Insight Guides Sicily (Travel Guide eBook)

By Insight Guides

This Insight Guide is a lavishly illustrated inspirational travel guide to Sicily and a beautiful souvenir of your trip. Perfect for travellers looking for a deeper dive into the destination's history and culture, it's ideal to inspire and help you plan your travels. With its great selection of places to see and colourful magazine-style layout, this Sicily guidebook is just the tool you need to accompany you before or during your trip. Whether it's deciding when to go, choosing what to see or creating a travel plan to cover key places like Palermo and  Mount Etna, it will answer all the questions you might have along the way. It will also help guide you when you'll be exploring the Aeolian Islands. or discovering the Valley of the Temples on the ground. Our Sicily travel guide was fully-updated post-COVID-19.

The Insight Guide SICILY covers: Palermo, Palermo province, Trapani province, the Egadi Islands and Pantelleria, Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples, Agrigento province, Caltanissetta province, Enna province, Ragusa province, Siracusa, Siracusa province, Catania, Mount Etna and the Catania province, Taormina, Messina province, the Aeolian Islands.

In this guide book to Sicily you will find:

IN-DEPTH CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES  
Created to provide a deeper dive into the culture and the history of Sicily to get a greater understanding of its modern-day life, people and politics.

BEST OF
The top attractions and Editor's Choice featured in this Sicily guide book highlight the most special places to visit.

TIPS AND FACTS
Up-to-date historical timeline and in-depth cultural background to Sicily as well as an introduction to Sicily's food and drink, and fun destination-specific features.  

PRACTICAL TRAVEL INFORMATION
A-Z of useful advice on everything, from when to go to Sicily, how to get there and how to get around, to Sicily's climate, advice on tipping, etiquette and more.

COLOUR-CODED CHAPTERS
Every part of the destination, from Palermo province to Siracusa province, has its own colour assigned for easy navigation of this Sicily travel guide.

CURATED PLACES, HIGH-QUALITY MAPS
Geographically organised text, cross-referenced against full-colour, high-quality travel maps for quick orientation in Taormina, Palermo, and many other locations in Sicily..

STRIKING PICTURES
This guide book to Sicily features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Valley of the Temples and spectacular Mount Etna.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781839053764

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

Book preview

HOW TO USE THIS E-BOOK

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Sicily, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Sicily. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Sicily are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Sicily. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2023 Apa Digital AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

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Table of Contents

Sicily’s Top 9 Attractions

Editor’s Choice

A Volcanic Heritage

The Sicilians

Introduction: The Shaping of Sicily

Decisive dates

Insight: Building for Posterity

The Mafia

Food and Wine

Wild Places

Places

Palermo

Insight: A Flowering of Flamboyance

Palermo Province

Insight: The Arab-Norman Legacy

Trápani Province

The Egadi Islands And Pantelleria

Agrigento And The Valley Of The Temples

Agrigento Province

Insight: Festivals Sacred and Profane

Caltanissetta Province

Enna Province

Ragusa Province

Siracusa

Siracusa Province

Insight: The Art of Puppetry and Painted Carts

Catania

Mount Etna And Catania Province

Taormina

Messina Province

The Aeolian Islands

Transport

A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information

Language

Further Reading

SICILY’S TOP 9 ATTRACTIONS

Top Attraction 1

The Riserva dello Zíngaro. Set on the rugged coastline between Scopello and San Vito Lo Capo, this is Sicily’s most successful nature reserve, with walks, beaches, birdlife and cosy guesthouses nearby. For more information, click here and For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 2

Mount Etna. Europe’s largest active volcano can be reached by cable car, with a hike to the craters up the basalt-encrusted slopes or a trail-bashing jeep ride up to the ragged summits; you can even ski on Mount Etna. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 3

Sicilian Baroque in the Val di Noto. This Unesco World Heritage site in southeastern Sicily embraces a cluster of cities where the Baroque architecture is often matched by the rugged scenery beyond. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 4

The Valley of the Temples. Agrigento’s Greek temples are as fine as any ancient ruins remaining in Greece. February’s almond blossom festival is a lovely time to visit. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 4

Palermo’s Arab-Norman heart. From the Moorish, red-domed churches to the royal palace and the Cappella Palatina to the pleasure dome of La Zisa, these exotic monuments evoke The Arabian Nights. For more information, click here, For more information, click here and For more information, click here.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 5

Wine tasting in an estate. Whether a grand estate such as Florio in Marsala or Terra Costantino near Mount Etna or Etna Urban Winery, this is a great experience, ideally including lunch. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 6

Villa Romana mosaics. This superb villa in Piazza Armerina boasts some of the most extensive and beautiful Roman mosaics ever known, even if its popularity is a downside, which can be offset by evening visits in summer. For more information, click here.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 7

Sicilian castles. Sweep away the cobwebs by visiting great medieval castles, including those in Sperlinga, Cáccamo, Catania, Enna, Erice and Siracusa, generally built by the Normans or the Swabians. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 8

Granitas. Flavoured with fruit, almonds or coffee, these Sicilian sorbets are often eaten for breakfast, with sweet brioche. The best haunts include the Bam Bar in Taormina and Caffè Sicilia in Noto. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction 9

Island-hopping around the Aeolian Islands. Vulcano boasts a smouldering volcano, as does Strómboli; Salina is sleepy and family-friendly; Panarea is chic; remote Alicudi is the land that time forgot. For more information, click here.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

EDITOR’S CHOICE

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View over Ragusa Ibla in the south of the island.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

BEST SICILIAN EXPERIENCES

Train around the volcano. Dramatic sightseeing on the Circumetnea Railway, which circles the base of Etna on a three-hour trip from Catania to Riposto, ideally with stops en route. For more information, click here.

The Alcántara Gorge adventure. Gola dell’Alcántara, near Taormina, is a wild (and wildly popular) gorge carved by the river. Walk the gorge paths or hire waders or wetsuits – the water is freezing. It’s over-commercialised, but still a great day out. For more information, click here.

Hiking and eating in the Madonie mountains. Follow limestone paths through meadows and woodlands of cork and holm to medieval villages and Slow Food feasts. For more information, click here.

To the islands by sea. Ferries and hydrofoils sail from Palermo, Cefalù and Milazzo to islands off the Tyrrhenian coast – Vulcano, Lípari and Salina are closest. Sail to the EgadiIslands from Trápani. (Travel agents can organise trips from Catania, Messina and Taormina.) For more information, click here.

The passeggiata. The classic early evening stroll, with ices or aperitivi; an especially engaging experience in Alcamo, Cefalù, Noto, Ortigia (Siracusa), Ragusa Ibla, Scicli, Taormina, Trápani and, in summer, Mondello and the beach resorts.

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Passeggiata (stroll) at twilight on Piazza Aprile in Taormina.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

TOP TOWNS

Cefalù. Charmingly popular medieval seaside resort and gentle introduction to Sicily, with its great cathedral and leisurely pace of life. For more information, click here.

Erice. The island’s moodiest medieval town is lovely in any season, even swathed in winter mists. For more information, click here.

Noto. Sicily’s most stunning Baroque city is a luminous stage set which lures you in to play a part. For more information, click here.

Palermo. Both a glorious assault on the senses and the glittering summation of Arab-Norman Sicily. For more information, click here.

Ragusa(Ibla). Steeped in atmosphere, yet arguably the island’s most civilised and hospitable centre. For more information, click here.

Siracusa(Ortigia). Sicily’s most lyrical city, especially in sleepy Ortigia, an island apart. For more information, click here.

Taormina. Chic hotels and cosmopolitan confidence make the resort a seductive retreat from Sicilian intensity. For more information, click here.

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Madonna and Child statue in Monreale Cathedral near Palermo.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

THE FINEST CHURCHES

Cappella Palatina, Palermo. The Palatine Chapel boasts Byzantine and Arab-Norman mosaics. For more information, click here.

Oratorio di San Lorenzo, Palermo. Near Piazza Marina, this grandiose Baroque church has wonderful stuccowork by Serpotta. For more information, click here.

Duomo, Monreale. Monreale Cathedral is a glittering tapestry of mosaics matched by stunning mosaics in the cloisters – all of which helped it become a Unesco World Heritage site in 2015. For more information, click here.

Duomo, Cefalù. The mystical Arab-Norman cathedral is now a Unesco World Heritage site, alongside Monreale. For more information, click here.

Duomo, Siracusa. A Sicilian hybrid: a Greek Temple of Athena converted into an early Christian church, but later remodelled in exuberant Baroque style. For more information, click here.

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Golden sandy beach in Ragusa Province.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

BEST BEACHES

San Vito Lo Capo. Near Erice, is acclaimed for its wild scenery and peacefulness. For more information, click here.

Mondello, Cefalù and Isola Bella. Over-popular they may be, but a perfect introduction to the Sicilian beach scene. For more information, click here, here and here.

Vendìcari. South of Siracusa, Vendìcari boasts unspoilt beaches in a nature reserve, but is rivalled by the ravishing coastal reserve of Torre Salsa in Agrigento Province. For more information, click here.

The islands. Lovely, diverse, often volcanic, the beaches on Ustica, the Egadi and the Aeolian Islands are in demand. For more information, click here, here and here.

Ragusa Province. This area has some of Sicily’s best beaches. For more information, click here.

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Greek temple at Selinunte.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

TOP TEMPLES

Sicily has more ancient Greek temples than Greece. The best are:

Agrigento. Ancient Akragas, the most hedonistic city in Greek Sicily, is the island’s most celebrated ancient site. Set in the Valley of the Temples, it is where the classical world comes alive for a fleeting moment. For more information, click here.

Segesta, Trápani province. The majestic Doric temple stands in solemn isolation facing Monte Barbaro. For more information, click here.

Selinunte, Trápani province. A glorious setting for a ruined city founded around 650 BC but ravaged by the Carthaginians. For more information, click here.

Mozia, Trápani province. Not a temple but the site of a Carthaginian city on an island in the Stagnone lagoon. For more information, click here.

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Seafood stew, just one of many culinary highlights.

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

BEST STREET FOOD

Sfinciuni. Slightly spicy Sicilian pizza with anchovies, oregano and breadcrumbs.

Arancini. Deep-fried rice balls filled with meat or vegetables and bought from market or street stalls.

Pane e panelle. Deep-fried chickpea fritters served in a warm sesame bun.

Pani ca’ meusa. Veal spleen sandwich, a Palermitan special for those with strong stomachs.

Seafood snacks. From calamari fritti to seafood nibbles such as clams, oysters, sardines or even boiled octopus.

THE SWEETEST DESSERTS

Cannoli. Crunchy, rich, ricotta-filled sweet pastries studded with candied fruit and chocolate.

Cassata. Made from sweetened ricotta, candied fruit, almond paste and sponge cake.

Gelati. Sicilians claim to have invented ice cream; either way, they make some of the best.

Granita. Sorbet made with fresh fruit or coffee and often served with a brioche.

Frutta alla Martorana. Invented by nuns, with marzipan moulded into convincing recreations of fresh fruit.

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Caltagirone vase.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

ONLY IN SICILY

Sicilian Baroque. Palaces and churches created in a sumptuously theatrical style, characterised by fantasy and ornamentation. Noto might be the best-preserved Baroque town, but neighbouring Scicli, Ragusa and Módica are also superb, rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake. Catania and Acireale are also Baroque gems, as are the Serpotta oratories in Palermo.

Puppet theatre. Puppet shows are a Sicilian tradition. Their stories are based on the adventures of the brave knights of Charlemagne (Carlo Magno), with the moral: the importance of honour and chivalry. The best in Palermo is Mimmo Cuticchio. For more information, click here.

Classical drama. Theatres at classical sites often return to their original function, with Greek drama from May to July. Watch the Classics (or interpretations) at Siracusa, Segesta and Taormina. For more information, click here.

Easterfestivals. Nothing is as it seems in Sicily, as the festivals are often a fusion of Christian and pagan rites, such as Prizzi’s Dance of the Devils, depicting the battle between Good and Evil. For more information, click here.

Caltagirone pottery. Famous for its ceramics since ancient times, Caltagirone majolica is unmistakable, painted in blue, green and yellow. The other two important ceramics centres on the island are Sciacca and Santa Stefano di Camastra (just outside Cefalù). For more information, click here.

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The sun-baked mountains of Parco delle Madonie in the northwest of the island.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

THE BOLDEST LANDSCAPES

Riserva delloZíngaro. Sicily’s model nature reserve boasts stunning beaches with a mountainous backdrop. For more information, click here.

Mount Etna’svolcanic park. Explore Etna multiple ways, from a cable car ascent to hiking with a guide, or even following a trip up a volcano with wine-tasting in the island’s most dynamic wine region. For more information, click here.

Le Saline. Tràpani’s saltpans, with windmills and piles of white gold are an arresting sight best seen between May and September. For more information, click here.

Parco delle Madonie. Set in the sun-baked mountains south of Cefalù, with villages built on vertiginous slopes. For more information, click here.

Lo Stagnone. North of Marsala, Sicily’s largest lagoon is a mysterious place, home to Punic Mozia. For more information, click here.

Rock canyons. The best are Pantálica, Ispica, Alcántara and in the Monti Iblei, near Ragusa. For more information, click here, here, here and here.

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Teatro Massimo, Palermo.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

THE BEST OF PALERMO

Palazzo deiNormanni. Houses the Sicilian Parliament and the Royal Apartments. Don’t miss the Cappella Palatina with its Byzantine and Arab-Norman mosaics.

Markets. Great for atmosphere, especially on a street food tour. Ballarò is the liveliest, surpassing the more established Capo and the Vucciria, now more of a nightlife hotspot.

Churches. The Norman cathedral contains royal tombs and a small museum. San Giovanni degli Eremiti, with its cloistered oriental garden, is yet another Arab-Norman church worth visiting, as is Santa Caterina, known as the convent with cakes. The Convento dei Cappuccini is a gruesome catacombs containing 8,000 mummified Palermitans.

Museums and Opera. The Museo Archeologico Regionale is one of the richest archaeological collections in Italy. The 15th-century Palazzo Abatellis is home to the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, with medieval sculptures as well as Renaissance paintings by Antonello da Messina. The Teatro Massimo is a vast but elegant neoclassical and Art Nouveau opera house that was the setting for a compelling massacre in The Godfather series.

Gardens. The Orto Botánico, one of Europe’s leading botanical gardens, now also marks the start of a delightful seafront stroll that runs to the Foro Italico and the revamped port. Parco della Favorita is a lovely park laid out by the Bourbons. For more information, click here.

Seller at the fish market in Catania.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

A bakery in Mazara del Vallo, Trápani.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Santo Stéfano di Camastra ceramics.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Wedding guest in Siracusa.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

A VOLCANIC HERITAGE

Sicily’s complex history has produced an island with a unique character – proud, introspective, enigmatic and irreverent.

Sicily may be Italian, but the islanders are Latin only by adoption. They may look back at Magna Graecia or Moorish Sicily but tend to be bored by their exotic past. Mostly, they sleepwalk their way through history, as if it were a bad play in a long-forgotten language. Floating not far beneath the surface is a kaleidoscope of swirling foreignness against a backdrop of Sicilian fatalism.

This is the legacy of a land whose heyday was over 700 years ago. It is most visible in the diversity of architectural styles, brought together under one roof in a remarkable mongrel, Siracusa Cathedral.

The Greeks’ lessons in democracy fell on stony ground: the Sicilians responded with a race of full-blooded tyrants. The Mafia showed equal disdain for democratic niceties: their shadowy state within a state became more effective than the pale, public model. Poor Sicilians knuckled under or emigrated, often flourishing on foreign soil. Until recently, most landed, educated Sicilians declined public office, preferring private gain to public good. As the Prince says in Lampedusa’s The Leopard: I cannot lift a finger in politics. It would only get bitten.

This is the deadly product served by Sicilian history. As the writer Leonardo Sciascia says: History has been a wicked stepmother to us Sicilians. Yet it is this heritage of doom, drama and excess that draws visitors to an island marooned between Europe and Africa.

Recently, a renaissance of sorts has been under way, including a refusal to support the Mafia in many quarters. Sicily has also revamped its image, with restored historic centres, reopened museums and re-energised cities. Superb wine estates, seductive farmstays, stylish villa holidays, Sicilian cookery courses and guided nature trails are also part of the dazzling new landscape.

Goethe, too, found Sicily intoxicating, from the classical temples and Etna’s eruptions to the volcanic Sicilians themselves. To have seen Italy without seeing Sicily, he wrote, is not to have seen Italy at all – for Sicily is the key to everything.

THE SICILIANS

Brooding, fatalistic and passionately pessimistic – or celebratory, sensitive and overwhelmingly hospitable? The Sicilians are a mass of apparent contradictions.

Sicilians have a reputation for being brooding, suspicious and unfathomable. Closer contact reveals stoicism, conservatism and deep sensibility. This contradictory character does not match the sunny Mediterranean stereotype of dolce far niente, but outsiders may nonetheless encounter overwhelming hospitality, boundless curiosity and smothering friendship on the slimmest of pretexts.

In 1814 the British Governor of Sicily was perplexed that Sicilians expect everything to be done for them; they have always been so accustomed to obedience. His Sicilian minister argued for absolutism: Too much liberty is for the Sicilians what would be a pistol or stiletto in the hands of a boy or a madman. Critics claim that Sicilians remain sluggish citizens, subsidy junkies with little sense of self-help. Sicilians reply that power and prestige lie elsewhere. History has taught them to have no faith in institutions.

Campaigning Sicilian journalist Giuseppe Fava once said of his beloved island: The inability to structure society is the Sicilian tragedy.

The meaning of family

In the face of this, the traditional responses are emigration, resignation, complicity or withdrawal into a private world. Though emigration has been the choice of millions, most Sicilians choose to stay but avoid confrontation with the shadow-state of patronage and the Mafia. They prefer to live intensely, but in private. As a result, their world is circumscribed by the family, the bedrock of island life.

Local character in Mazara del Vallo.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Palermo is emblematic of the retreat from the world and also of an ambivalence about class. It goes against the grain of Sicilian sentimentality to admit that the middle classes have fled the historic centre but optimists point to the presence of creatives in the centro storico, setting up galleries and reviving old crafts. It is a shift, even if gentrification looks a long way off. Close to the seafront, or around the markets, dilapidated, immigrant-occupied buildings still lurk in the shadow of splendid mansions owned by the Palermitan nobility. Yet, ultimately. it’s about identity rather than class. As writer Gesualdo Bufalino says, Sicilians suffer from an excess of identity, a sense of being at the centre of existence. This deceptive prism can be comforting yet imprisoning for Sicilians and alienating for outsiders.

Appearances matter in Sicily: the word azzizzare (to beautify) comes from the Arabic; orfanità is Spanish-Palermitan dialect for looking good; spagnolismo (Hispanicism) means seeming better than you are.

Yet within a cocoon of personal loyalty to friends and family, individuals cultivate their patch. In a traditionally oppressed culture, one’s word is one’s bond; lives have depended on parole d’onore, so promises must be kept. But in the eyes of a pessimistic or powerless individual, betrayal can happen only too easily, sparked off by a casual rebuff. Any rejection of hospitality is seen as a betrayal. As a Palermitan lawyer says: "For us, hospitality is a joy and a duty with obligations on both sides. A refusal is not just rude, but fuels our complessi di tradimento [betrayal complex]."

Princely hospitality

The joy, of course, comes when the fortress doors are opened and through that chink appears a prince, welcoming you to a courtly scene straight out of Lampedusa’s The Leopard, that Sicilian masterpiece of decline and fall. Sicily nurtures the seductive illusion that you are a treasured guest rather than a common tourist. But it may not be an illusion: Sicilian hospitality is legendary, as suffocatingly sweet as the local cassata sponge cake.

Particularly in Palermo and Ragusa, many leading families have decided to open their ancestral homes – and even their hearts – to the general public. Conte Federico, who welcomes guests to his Palermitan palace, embodies this spirit. The unaffected count, who can trace his lineage back to the great Emperor Frederick II of Sicily, enchants guests with an evening of feasting and fantasy in princely proportions, including opera sung by his soprano wife. Before cocktails by candlelight in the Arab-Norman tower, fortunate guests can stroll through the staterooms and admire the suits of armour in the knights’ hall. Dinner is based on exotic recipes dating from when Sicily was under Arab-Norman rule, and the centre of civilised Europe (www.contefederico.com).

Elsewhere, life has moved on, and the princess herself may be turning down your bed-sheets (even princesses need to keep a roof over their heads). But the generous Sicilian spirit remains the same. And this is true of the welcome in the simplest farmstay in the Madonie mountains. Whether a sumptuous palace with a Baroque ballroom or a boutique wine resort near Alcamo, these are genuine homes, and the pleasures are deeply domestic.

High spirits at the fish market in Catania.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Not that hospitality is ever a simple commercial transaction in Sicily. The truest hospitality comes to foreigners whose slightest friendly gesture is rewarded with fresh pastries, a bunch of just-picked grapes, the keys to a long-closed church, or an insistence on a tour of an obscure archeological site. Possibly all at once. It is delightful, even when the offers bear no relation to what you wanted.

Foreign fusion

The story of private virtues and public vices can be clearly linked to Sicily’s unique hybrid past. As the Sicilian writer Gesualdo Bufalino says: "The Greeks shaped our sensitivity to light and harmony. The Muslims brought us a fragrance of oriental gardens, of legendary Thousand and One Nights; but they also sowed in us a fanatical exaltation and an inclination to deceit and voluptuousness. The Spanish gave us hyperbole and haughtiness, the magnificence of words and rites, the magnanimity of our code of honour, but also a strong taste of ashes and death."

Friendly smile in Catania.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Even today, the Arab west is overladen with a sense of inscrutability, Spanish manners and ceremony, while the Greek east is more democratic, with closer links to the Italian mainland. Sicily’s miscegenation lives on in the language. Cristiani (Christians) is just a generic word for people, while the word turchi (Turks) refers to heathens.

Sicily’s Baroque architecture is another hybrid – Spanish, Roman and Sicilian fusion, reflected in the islanders’ Baroque temperament. As writer Stefano Malatesta says: Everything’s Baroque, excessive and eccentric: look at the lavish, multicoloured food, the decadent nobles, the elaborate courtesy, the contorted human relationships, the fine 18th-century minds, tinged by arrogance and aimlessness.

Sicilian proverbs reflect a dog-eat-dog society: whoever makes himself a sheep will be eaten by a wolf and to the docile dog, the wolf seems ferocious.

In Ragusa’s Duomo, celebrity chef Ciccio Sultano concurs: my cooking is voluptuously Baroque because I am Baroque: I never remove anything from my recipes, but just pile on more.

A passion for the present

Despite their Baroque spirit and the burden of the past, Sicilians have a passion for the present. Thanks to a heightened sense of history, the islanders attach supreme importance to time. They see themselves as volatile forces of nature, as violent as Etna, but imbued with a sense of the sacred. Spirituality is expressed in spontaneous church services led by lay women. In festivals, classical polytheism merges with Christianity. But the everyday intimacy of the relationship with God implies a chatty equality and an acceptance of Him in any guise.

Lampedusa’s The Leopard is particularly illuminating in unravelling this state of being Sicilian: Sicilians never wish to improve for the simple reason that they believe themselves perfect. Their vanity is stronger than their misery. Every invasion by outsiders upsets their illusion of achieved perfection, and risks disturbing their self-satisfied waiting for nothing at all.

Still, this melancholic immutability is enlivened by a zest for life best felt in Palermo’s Ballarò market, the haunt of artisans and students, housewives and bootleggers. Ballarò is raucous and exotic, with spicy scents and sounds that transport you back to Moorish times. As local actress Teresa Mannino admits, In Sicily everything screams – the people, the seagulls, even the sea itself.

THE NEW SICILY

Change is in the air and is cause for cautious celebration, from cultural swagger to the resurgent southeast, urban regeneration and sporadic rural renewal.

Against the odds, a Sicilian renewal is underway, even if it would be foolhardy to speak of a Sicilian renaissance: the island is too flawed and fatalistic for that. Still, Sicilians have a talent for turning the painful past into something of beauty, with the coppola storta (twisted cap) a testament to this talent. The cap, the traditional symbol of a lowlife mafioso, is now a cult design object, reclaiming a true Sicilian identity.

Palermo’s soulful historic heart is matched by Catania’s spirited confidence, its creative start-ups and cool nightlife venues. Yet the yawning gap between rural Sicily and the cities remains. While bohemian bars, street art and palatial cultural hubs enliven Palermo, some neighbouring Madonie villages are verging on ghost towns. Financial incentives are on offer to outsiders ready to resettle in these beguiling, mountainous villages, such as Petralia Soprana. The scenery may look spectacular but mayors in the Madonie moan that their Sicily is becoming older and emptier. Even so, close to the east coast, in the shadow of Mount Etna, is a spectacular volcanic landscape that is thriving, home to some of the island’s top wine estates.

Known as an island within an island, the Val di Noto is currently the most dynamic part of Sicily. The locals attribute its unspoilt countryside, entrepreneurial spirit and escape from the tentacles of the Mafia to good fortune. When the Spanish kings ruled Sicily, the west was divided into vast estates run by absentee barons, while the southeast was handed over to the local gentry who cherished their small estates. Partly as a result, in Noto, Módica, Ragusa, Scicli and Siracusa – the Unesco-listed Baroque gems in the Val di Noto – regeneration has taken root, with the cities looking increasingly splendid.

Elsewhere, Sicily is not an art backwater, yet often feels its heritage as a burden. Fortunately, a greater sense of cultural ease now permeates the island, helped by Unesco validation. Sicily proudly showcases its heritage, from ancient temples to Arab-Norman cathedrals. Awareness is also growing about endangered Sicilian puppetry, Unesco inscribed in 2008, with shows performed in Catania and Palermo. As puppeteer Mimmo Cuticchio says, Puppets are not simple folklore but a true art form. Another tradition, colourful donkey-drawn carts (carretti) are on the way to Unesco recognition, with Sicilian-origin fashion brands such as Dolce&Gabbana paying tribute to the painted carts in their designs.

Moto taxi tour in Noto.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

More broadly, neglected city centres are being revitalised, especially in Catania and Palermo, where compelling walking tours showcase noble palaces or street food stories in the markets. Once-secret gardens and rooftops are increasingly accessible, including the cathedral terraces in Palermo and Monreale. As for Classical Sicily, archeological excavations have revealed the largest square in the ancient world in Selinunte and, in Agrigento, they shine a spotlight on new sites in the Valley of the Temples. The nobility, especially in Palermo, are increasingly opening the doors to their palaces (and even stately bedchambers), along with visits to their villas and ancestral wine estates (for more information, click here). Hotels and farmstays often overlook a timeless scene of olive groves. Not so much new Sicily as old Sicily reclaimed.

Mosaic-adorned cloisters of Monreale Cathedral.

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

THE SHAPING OF SICILY

The island’s warring tribes were subdued by the Romans, whose seven centuries of dominance were followed by a succession of foreign powers, including the Greeks, Germans, French, Spanish and Habsburgs. Although it became part of Italy in 1861, Sicily is in many ways