Sicily Guide Palermo Catania Syracuse Corleone Italian Breaks<<>> This Guide to Sicily Italian Island set in the Mediterranean Sea is designed to give a brief overview of Italy’s largest island. Once the island of mass emigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s as thousands left to make a new life in America. It is now gaining more and more recognition as a main vacation and holiday destination. More and more visitors are falling in love with it. A beautiful island with stunning landscapes with picturesque hill towns and vibrant cities it is a wonderful place to visit. The Sicilians’ have a word for it it’s ‘bedda’, which means beautiful. The Island has had input over the centuries from the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans and the Arabs. And this can be seen in the various tourist sites around the island.
It is home to one of the earth’s most active volcanoes and Europe’s largest in Mount Etna. At 3,330 meters high it dominates the eastern side of the island. Being a land of castles and churches it is a wonderful place for just roaming around, with a guide in your hand, to see what’s around the next corner. Of course, the food and wine is excellent so in between the roaming around you need to leave enough time to sample the various fares. There is the nightly entertainment that you would expect of any European country but the one thing you must not miss in the Sicilian Passeggiata, which is just simply the people taking back the streets, especially at the weekends. As evening falls the roads become full of local families walking up and down the streets having a good time, gossiping and eating wonderful ice cream. Palermo is the capital of Sicily and is a marvelous lived in city and definitely worth a visit.
The film industry has cashed in on the connection the most notable ‘The Godfather’ has links with Sicily Corleone in particular. There are different areas and spots to be found that were used in the film. Such as Forza d'Agro, which is everything you imagine of a Sicilian hilltop village.
Sicily Syracuse is a main tourist destination and the guides tell us it was founded in 733 AD by Corinthian settlers. Here there are many sites and this was the place where Archimedes was born. The main attraction is the Greek theatre that dates from the fifth Century BC. It could accommodate up to fifteen thousand spectators. The theatre is still used for an annual Greek theatre festival running from the middle of May to the end of June.
Sicily Catania is another city that makes a good base for seeing the island. Known as the second city it is a wonderful location to discover the east side of the island. Being in the area of Mount Etna it has suffered from volcanic eruptions in the past. A series of serious earthquakes followed a particularly destructive volcanic eruption in 1669.
The city boasts two Roman amphitheatres. The larger one could accommodate about fourteen thousand spectators. The thirteenth century fortress Ursino Castle is now a museum, which is open to the public.
This jewel of an island will not disappoint. It has great beaches, wonderful ancient Greek and Roman sites, stunning scenery and fantastic food. A great place to visit. What are you waiting for?
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