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italy_withjoe Full service travel planning

09/06/2025
04/06/2025
02/06/2025

Mount Etna erupted with force on June 2 sending towering plumes of ash and smoke high above Sicily and prompting aviation alerts across southern Europe. The volcano lit up the sky while frightened tourists and locals evacuated nearby areas. Officials issued a red alert for air traffic due to the thick ash cloud as Europe’s most active volcano reminded everyone of its unpredictable power. 🌋

26/05/2025
13/05/2025

“When we think of Sicily, we often picture the mountains, the sea, the sun, and the rich scent of lemon groves and sizzling arancini. But even the surnames we hear every day carry echoes of a deeper past.

Many of them are rooted in Arabic, a legacy of the Emirate of Sicily (827–1091), a transformative era that shaped the island’s language, agriculture, architecture... and its family names.

Surnames like Ali, Zappalà, Alamia, Bahloul, Cassarà, Ferlisi, Mursia, and Rahal trace directly to Arabic words or place names. Rahal, for instance, means "village" or "encampment" in Arabic, and survives in toponyms such as Rahal Maut (modern-day Ramotta).

Zappalà may stem from zabbala, meaning "to collect" or "to clean." Most likely linked to professions common in that era.

Over time, some surnames were Latinized, subtly reshaping their phonetics while retaining their original roots. The name Alfano, for example, may derive from al-fanān: “the artist” or “craftsman.”

Under Arab rule, Sicily became a crucible of cultures where Arabs, Christians, and Jews coexisted and influenced one another. This fusion forged a distinctive heritage that still resonates in Sicilian dialects, cuisine, architecture...and yes, even surnames.

To uncover an Arabic surname in Sicily is to lift a veil on a thousand-year-old legacy. A story of exchange, adaptation, and survival written not just in stone or manuscript, but in the names we carry.”

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