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Sicily trip planner
Planning a trip to Sicily: The island at the center of the world
www.regione.sicilia.it/turismo
www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali
Hotels in Sicily
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Sicily is a triangle of tangled, rich history at the tip of Italy's boot, the largest island in the Mediterranean and only nominally considered part of Italy at all.
It's a lush landscape of fertile valleys and imposing mountains, genteel resort towns and fantastic ancient ruins, glittering medieval mosaics and baroque cathedrals.
Sicily is an endless spectacle of pagan festivals, puppet shows, and Mafia corruption, wine, volcanoes, and seafaring lore.
Sicily's culture is one of the most enigmatic and difficult to fathom in Italy—Sicilian dialect is so far from common Italian that some consider it a distinct language—but this only serves to make the region one of the most fun to explore, and it secrets the most rewarding to discover.
No trip to Italy is complete without a visit to this island that sums up the best and the worst of Italy amid citrus groves, almond trees, and the hot Mediterranean sun.
A brief history of Sicily
Sicily has the best...
The largest island in the Mediterranean is a land of superlatives. Where else can you find the world's...
- Best-preserved Greek temple (at Agrigento)
- Largest Greek theater (at Siracusa)
- Most extensive Roman mosaics (at Piazza Armerina)
- Most active volcano (Stromboli)
- Trendiest Italian resort for the original jet-set (Taormina)
- Most infamous criminal organization (the Mafia)
- Original ice cream (snows from Mt. Etna flavored with lemon juice or almond milk)
- Arguably best-known Greek myth (Rape of Persephone, near Enna).
The prehistory of Sicily
Sicily derives its name from two of the three Bronze Age tribes that settled the island starting in the 15th century BC:
- The Sicani settled the western half of Sicily; they likely emigrated from either Catalonia or Illyria (the ancient region we now call the Balkans—basically the former Yugoslavia).
- The Elymians (from the Aegean or Anatolia) horned in on Sicani territory, settling the northwestern tip of Sicily and pushing the Sicani more into the interior.
- The Sikel (or Sicel) arrived from what is now mainland Italy to settle the eastern half of Sicily, bringing with them the Iron Age (and horses).
The ancients - Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans
The Phoenicians came next, peppering the coast with settlements starting around the 11th century BC. They held on to territories, especially in the western half of Sicily, until the Romans battled Carthage for it all in the 3rd century BC Punic Wars.
However, it was the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (8th to 4th century BC) that left the strongest ancient mark on the island.
Thanks to the Greeks, you'll find some of the world's most spectacularly sited and remarkably preserved Greek temples (at Agrigento, Segesta, and Selinute) and theaters (at Siracusa, Taormina, and Segesta). Siracusa (Syracuse) was one of the great cities of the ancient Greek world, home to such luminaries as Archimedes.
The Roman empire left Sicily the most extensive ancient mosaics in existence (at a villa outside Piazza Armerina).
The Middle Ages - Byzantines, Arabs, and Normans
While the post-Roman Byzantine empire held onto parts of Sicily from the 6th century to the 9th century (some emperors even toyed with moving the capital from Constantinople to Siracusa), at which point a patchwork of alliances and wars brought Arab Saracens to power. Along with allowing religious freedom and importing such later Sicilian staple crops as lemons, oranges, and pistachios, the Arabs founded the capital of Palermo in the 9th century.
The Normans came along in the early 11th century and set up a syncretic, highly advanced and tolerant monarchy that incorporated the best of Greek, Arabic, Roman, and their own Celtic fashions.
Under such enlightened Norman rulers as Roger II and the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II, Sicilian literature came into its own a full 200 years before Dante.
Frederick II was such a wise ruler and patron of the arts he earned the nickname Stupor Mundi, “wonder of the world.” The Normans left the northern coast (Cefalù, Palermo, Monreale) scattered with Norman cathedrals and Arab-style palaces filled with some of the most gorgeous mosaic cycles in Europe.
The long sleep - Spanish and French rule
In some respects, Sicily languished for the 500 years following Norman era, serving as a breadbasket and source of patronage grants under an ever-changing parade of European rule—French Angevins, Spanish Aragonese and Bourbons.
Sicily mostly missed out on the Renaissance—though it did tune in for the baroque era, when native architects and sculptors developed the Sicilian baroque style to rebuild churches, palaces, and even entire cities after a series of devastating earthquakes.
It wasn't until 1860 that Sicily joined Italy at all, and it wasn't until the 1980s and 90s that the criminal organization we call the Mafia began to lose its dominance over corrupt local governments.
Sicilian cuisine
The triad of Sicilian culinary staples is eggplant, pasta, and lots of fresh fish, with a heavy dose of native limone (lemon) and mandorle (almonds) thrown in for good measure.
Some of the quintessential Sicilian dishes served all over the islands include pasta all Norma (short pasta, usually rigatoni, casseroled with cubed eggplant, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes), involtini di pesce spada or involtini di spada alle brace (tiny swordfish roll-ups, usually breaded and grilled), involtini di vitello (like the swordfish, only made of veal), and spaghetti ai ricci di mare (spaghetti with sea urchins).
Top Sicily sections
Palermo - Sicily's capital city mixes Arab-Norman churches with gently decaying baroque palaces, bustling street markets with rococo interiors. It's a chaotic, tumble-down, slightly seedy mess of a city, full of life and amazing sights (though perhaps not everyone's favorite place to visit)... 
Northeast Sicily - From the world-famous resort town of Taormina to the secret escape of Cefalù to the fires of Mt. Etna menacing Catania...
Southeast Sicily - My favorite corner of the island, from the baroque stage set of Noto to the half-abandoned medieval Ragusa, and especially Siracusa, a city with ancient Greek sights, one of the best archaeology museums in Italy, and a lovely ancient city center...
Western Sicily - Ancient Greek ruins litter Western Sicily—from the world's best preserved 5th century BC temples at Agrigento to the gorgeously sited Greek theater of Segesta to the seaside ruins of Selinute. Then there are the beautiful hilltown of Erice, the mosaicked cathedral of Monreale, and the sweet wines of Marsala...
Sicilian Islands - From the erupting volcano of Stromboli to the posh resort of Panarea to the secret escape of Pantelleria with its caper fields and Arab vibe...
Central Sicily - The hinterlands of the Sicilian interior entice with the ceramics capital of Caltagirone and the mosaics of an ancient Roman hunting lodge at Piazza Armerina near Enna...
The Secret Hotels of Sicily - Nine of my favorite hotels in Sicily, from the capital of Palermo to the city of Siracusa and from Taormina resorts to country villas...
Related pages
- La Cosa Nostra—The Sicilian Mafia (since everybody always asks about it)
- Itinerary: Ten perfect days in Sicily
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This material was last updated March 2011. All information was accurate at the time.
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