Sicilia Region People & Culture

During the Norman domination, in 1184 the archbishop of Palermo Walter Offamilio started the construction of a splendid cathedral to replace the Muslim mosque with a Christian church. Over the centuries the additions and restorations modified the original building: the most radical change was made by Ferdinando Fuga in 1771 and in 1809. He was an architect from Florence and gave to the interior of the church a neoclassical aspect. Visiting the Cathedral it is important to observe: the XIV century portal with bronze doors, the long right side is decorated with a scenic portico in Catalan-Gothic style from the XV century, under which there is a highly decorated portal by Antonio Gambarra in 1426, the apses kept their original form of the XII century. The Cathedral contains the Royal and Imperial tombs. Among the people buried there are Roger II, Henry VI of Hohenstaufen, Costance de Hauteville, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Among the numerous chapels there is Santa Rosalia's, where in a silver urn done in 1631, there are kept the ashes of the patron Saint of Palermo. There is lastly fine treasure, comprising precious objects and pieces of embroidery found in Royal and Imperial tombs, holy vestments, chalices, ostensories.

OK, travel tip for Catania. DON'T DRIVE IN CATANIA!!!! Please don't, unless you're a very experienced driver in Italy it is just a bad idea, most people would go into cardiac arrest stepping into the traffic over there. Plus parking is difficult, although if you pay an Italian to watch your car (around 1 euro or so) you dont have to worry about your car getting broken into, but if you dont pay, they probably will. Catania is pretty cool though, very lovely at night, there is the Elephant Square there and it is beautiful at night. Make sure to stop at the cafe' and have a little expresso and a pastry. Catania also has a very lively market in the mornings and i goes on from about 8.30am - 1.00pm. You can find just about anything there, some very cool, cheap, cheap clothes and fresh fruit. I would stay away from the seafood and meats since they sit out there all day with little or none refridgeration. That is definatly your place to find a great bargan. If you are travelling on a budget, stop and have lunch at a "tavola calda" and have a little baked in bun, really tasty and cheap.

a beautiful small town with warm and friendly people, interesting architecture and great food. all over sicily is just as in paradise, escpecially the coast. whoever visits acireale won't regret it!

Nice beach town on the Greek island of Crete. Also a good place for shopping. The people are layed back and much friendlier than the main land greeks. I recommend buying handcrafted ancient greek replica artifacts and original paintings.

I lived at the base of an active volcano for two years. What a great idea. At one point, the lava flow threatened to erase an entire town and my helicopter squadron diverted the flow into the Mediterranean. We got a medal for that. Also, the Sicilians make all their roads out of old lava, or whatever it's officially called, and it makes for amazing crappy driving conditions when wet. It's like driving on oiled obsidian. They also burn all their garbage. Think tires. Besides that, the people there were totally friendly. Even WITH a navy base right next to them.

When in Siracusa your should not miss the Cathedral (Piazza Duomo) on Ortigia Island. It's the only place in the world, which housed three different cultures and religions and which is still functioning as a sacral place: first the Greeks built a temple dedicated to Athene, then the Arabs used it as mosque and finally Christians took over and use up to present as catholic church. The facade of the place is totally baroque, the side is a Greek temple and inside it's even more a Greek temple with the original columns still standing. The atmosphere inside is tremendous. Unfortunately there almost no traces of Arab times to be seen anymore.

Very interesting place. Many cultures intertwine and the best of all is the result. arab, italian and greek. Beautiful salt beds and great food. One of the most beautiful cities in Sicily.

Explore the exotics of Europe and be fore ever bathed in culture.

Great food and cultural experiance, just be cautious of robbers on mopeds.

In Palermo I've seen one of the most outstanding concerts in my life. It was in Blue Brass- Jazz Club ( worth to go at night)

In Lipari there's not much to see at night. There are some small restaurants with terrific coktails, but there only open untill 00am. After that time there's only one bar left open in little harbor. Very nice view and music, just a touch too many italian guys hanging around. But what else can you do!

www.taormina.it The Greek-Roman Theatre: "Corinthian-style" columns The Greek-Roman Theatre seen from Santuario "Madonna della Rocca" Is it Greek or Roman? This is a question that has always been open to debate among experts and critics. All their disputes would end if they remembered Taormina's origins as a Greek "Polis" and the fact that each and every ancient Greek city had its own Theatre where they performed tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides and comedies by Aristophanes, just to name the most famous authors. The Theatre in Taormina is the second-largest in Sicily after the one in Siracusa. All the Romans did later, in accordance with their well-known ostentatious nature, was enlarge the theatre as it was very small. And it apparently took decades to build. It is fifty metres wide, one hundred and twenty metres long and twenty metres high, which means that about 100,000 cubic metres of stone had to be removed. Further evidence that the Theatre is of Greek origin is in the well-cut biocks of Taormina stone (similar to marble) below the scene of the Theatre; these are a typical example of the ancient Greek building technique. The theatre is divided into three main sections: the scene, the orchestra and the cavea. The scene is opposite the cavea and is obviously where the actors used to perform. There is now a large ten-metre long portion missing in the centre of the scene, supposedly caused by attacks during the wars. This serious damage to the theatre makes it nevertheless even more evocative due to the magnificent panorama (the bay of Naxos and Mount Etna) which can now be seen. According to reconstructions by experts, the scene was decorated with two series of columns of the Corinthian order, recognizable due to the shape of the capitals and their acanthus leaf design; the acanthus is a wild Mediterranean plant. The orchestra of the theatre was the flat clearing in the centre which separated the scene from the cavea. This area was for the musicians, but the choruses and dancers also performed there. The word "orchestra", nowadays meaning a musical band, comes from this part of the Greek theatre. The cavea on the other hand is the series of steps, from the lowest to the highest ones at the top, where the spectators were seated. The first and last semicircular steps were 62 and 147.34 metres long respectively. The steps were carved out of the rock and, in places where there was none, they were built in masonry. The cavea was divided into five areas called "diazòmata" by the Greeks and "praecinctiones" by the Romans, both meaning enclosed zones. And these were where the audience used to sit. The theatre is thought to have been able to seat about 5,400 spectators. No one is sure of when the Theatre was actually erected. Those who believe it was built by the Greeks say it must have been around the middle of the third century B.C., when Hiero was the tyrant of Siracusa. But due to the theatre's structural characteristics, some say it was erected by Roman engineers to be used exclusively by the Greeks. This wouid explain all the Greek inscriptions inside the theatre. Nowadays the ancient Theatre is still one of Taormina's main attractions. As it is still practicable, the theatre seated the audiences of the most important Italian cinematographic event, the "David di Donatello" award, for many years; now an international festival entitled "Taormina Art", lasting the whole summer period, is held there with cinema, theatre, ballet and symphonic music reviews. http://www.thi.it/hotels/san-domenico-palace-hotel/hotel-5-stelle-lusso-taormina.html

If you want to eat fish, go to the restaurant "La Vela" in the town of Scauri: best food and best location of the island.

Lampedusa is a special sunny island for relax yourself, eating good fish, tanning yourself, and staying all the day on the seaside.

Stromboli is the most narrow an beautiful island in the Eolian group. It's a place out of time. You move by bike, on foot or with small elettric cars, there are no lights in the streets at night, so you can reach the main square with your own torch watching the stars in the sky. The beaches are beautiful, the water is clean and the volcano makes it a unique place in teh world.

Taormina Sicily is a Tourist trap..but a WONDERFUL trap. They put on a nice parade, a colorful parade everyday... but thats not where the funs at. The FUN is at the BEACH. Most of the beaches at Taoramina are topless...some are Bottomless too. There is ruins of a Norman castle out in the rocks past the general beach area.. it gives the area a fantastic appeal. The rugged hillside is STEEP.. be careful. There are no guardrails so be careful where you drive! A young man died close by there in 1977 (I worked the Search Air Rescue) by falling almost 200feet down a cliff. Other than that.. Food is GOOD. BUT - DO NOT EAT THE Ensalada De Mare.. Sea Salad!!! it has raw Octopus, Fish and Squid etc in it.. I had Diareahea for 4 days!!!! I thought I was going to die! Only eat COOKED seafood here! They are not that good about safe food handling.. sorry Siciliians.. but you arent. Girls are usually stuck up because they are from northern Europe... Hotels around here are expensive as Hell. Buon Appetite! Buon Giorno!

Better take care if drawing money from a bancomat, have look around, especially at night. On your sightseeing tours round the center, it is better to leave all your bags, wrist watches and expensice cameras at home, do not act so much as a tourist, better wear simple jeans and take with you only a little money within your jeans pockets. Traffic is incredible in Palermo, better do not rent any motorbikes as it is really dangerous on the busiest streets. Around one and a half hour from Palermo by car on the north shore there is a beautiful nature protection area. People may access the park only by walking (no cars or motorbikes allowed, you can rent a bike or use a donkey), also boats are not allowed to approach near the coast. Therefore the nature and the seaside remain incredibly beautiful, a high botanical variety according to the "macchia mediterranea", but also rare plants, the sea is full of fish if you go snorkelling. You may rent a little hut without electricity, where of course you will receive wood for fire and candels and gas lamps.

During the Norman domination, in 1184 the archbishop of Palermo Walter Offamilio started the construction of a splendid cathedral to replace the Muslim mosque with a Christian church. Over the centuries the additions and restorations modified the original building: the most radical change was made by Ferdinando Fuga in 1771 and in 1809. He was an architect from Florence and gave to the interior of the church a neoclassical aspect. Visiting the Cathedral it is important to observe: the XIV century portal with bronze doors, the long right side is decorated with a scenic portico in Catalan-Gothic style from the XV century, under which there is a highly decorated portal by Antonio Gambarra in 1426, the apses kept their original form of the XII century. The Cathedral contains the Royal and Imperial tombs. Among the people buried there are Roger II, Henry VI of Hohenstaufen, Costance de Hauteville, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Among the numerous chapels there is Santa Rosalia's, where in a silver urn done in 1631, there are kept the ashes of the patron Saint of Palermo. There is lastly fine treasure, comprising precious objects and pieces of embroidery found in Royal and Imperial tombs, holy vestments, chalices, ostensories.

Historical and mesmerising, expensive and gorgeous, Taormina is every bit the picture-postcard image of Sicily... its Greek theatre perched on a cliff and opening out into the sea has to be seen to be believed... in a sense, it is the San Gimigniano of Tuscany or the Nice of the Riviera... you can't help being impressed and amazed... but at another level it is also tacky and commercial... touristy, full of shops, and pricier than most other Sicilian cities... but at least a short trip there is highly recommended, even if you are not into lux shopping and dining, just to take in its charm and architectural marvels... it was the place that earlier attracted some of the most famous in literature and art as their holiday resort... easily reached by train from Catania...

Le premier des clubs. J'm'en rapeele même plus...^^

If you never do anything else in your life, stand at the top of a volcano and look inside..its invigorating!

Balestrate is a perfect place to stay and enjoy your holidays spending your time between splendid sandy beaches and amazing archaeological sites. From there you can visit the Greek temple of Segesta, the antique Roman town of Selinunte, the museum of Mozia, the medieval Erice and so on... I suggest you to book one week at VILLA SEA AND ARCHAEOLOGY, it's very nice, quiet, clean and also ...cheap !!! http://www.villaseasicily.iowners.net/