Colapesce, Who Holds Up Sicily
Sicilian legend says a boy who lived more in the sea than on land dived to the bottom and found the island resting on three columns, one of them cracked. He's still down there, holding it up.
What was reported
Cola was a boy from Messina who loved the sea so much that he spent his days swimming and diving, until his mother, in despair, cursed him to become a fish. He became Colapesce, 'Cola fish', half human and half fish.
The king tested him by throwing treasures into the sea for him to find. On his last dive, Cola discovered that Sicily rests on three great columns, and that one was cracked and crumbling. He stayed below to hold it up, and when the island shakes, they say he's shifting the weight.
Explanations offered
The legend has been told since at least the 12th century, and explains the earthquakes and volcanoes of eastern Sicily. Messina was devastated by an earthquake in 1908.
- When
- Told since the Middle Ages
- Where
- Messina, Sicily, Italy
- Witnesses
- Sicilian legend
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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