Our ideal Easter is a five senses Easter. To discover small villages steeped in tradition, offering traditional dishes, hear the familiar ringing of the bells, touch the texture of typical products, smell the spring that spreads all around. Take advantage of our tips “by locals” Enjoy the best of the Easter holidays!

SEE

See the Easter “show” is a memorable experience. Holy Week before Easter, in Sicily, is full of signs, symbols and religious processions. Ancient traditions are perpetuated over the centuries. The ancient procession, in Caltagirone,tells of the Resurrection of Christ and of his meeting with his mother Mary. It’s the ‘Giunta’, that take place in Caltagirone: in the historical center, in Via San Pietro, a giant figure (about 3 meters) of St. Peter arrive at Piazza Municipio homonymous Church, to meet with the Risen Jesus and give the news to his mother Maria.

And…have you ever seen “The Diavolata”? From 250 years is one of the most characteristic of Sicily Easter religious events that propose, year after year, the eternal battle of good and evil: Lucifer, his devils, Beelzebub, and Ashteroth, and Death on the one hand and on the other, the ‘Humanity and the Archangel Gabriel, who will be the winner of the dispute. Spectacular entry into the clothes of red devils scene that appear to the public through a trap door surrounded by smoke and flames, led by Lucifer wearing a dress depicting a skeleton while a child, dressed in white, that is the Humanity and ‘Archangel Gabriel occupy the opposite side of the stage.

SMELL

Smelling all the scents of the Sicilian spring is wonderful. Starting with the traditional Easter plant, a symbol of regeneration and reconciliation. In Sicily, the olive tree is confused between the rich Mediterranean vegetation in the spring is an explosion of colors and scents. The Natural Reserve of Timpa, will strike you with smells of its shrubs of olive and lemon groves.

How not to perceive, perhaps taking a walk upwards to the peaks of Mount Etna, the heady fragrance of the broom? In the spring, admire the flowering of these trees with yellow flowers that create a nice visual contrast with the black volcanic lava.

FEEL

Hear the sounds of Easter (the typical bell, of course!) to come back to childhood.  Acireale, the Bells city, is known for its bell towers and typical chimes that greet the day of celebration. After days of silence, it is the Easter Sundaythat the hundred bells resume playing joyfully. cheerful and solemn sounds fill the streets of the old town, starting from the central Piazza del Duomo.

TOUCH

Tap the local craft, choose the most beautiful and typical forms and give, alongside the traditional chocolate egg, also a local craft product. If, in fact, the chocolate egg is the Easter dessert par excellence  … you know that in the workshops of craftsmen of the beautiful Caltagirone there you can also find ceramic? smooth hand-painted eggs or embellished with elaborate reliefs, also in ceramic. And among the stalls, set up for the Easter period, in the historical center you will touch the whistles, maybe to give away in a quaint wicker basket, woven by local craftsmen.

TASTE

The delights offered by the Sicilian cuisine is a culinary poetry. Inevitable is the “cuddura cu l’ovu“. A kind of soft biscuit based on water and flour, of different shapes (baskets, birds or chicks) with the center one or more hard-boiled eggs decorated with colorful decorations. And the windows of patisseries are colored with sweet lambs made with almond paste or real, handmade by skilled confectioners.

Do not miss the Sicilian cassata: created to celebrate the Passover, after the Lenten sacrifices, its decorations are baroque and sumptuous, the richness of its ingredients reflects the characteristics of the Saracen cuisine. Sponge cake filled with ricotta mixed with sugar, vanilla, chocolate chips and candied fruit and liquor such as liqueur, rum or maraschino.

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