Shopping

Shopping in Sicily is a unique experience for travelers since there are a variety of products available on the market that are essentially Sicilian. Locally made products include gorgeous ceramic vases, plates and decorative articles and wines. The vintages are Marsalla and Moscato among many others. There are also fruity wines made from the Nero d'Avola variety of grape and also wines with a hint of clove, vanilla and currant. The ‘il vino della casa' or ‘house wines' are produced by some of the local nobility descendents and is a rare taste of Italy. These wines are generally not advertised so you will have to ask for them in particular. Some of the best places to buy wine in Sicily are:

Fatascià srl

Via G. Galilei 95

90145 Palermo PA

Phone: +39 091 693 2060

Fax: +39 091 693 2059

Mail: a.boccadifuoco@libero.it

Web: www.fatascia.it

For ceramic articles the following shops come highly recommended:

Branciforti

Location: Scala Santa Maria del Monte 3,

Caltagirone

Phone: 0933 24427

Web: www.ceramichebranciforti.it

Beautiful blues and great arabesques on Caltagrione's magical ceramic stairs.

Ceramiche Franco

Location: Via Nazionale 8,

Santo Stefano di Camastra

Phone: 0921 337222 / 347 6004506

A great place to buy classic ceramic art like baroque vases and Renaissance Madonnas.

De Simone

Via Gaetano Daiti 13B,

Libertà,

Palermo

091/584876

A great variety and quality stoneware and ceramic tiling is available here.

Another special feature of the Sicilian shopping scene are the various markets that operate in different regions on different days of the week and month. These markets offer an excellent variety of products at throwaway prices. The only thing is that they operate on a limited number of days and so if you want to get the best of Sicilian shopping, stay alert and mingle with the locals who know the days they operate like the back of their hands.

The following are the various food markets that are open in Sicily for a particular day a week:

On Mondays there are the following markets across Sicily

Melilli

San Cataldo

Torregrotta

Trabia

Castrofilippo, via Crocifisso

Centuripe

Misterbianco

On Tuesdays there are the following markets across Sicily

Gangi, via Cappucini and via Repubblica

Gela, via Prati

Marsala, stadium

Scili, via Saffi

Aragona

Calascibetta

Carlentini, piazza Giovanni

Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, corso Bellini

On Wednesdays there are the following markets across Sicily

Avola

Butera, piazza della Vittoria

Palagonia, piazza Garibaldi

Polizzi Generosa, piazza Carpinello

Regalbuto

Taormina, via Guardiola Vecchia

Canicatti, piazza Dante

Enna

Mazala del Vallo

Ragusa, foro Boario

Valguarnera Caropepe

On Thursdays there are the following markets across Sicily

Augusta

Bronte, piazza Carcerebue

Castelbuono

Calatafimi

Milazzo, litoranea di Ponente

Licata

Piazza Armenina, via Chiaranda

Santa Croce Camerina

Sutera

On Fridays there are the following markets across Sicily

Corleone

Favara, piazza A. Giglia

Linguaglossa

Leonforte

Petralia Soprano, piazza Duomo

Sommatino

Sortino, via Liberta

On Saturdays there are the following markets across Sicily

Acilea, viale Regina Margherita and piazza Roma

Caltagirone, viale Autonomia

Castellammare del Golfo, via Ferrara

Cefalù

Chiaramonte Gulfi, piazza San Salvatore

Floridia, piazza Marconi. Food and clothes market

Giardini Naxos

Nicosia

Piana degli Albanesi

On Sundays there are the following markets across Sicily

San Mauro Castelverde

Bompensiere

Randazzo, piazza Loreto and via Basile

Every day

Catania, Piazza Alonzo di Benedetto fish market

Catania, piazza Carlo Alberto

The monthly markets are exhibitions and sales in themselves. They showcase the Sicilian traditional arts and offer some great stuff at even greater prices. The yearly markets are as follows:

Mascalucia Piazza Trinità

Date: 2nd weekend of every month, except August

Excellent selection of ceramics made in Sicily.

Giardini Naxos Parcheggio Recanati

Date: 3rd Saturday and last Sunday of every month, except July and August