Moorish architecture is mixed with the cathedrals in Spain, too, so it makes sense that it also would be uncovered in Sicily.
I read in a book that Sicily was invaded by so many different peoples that the Sicilians themselves are a mixture. Which is not big news, I’m sure, to anyone. :-) Scottish (which explains the red haired Sicilians, they say) and Arabic are among the mixture. According to the book, there was a tradition of families painting the doors to their home a certain color. They didn’t know it, but, at one time, different colors signified different ethnicities. Families continued that tradition even after they forgot why. But anyone else could drive through pointing out the ancestry of the families in each home without even meeting them.
My maternal ancestral hometown was inhabited by Greeks, Romans, Phoenecians and (finally) the Spanish.
That's an amazing story...I love'em!
I posted an article recently (can't find it now) about a festival that is held anually in a region of England that uses reindeer horns and everyone parades around all day with these horns on their heads. Problem is, no-one can remember why they do it...and declare that they had done it as long as anyone can remember. A scientist dated the horns and they're 900 years old. After the 'parade' the horns go back into storage until the next years parade.
BTW, We can now 'paint the doors' again using DNA.