Travel Ideas - Sicily and Sicilian puppets

If you are travelling to Sicily, Italy, and staying in any of the island’s main tourist destinations, such as Taormina, Palermo or Siracusa, you might be interested in seeing an old Sicilian tradition, which risks disappearing and therefore, in 2001, UNESCO declared it Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. This ancient Sicilian tradition is The Sicilian Puppet Theatre (Opera dei Pupi in Sicilian), which had its golden years in the XIX century and in the last fifty years it has been declining because of the advent of television.

The histories portrayed in the Opera dei Pupi (Sicilian puppet theatre) are long cycles, presented in episodes, based on epic-chivalrous literature and especially on the Carolingian cycle, the Chanson the Roland in particular (based on the Roncisvalle battle, when the paladins of Charlemagne where attacked by the Saracens). The Sicilian puppets are made of wood with iron wire inside, in order to connect the junctions and they wear metal armour and colourful clothes. The puppets were made and moved by ‘pupari’ (puppeteers in Sicilian), who also provided the voices for the marionettes.

You can still see the ‘Opera dei Pupi’, in some theatres across Sicily, such as in the Teatro Stabile dell’Opera dei Pupi, in the cultural centre ‘Le Ciminiere’ (Catania) or in the Theatre ‘Teatro dell’Opera dei Pupi’ in Acireale (in the province of Catania). If you are staying in Palermo, Sicily, you can visit the Museo Internazionale delle Marionette Antonio Pasqualino, which displays many ancient marionettes from different areas of Sicily.
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