The Legend of Sicilian Moor’s Heads
The Moor’s heads are symbolic of Sicily and are recognised all over the world. The elegant hand-painted ceramic vases represent Sicilian culture and portray the face of a man wearing a turban, a vision the East, and a woman with a crown, both embellished with jewelry, flowers and fruit. The legend says that during the Moor domination in Sicily a beautiful girl living in the Arab quarter Kalsa, loved to tend to her plants on her balcony. One day a Moor noticed her and the two fell in love, however, it turned out he would soon return home to his wife and children. The "green eyed monster" possessed her and in her rage and jealousy she killed the Moor in his sleep. She cut off his head, used it as a vase, planted a bud of basil, and watered it with her tears. The basil grew and grew and the beautiful aroma made the other girls jealous so they all ordered vases that looked like the Moor's head. It's said that this is where the tradition began all that time ago.
