Sicily Island-Italy

Sicily – Italian: Sicilia, is the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. The island has 4.8 million inhabitants. Its capital city is Palermo. It is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age.

Sicily is in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe; it is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and is one of the most active in the world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate.

The earliest archaeological record of human activity on the island is from around 14,000 BC. By around 750 BC, Sicily had three Phoenician and a dozen Greek colonies. The region thus became one of the centers of Magna Graecia, with the foundation along its coasts of many Greek city-states (póleis). The Sicilian Wars affected the island between 580 and 265 BC and the Punic Wars, between 264 and 146 BC, were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Roman province of Sicilia ended with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Sicily was ruled during the Early Middle Ages by the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantine Empire, and the Emirate of Sicily. The Norman conquest of southern Italy led to the creation of the County of Sicily in 1071, that was succeeded by the Kingdom of Sicily, a state that existed from 1130 until 1816. In 1816, it was unified under the House of Bourbon with the Kingdom of Naples, also officially known as the Kingdom of Sicily, as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The island officially became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the unification of Italy, and a plebiscite. Sicily was given special status as an autonomous administrative division on 15 May 1946, 18 days before the 1946 Italian institutional referendum.

Sicily has a rich and unique culture in arts, music, literature, cuisine, and architecture.

Itinerary

Day 1

Catania & Messina

We will arrive at Catania Airport and have a short visit to the town.

Catania is the closest Town to Mount Etna, rebuilt after the Noto Valley’s earthquake, and is full of Sicilian baroque buildings. After visiting the “Elephant’s Town”, we will continue with Messina, the “Phoenix Town”.

Overnight in Messina

Day 2

Taormina Theatre

In the morning, we will visit Taormina, the “Mediterranean Pearl”, famous for its Greek and Roman theatre.

In the afternoon we will have Messina’s walking tour. The Phoenix town was completely rebuilt after the 1908 earthquake, the second most destructive earthquake in European history. It’s the town that was rebuilt following futurism philosophy ideas. Messina is also the most ‘feminist’ Sicilian Town, because of its significant number of heroines throughout all centuries.

Day 3

Montalbano Elicona castle- Agrimusco park

We will visit the Montalbano Elicona castle, the most loved “palazzo sollazzorum” by Frederic II and Frederick the III. Montalbano Elicona is a little village between però Peloritan and Nebrodi mountains. Afterwards, we will visit the famous Argimusco park with the Paleolithic astrological calendar, which was used until the Middle Ages. It is called the “Sicilian Stonehenge.”

Day 4

Godfather tour

During the Godfather tour ( Savoca and Forza d’Agrò), going up and down the Peloritani mountains, we will visit all the places visited by Francis Ford Coppola in his Mafia films, seasoned with middle-aged Sicilian architecture.
The tour will be combined with cheese and wine tasting.

Day 5

Cruise day-Aeolian Islands

For the Eolic Islands little Cruise (2/3 islands), we will visit the house of Αeolus, the Greek God of wind. The entire archipelago is composed of volcanoes. Every single Island has a specific characteristic. Lipari island, the largest, is famous for its archaeological museum, thermal springs & more

Panarea island, for its incredible beaches and Stromboli because it is a super active volcano. It erupts every 15 minutes!

Day 6

Mount Etna

Mount Etna, the biggest active volcano in Europe and the most complex volcano in the world. Today you are going to experience a naturalistic excursion and a wine tasting with lunch in a famous winery of the region at end of the tour.