la giara, pension

The sicilian cart

The sicilian cart, used a means of transport, firstly by pedlars, is surely the most famous and typical object in sicilian folk -art. The cart is a multicoloured work of art, having its roots in the puppet theatre; the minutely decorated scenes, originally go back to bear witnesses to popular religiosity, with typical representations of thanks for favours received or to exorcize evil.
Afterwards, the masters of decoration represented heroic deeds of the paladins of France, the typical manners of the characters of Verga and the episodes of the Cavalleria Rusticana on the cart.
Nowadays, the cart has fallen into disuse, and for this reason, it is jealously kept by a few, lucky owners; it is a two-wheeled vehicle without springs and usually used for the transport of goods. It is basically made up of three parts: the wheels, the shafts and the box, that the ancient masters realized from different types of wood (text taken from www.pipponamio.com)