Sicily
A door open to the sea - Photo © Luciana Coletti -*Elle*
Do you want to learn about Greece? So come to Sicily. It is a paradox, for sure, but only to a certain extent. The Greek cities of Sicily (Agrigento, Selinunte, Segesta, Syracuse, to mention the most important) were among the most beautiful of the Hellenic world.
Nowadays, to visit the Valley of Temples at Agrigento or to watch a summer performance in the great Greek Theatre of Syracuse is to plunge yourself into the remote Hellenic past.
And this is also true in Sicily for many other historical eras and civilizations, from the Spanish to the French. With the sole exception of Arab rule, that has left scarce physical testimony.
Sicily is a book of history and art history, a compendium of the greatest civilizations and cultures of all time. A sunny island whose landscape is rich in contrasts, with a splendid coastline and a refined, delicious and varied cuisine of traditional flavors and exquisite aromas: the quintessence of Mediterranean culture, yet also dense with intellectual complexity and refinement, so well represented by the literary masterpieces of Luigi Pirandello, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Leonardo Sciascia, Gesualdo Bufalino and today, Andrea Camilleri.
Every style, every movement in art is richly
represented in Sicily, in cities
like Palermo, Catania,
Caltanissetta,
Enna,
Syracuse, Ragusa,
Trapani,
Agrigento, and
Messina, and in small towns, like
Cefalu',
clustered around its Norman cathedral, or Noto, with its extraordinary
Baroque cathedral, or Taormina, with its splendid Greco-Roman theatre.
Festivals in Sicily | The Mafia
Official Tourist Boards - AAIPT della Sicilia - Useful links
food in Sicily | wine in Sicily
© 1997-2010 Enrico Massetti
TangoItalia - Food, Wine, Travel, and... tango in Italy.