near Palermo. The town of Castelbuono is the location for the
school that Toto and Elena attended. The seaside town of Cefalu was used to film the
scene where the outdoor screening of Ulysses is interrupted by rain and Toto is surprised by a kiss from Elena.
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| Cathedral of Cefalu |
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy play by William Shakespeare
thought to have been written between 1598 and 1599 as Shakespeare was approaching
the middle of this career.
The play is based in the north eastern Sicilian
town of Messina in the 16th centrury. Messina is a bustling sea port but its
climate makes it agricultural as well, meaning the male characters of the play
returning from war viewing Messina as a welcome respite from the battlefields of
northern Italy.
With the war over, Pedro Prince of Aragon with his
followers the Knights Benedick and Claudio visit Leonato, Duke of Messina, father of Hero
and uncle of Beatrice.
Claudio falls in love with Hero and their marriage is
agreed upon. Beatrice and Benedick despise love and engage in comic banter. The
others plot to make them fall in love with each other by a trick in which
Benedick will overhear his friends talking of Beatrice's supposed secret love
for him and vice versa.
Meanwhile Don John, the prince's evil half brother, contrives
a more malicious plot with the assistance of his follower Borachio. Claudio is
led to believe that he has witnessed Hero in a compromising situation on the
night before her wedding day. In fact it is her maid with Borachio.
Claudio denounces Hero during the marriage ceremony.
She faints and on the advice of the Friar, who is convinced of her innocence,
Leonato announces that she is dead. Beatrice announces that Benedick should
kill Claudio.
After a policeman overhears Borachio boasting of his
exploit the plot is exposed. Claudio promises to make amends to Leonato and is
then required to marry a cousin of Hero's in her place. When unveiled she is revealed
as Hero much to Claudio's joy. Beatrice and Benedick declare their true love for each
and Beatrice agrees to marry him.
Where to go .... In Shakespeare's play we learn a lot
about society in 16th century Messina. Messina is the third largest city on
Sicily and is well worth a visit during your stay on the island. In Piazza Duomo a clock tower with mechanical figures comes to life each day at noon.
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| Cathedral of Messina |
Filmed in 1949 on the Aeolian Island of Stromboli and
directed by Roberto Rossellini, Stromboli stars Ingrid Bergman who plays a displaced Lithuanian
in Italy who escapes the internment camp by marrying an Italian POW
fisherman, whom she met on the other side of the barbed wire. He promises her a
great life in his home island of Stromboli. Her character speaks little Italian
and discovers that the island is not what she expected and eventually wants to
escape.
The film is the result of a famous letter from Ingrid
Bergman to Roberto Rossellini in which she wrote that she admired his work and
wanted to make a movie with him.
When Ingrid and Rossellini met on the volcanic island
two worlds collided. On one side a beautiful Hollywood superstar and Alfred
Hitchcock's muse and on the other the director of neorealist monumental films. Rossellini
instantly fell in love with Ingrid.
Stromboli is perhaps best remembered for the love
affair between Ingrid and Roberto that began during the production of the film.
Some say that without the scandal during the filming, the film itself would have sunk
into insignificance.
Ingrid married Rossellini and had two children by him, one of which was the beautiful actress Isabella Rossellini.
Where to go ... On Stromboli you can visit the house where
Ingrid Bergman lived in 1949 whilst filming.
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Ingrid Bergmans House
Stromboli, Aeolian Islands
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This
opera was written by the composer Pietro Mascagni and was adapted from a play
and short story by Giovanni Verga.The story takes place in a 19th
century Sicilian village on Easter morning.
A young villager named Turiddu has returned from military service to find that his beloved fiancée Lola has married the local carter Alfio while he was away.
In revenge, broken hearted Turiddu seduces Santuzza, a young woman in the village.
As the opera begins, Lola still in love with Turiddu and overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu.
The opera ends with Alfio challenging Turriddu to a duel. Turriddu asks his mother Mamma Lucia to look after Santuzza and dies at the hands of Alfio. Cavalleria Rusticana has stirring melodies including the famous 'Easter Hymn'.
The
opera was also featured in The Godfather Part III.
Where
to go ... The Greek Theatre in Taormina has set the scene for many
performances of Cavalleria Rusticana. A visit is a must do to experience the ambience of this ancient theatre with its natural scenery of Mount Etna and the
Bay of Naxos.
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Ancient Greek Theatre
Taormina
|
Salvo and Livia ... Inspector Montalbano
Inspector Montalbano is an Italian television series based on the bestselling detective novels by the author Andrea Camilleri and came to UK screens on BBC4 with English subtitles. It was soon followed by a spinoff series The Young Montalbano.
Salvo Montalbano is the police commissioner of the fictional Sicilian town of Vigata, a gruff character who is responsible and serious but also open and friendly with the people he knows he can trust. Montalbano must investigate various criminal acts, which with thanks to his great mind and help of numerous assistants he always manages to reconstruct the exact event to find a solution to solve the case, whilst often failing to resist the seductive qualities of fine Sicilian food.
He really loves women but always ends up running away from them as they make him feel uneasy and insecure.
Montalbano has a long-term girlfriend called Livia, who lives and works in Genova. They started dating after they met through one of his investigations.
When Montalbano is lonely and melancholy, Livia is happy to adjust her schedule and hop on a plane to Palermo to calm and comfort him.
The couple have a sometimes tempestuous relationship but true love always prevails. Montalbano always responds to Livia's loving attentiveness and contemplates the possibility of not only being a husband but a father at some point too. As viewers, we are always kept thinking will they or wont they ever marry.
Where to go ... In the south eastern seaside village of Punta Secca you will find Inspector Montalbano's house overlooking the sea. The scenes filmed in the house between Salvo and Livia are written with tenderness and sentimentality.
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Inspector Montalbano's House
Punta Secca
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Angelica, Rinaldo and Orlando ... a Sicilian puppet love story
Puppet theatres have been popular in Sicily since the fourteenth century but really became popular in the 1800's and provided nightly entertainment for thousands of Sicilians who would watch the good guys fight the bad guys in stories of adventure and romance. The most traditional stories are derived from the stories of the Holy Emperor Charlemagne and his Paladin Knights battle for Christianity against the Saracens and Turks, involving raucous sword fights.
Angelica is a princess in the epic poem Orlando Innamorato (Orlando in Love) and is a regular character in the stories told in the Sicilian puppet shows.
Angelica comes to court with her brother Argalia and all the Knights of the Court are smitten with her, especially the cousins Orlando and Rinaldo, but the protective Argalia will only let her marry a man who can beat him at jousting. When Argalia eventually falls at the hands of a Saracen knight, Orlando and Rinaldo threaten to destroy each other over her. As the Saracens lay siege, Charlemagne promises Angelica's hand to whichever cousin fights best for him. The battle is lost and the characters go on to further adventures. Rinaldo and Angelica drink from magic fountains twice, each time leaving one madly in love and the other indifferent, while Orlando loses his wits to his passion for Angelica. This epic love story is always left unfinished but Angelica is continually pursued by Orlando and Rinaldo who both compete for her love endlessly.
Where to go ... A visit to a puppet theatre is an amazing experience or why not visit the workshop of Pupi Salamanca near Catania where the maestro Sicilian puppet maker Francesco Salamanca has been making puppets for over fifty years.
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a Love struck Orlando
❤ |
Why
not plan a romantic trip to Sicily
and
create your own Sicilian Love Story?
The Island is the perfect destination for Romantic Holidays and Weekends Away,
Honeymoons, Marriage Proposals and Destination Weddings
From Luxury Hotels with glistening Swimming Pools,
Historic Castles and Restored Ancient Villas,
Agriturismi, Boutique Hotels, Private Villas and Apartments
In Sicily you are spoilt for choice where to stay with your loved one
Search my Blog archive for my accommodation and venue
Honeymoons, Marriage Proposals and Destination Weddings
From Luxury Hotels with glistening Swimming Pools,
Historic Castles and Restored Ancient Villas,
Agriturismi, Boutique Hotels, Private Villas and Apartments
In Sicily you are spoilt for choice where to stay with your loved one
Search my Blog archive for my accommodation and venue
❤
If
you enjoyed reading this post then you will love from my archive
"15
Romantic Things to do in Taormina"
 |
Love is all around
at Castello San Marco near Taormina
visit www.castellosanmarco.it
for more information and booking |
(Note: All Photos are my own)
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Almond Sicily BlogSpot
As seen in
The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Sicily by Essential Italy
Sicily Weddings and Honeymoons by Wedaways
and the romantic novel
My Lemon Grove Summer by Jo Thomas
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HAPPY VALENTINES
Love Sarah and Daisy x
