Sicily has a fascinating pedigree that has the imprint of most of European history. John Julius Norwich does a very entertaining job of taking you through it all, in Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History
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The boot of Italy kicks the soccer ball of Sicily right into the net of Tunisia. In fact, at its closest point, Sicily is only 96 miles, (155 km), from Africa, closer than the distance between Florida and Cuba. It is a volcanic island with very dramatic terrain, including, of course, Mt. Etna, at 10,912 ft, or 3,326 meters, in height, the second tallest mountain in Western Europe.
If you sail in almost any floating contraption between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, you will bump into Sicily. The Phoenicians did, followed by the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, (from Tunisia), Ostrogoths, (the Germanic brutes that overran Rome), Byzantines (Turks from Constantinople), and more African Arabs. After that, the panoply of European monarchs and religious patriarchs of all stripes came marching through. Palermo is considered the most conquered city in Europe.
One of the greatest influences on the island came from “Normans”, or Viking descendants masquerading as Frenchmen. While the most famous Norman of them all, William, was conquering Britain, Robert Guiscard, another wandering Norman warrior of controversial repute, accepted the invitation of Pope Nicholas II to subdue Sicily.
Robert and his successors succeeded and contributed two of the most spectacular examples of Byzantine mosaic Christian ornamentation in the world, at Capella Palatino in Palermo and the cathedral at neighboring Monreale. These are two of the nine locations on the “Arab-Norman Architectural Itinerary” of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Greater Palermo area.
From Norman Palermo, to Greek Agrigento and Syracuse, to Roman Catania and Taormina, to the scenic hill towns of Modica and Ragusa, Sicily alone is worth a 10-day tour. Start with Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History, and begin to plan your trip.
