Ciro Annicchiarico

In the old town of Grottaglie is a stone mural that although I walked past it many times I could never quite figure out what was being depicted.

Today I walked past a restaurant in a different part of old town and noticed name of the restaurant thought restaurant and the stone mural might be related.

Google was able to confirm my suspicion was correct, the guy in the stone mural is Ciro!

Ciro was born in 1775 in the city of Grottaglie and in his youth entered the priesthood.  But before becoming a priest he started a gang and murdered many people, the first of which is shown in the upper left hand corner of the mural.

As a gang leader, Ciro claimed to be the ancient Roman God of Jupiter, most gang members believed him.  In 1817 Ciro was executed in a nearby city of Francavilla Fontana for the murder of 70 people and other crimes...

Not the most appropriate post for easter day, but hey, learn something new everyday.