The Moor’s Heads are the symbol of Sicily. Made of ceramic in the island’s workshops with masterly craftsmanship, they depict a man and a woman, the protagonists of a legend that has enchanted admirers of Sicilian history and culture for thousands of years.
The story of this couple is so deeply rooted in Sicilian tradition and folklore that it is recognised the world over.
The origins of the Moor’s Heads date back to the year 1100 during the Arab domination of Sicily. According to the legend, a young woman from Palermo’s Arab quarter Al Hàlisah met and fell in love with an Arab who was in town during a trip.
Their love affair went on for some time, until the woman discovered that he already had a wife and children in the East and would soon have to leave to return to them. Blinded by anger and jealousy, the woman killed the man at night, cutting off his head and using it as a pot to plant basil.
To make the story even more macabre, it seems that basil grew extremely luxuriant in that vase and that the neighbours were so intrigued by the young woman’s good fortune that they soon began to have craftsmen produce vases in the shape of a Moor’s head, to be used on balconies for ornamental plants.
To this day, Moor’s Heads are still used as a decorative element in Sicilians’ living rooms, gardens, terraces and originally adorned the balconies of houses.
