The initiative
Roots tourism,
with Italea Sicily
trip to three Sicilian villages
Numerous visitors arrived
in Burgio, Giuliana and Prizzi
for the last weekend
of the Borghi dei Tesori Fest
Burgio, Giuliana and Prizzi: three destinations for a single journey that brought the three Sicilian villages together.
The occasion was the last weekend of the Borghi dei Tesori Fest, now in its fourth edition; a special edition, this year dedicated to theYear of Roots Tourism organized with Italea Sicilia, the Sicilian rib of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Roots Tourism project.
A journey, that of the three Sicani villages, straddling the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento. Numerous visitors arrived in this corner of the island aboard the Italea Sicilia bus, discovering
the treasures that characterize the three villages.
In Burgio, a town of ceramics in the Agrigento area, a stop at the Museum of Mummies housed inside the Capuchin Convent was not to be missed; a real gem, with the mummies restored some 20 years ago, exhibited in their original clothes.
Also in Burgio, another not-to-be-missed stop was the foundry of Rocco Cacciabaudo, who began his apprenticeship as a young boy, just 14 years old, and who still makes extraordinary bells and statues using the lost-wax technique, as was once done.
In the Palermo area, in the beautiful medieval village of Giuliana nearly eight hundred meters above sea level, visitors to the Borghi dei Tesori Fest, within the walls of the Frederician castle that dominates the town, were treated to a theatricalized tour that took them back to the time of Frederick II and Eleanor of Aragon.
And since not only the eye wants its part, the tastings of typical local products, such as Giarraffa olive, artisan cheeses and Tabisca, a very special focaccia from Giuliana, to which this year the Municipality of Giuliana, as part of the “Attimi dei Borghi” initiative, successfully dedicated the first edition of Tabisca Fest, held in conjunction with the second edition of theInfiorata, which colored the streets of the center with its bright colors.
Last stop, also in the Palermo area, was Prizzi, where visitors were able to immerse themselves in the specially organized experience of discovering the ancient festival of the Dance of the Devils, which is celebrated every year on Easter Day in the alleys of the ancient village.
A unique festival that involves the whole town: from dawn to late at night, in the streets and in the houses of the small town in the Palermitan area, over a thousand meters above sea level, Resurrection Sunday is definitely not a day like any other: around, there are devils and death in person, targeting passers-by and, in the highlight of the festival, attempting to prevent the meeting between the Madonna and the Risen Christ. Sacred and profane are mixed in the representation of the eternal struggle between good and evil; a tradition that dates back to the eighteenth century, to 1711 to be exact, and that refers, especially as far as the masks are concerned, to the Mexican Festival of the Dead and, in general, to a certain South American folklore of Hispanic inspiration.
Text by Editors
