Sicily is rich in culture, landscapes and centuries of history and transformations. The Arab conquest marked a fundamental stage for the region, for this reason “Arab Mediterranean – Sapiens, one planet” on Saturday 2 December at 9.45pm on Rai 3 dedicated the episode to the island. The Italian geologist, scientific communicator and essayist Mario Tozzi recounted the splendor of the Arab-Norman culture in Palermo, on the trail of what today is a hidden world, made above all of suggestions of history, architecture and geology. The program followed the course of the water and the history of the rocks, telling with particular attention the great engineering skills that the Arabs demonstrated in transforming an uncultivated plain like that of Palermo into the Conca d’Oro, famous throughout the world for its citrus groves.
Are the peoples of the Mediterranean the result of the mixing of people over the centuries? Has coexistence between Christians and Muslims always been conflictual? Were the Arabs of Sicily uncultured raiders or refined intellectuals? What did Muslim domination in the Mediterranean mean? These are just some of the questions on which this episode focused, which recounted the birth and epilogue of Muslim dominations in the countries bordering the Mediterranean basin. From the first invasions of Sicily in the early Middle Ages to the Spanish “reconquest” of the 15th century, Sapiens takes a long journey through history, architecture and geology, while a documentary reveals the secrets of the Alhambra in Granada, an emblematic building of the Arab heritage in the Mediterranean that its driving force will cease in Spain itself.
All we have to do is tune in to the TV on Saturday evening and let Mario Tozzi guide us to discover beautiful Palermo.
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