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There were puppeteers in ancient Syracuse, but the opera dei pupi as we know it today really became popular in the 1800s. Puppet theatres provided nightly entertainment for thousands of Sicilians – Palermo had more than 25 theatres where full houses would watch the good guys fight the bad guys in stories of adventure and romance, chivalry and treachery. Travelling puppet theatres drew huge crowds in smaller villages.

Puppets of the Catania tradition are almost 1.5 m (5 ft) tall. Puppeteers manoeuvre the heavy puppets via a metal pole attached to the heads, moving their limbs with strings. The puppets’ joints are fixed and the swords of the paladins are constantly drawn. They inhabit a narrow stage with a long horizontal backdrop and are sometimes accompanied in the action by live actors.

Palermitan puppets are around 1 m (3 ft) tall. They are entirely manipulated by strings, have movable joints and can raise their face guards and draw their swords at will. Because they are lighter, they are more easily manipulated and their sword fights are much more lively. The stage of the Palermo-style theatre is a deeply recessed space with room for many characters and backed by elaborately decorated scenery.

The most traditional subjects are derived from the epic poems of the Carolingian cycle, retold by Ludovico Ariosto in his 1516 Orlando Furioso . Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and his paladins battle for Christianity against the Saracens and Turks and raucous sword fights abound. Other productions relate the lives of the saints, stories of bandits, Shakespearian themes and local farces.

Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and his paladins are dressed in armour and skirts and brightly coloured silks. Orlando, mighty and loyal leader of the paladins, carries a shield with a cross. His cousin Rinaldo, a brave fighter with a weakness for the ladies, is identified by the lion on his shield, as is his long-haired sister Bradamante, another warrior. Angelica, the object of the two men’s affections, can be cunning but is usually on their side.

Mostly evil Saracens and Turks, they wear baggy trousers and droopy moustaches and bear shields decorated with a crescent moon. Charlemagne’s brother-in-law and arch-enemy Gano di Magonza often tries to overthrow the crown. Sorcerer Malagigi plays both sides, sometimes helping, sometimes hurting the paladins’ cause.

The extensive collection includes examples of puppet traditions from all over the world. Among the puppets and scenery are examples of famous Sicilian pupari (puppeteers) representing the Palermo and Catania schools, complete with puppets, stages and sets. There is a theatre with performances staged by the Cuticchio family (see Teatro Luigi Pirandello, Agrigento).

The collection is the patrimony of the Puglisi family, pupari for five generations. The master was Don Ignazio il Pastaro, who learned the craft from his father and passed it down to his sons and grandsons. He built up the collection of puppets, scenery and manuscripts by purchasing entire workshops of famous pupari from the areas around Catania and Syracuse as they went out of business.

In this traditional story, Charlemagne, under siege by the Turks, sends Rinaldo to prepare the French army and Ruggero to Rome to ask assistance from the Pope. Ruggero spends the night at a castle where he is served a poisonous dinner and dies. Rinaldo defeats a group of Saracens and then the Turkish leader himself. The sorcerer Malagigi predicts Rinaldo’s and Orlando’s duel over Angelica and convinces the cousins to end their differences and head to Paris to fight the Saracens. Orlando saves the day.

In another famous tale, Charlemagne is tricked by his brother-in-law Gano and sends the paladins, led by Orlando, to accompany his bishop who is to baptize a group of Saracens. But the paladins find themselves surrounded and outnumbered. After putting up a noble fight, Orlando dies on the battlefield.