ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENT ROMANS, THE Goddess Ceres brought abundance to Sicily, scattering seeds all over the island so fields of wheat, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, you name it, sprung up and thrived under the blazing sun.

In Palermo, Sicily’s capital, Ceres stands majestically in one of the city’s most beautiful outdoor places, the Piazza Pretoria fountain. Venus and a racy collection of nymphs and mermaids surround her. When this fountain was first brought here from a Florentine villa in 1575, the shocked Palermitani nicknamed it “The Fountain of Shame” because of all the nakedness.

The story of Ceres (Patron of Sicily, Motherhood and Agriculture) is interlocked with her daughter Proserpina, who caused Ceres tremendous grief. Beautiful Proserpina was picking flowers in a field near Enna in central Sicily when suddenly Pluto (God of the Underworld) caught sight of her, found her irresistible, swooped up, kidnapped or raped her (choose your version), and brought her down to Hades to make her his queen.

Distraught, Ceres left the heavens to wander Sicily in search of Proserpina, lured by the echoes of her daughter’s cries. When she found out what Pluto had done, Ceres begged her husband (and brother!) Jupiter to get their daughter back. Jupiter had to oblige Ceres, because what with all her wandering and neglecting the fields, everything had stopped growing. Pluto let Proserpina go, but being a tricky god, he offered her a pomegranate to eat before she left. As soon as Proserpina bit into the fruit, a deal was sealed with that King of Hades: Proserpina would have to return to be Pluto’s wife for four months out of the year.

That’s one explanation for the change of seasons. Winter is a time when Proserpina does her stint in hell and Ceres mourns for her daughter. Spring comes when mother and daughter are joyfully reunited. To this day Sicilians hold festivals that mark Proserpina’s leaving (in December) and returning (in March).

Beyond Palermo’s Pretoria Fountain of goddesses and nymphs, there are wonderful sights that pay homage to the BVM. Close by and up some stairs from it is the tiny, sparkling Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio church, originally dedicated to a Greek admiral and styled in a Byzantine-Islamic mix with fantastic mosaics of blue, deep red, and green set against a gold background.

Benedictine nuns, headed up by Mother Superior Eloisa Martorana, took it over in the sixteenth century, so it was renamed La Martorana. The nuns baroque-icized the church, which wasn’t exactly the best thing, as they tore out some of those mosaics and replaced them with frescos. There’s one pretty Annunciation, and we can forgive those nuns for their mistakes in redecorating, because they did keep the original mosaic columns and archways. The best thing they did was invent one of Palermo’s tastiest treats: frutta di Martorana, marzipan molded into fruit shapes. These were so realistic when they were hung on a tree they were mistaken for the real thing and can still be found today in shops all over Palermo. You must have a taste.

More BVM treasures can be found in La Kalsa, my favorite Palermo neighborhood, where crumbling baroque buildings, Spanish-Moorish architecture, and artists’ studios blend together in a quiet area of the city that retains an exotic sense of the Arab port it once was.

In the Palazzo Abatellis, now the Galleria Regionale, you may think the Annunciation you see is mistitled, because there’s no angel there. It’s a close up of a gorgeous blue-veiled, dark-eyed Madonna, resembling the Sicilian women you’ll see on the streets outside. Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina caught the moment where Mary receives her calling, with one hand raised from her book, in reaction to the offstage angel.

Also in this neighborhood is the awe-inspiring Santa Maria dello Spasimo, a sixteenth-century Romanesque church, named “Spasimo” to commemorate Mary’s suffering at the crucifixion. What’s amazing about the church is that it’s roofless because a Turkish invasion kept it from being completed. Two huge sumac trees grow in the middle of what was once (almost) the sanctuary, forming a leafy cupola, opening to the Palermo sky. There’s a natural grace to this setting and as you stand there looking up, you’re likely to hear rehearsals going on in the attached music school that was once a monks’ cloister.

La Martorana (Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio): Piazza Bellini 2, Monday-Saturday 9:30-1, 3:30-5, Sunday 9:15-1.

Galleria Regionale della Sicilia (Palazzo Abetellis): Via Alloro 4, Tuesday-Friday 9-6, Saturday-Sunday 9-1, www.regione.sicilia.it.

Santa Maria dello Spasimo: Via Santa Maria dello Spasimo 13, daily 9-6, but opening times tend to be fickle here, with mornings being most reliable.

Golden Day: Explore Palermo’s Kalsa district and eat at Trattoria da Salvo, a casual spot beloved by locals for its amazing seafood (Via Torremuzza 21, 334 335 1329).