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Demeter’s daughter was abducted by Hades into the Underworld at Lake Pergusa.

While gathering lilies, violets and hyacinths with her girlfriends in fields below Enna, Persephone was abducted by Hades and taken to reign as Queen of the Underworld.

Hades agreed to release Persephone on condition that she ate a pomegranate seed (food of the dead) so ensuring her return to the Underworld for four months each year. When she reigns in the Underworld, it is winter on Earth; when she returns, she brings spring and renewal.

Excavations here turned up remains of the 8th-century BC houses of the original Sicel culture. Around the oblong piazza are the Duomo, the town hall (located atop an Ionic Temple to Artemis) and outdoor cafés.

Signora Parisi weaves exceptional rugs in geometric patterns and colours traditional to Erice. Her masterpieces, however, are rugs woven to her own designs, with naïve scenes of the Sicilian countryside, each signed with her initials, PP (see Pina Parisi Tappeti, Erice).

Sicily is full of pizzerie (see Restaurants), many of which are specifically geared towards families. Often they are outfitted with playgrounds and video games. At such venues, the traditional pizza toppings often give way to children’s idiosyncracies – don’t be surprised to find the dough base topped with hotdogs and French fries, for example. Kids particularly enjoy Boffo’s Castle, the Selinunte pizzeria built to resemble a fanciful Norman castle.

Many place names are Italian versions of original Greek or Latin names. Erice was known as Monte San Giuliano until 1934 when Mussolini went on a name-changing spree and adopted an Italian version of its original Greek name, Eryx. Arabic names remain in abundance – look for names with the prefixes Calta, Gibil and Sala.