Beautiful Sicily

The largest region of Italy is Sicily; the island is also largest among the island regions of the country. Critical to Italian history, the island is an important location and harbour for Mediterranean products and international trade.

Once a nation of its own, the transition as a region of Italy began in the 1860s, and Sicily was given autonomous regional recognition in 1946. Today the island is visited for a variety of reasons, and primary among them are the arts, local and artisan crafts, its many gorgeous beaches, archaeological sights and for its remarkably fine cuisine and wines.

It is best to visit Sicily during its spring, autumn and winter months as the summer months can see remarkably high temperatures and very uncomfortable weather for traveling.

Some of the major cities are the most popular tourist destinations and offer numerous Sicily apartments. Cefalu is Sicily's most popular beach resort. The fishing village is home to a very attractive and well-kept ancient town centre with Byzantine mosaics, a beautiful old harbor and one of the most popular and best beaches in all of Sicily.

Another popular visitor destination is the city of Agrigento with the famous Greek Valley of Temples. Running along a ridge at the south side of the city are five ancient Greek temples dating from the third century. Also in the city is the wonderful Archeological Museum and the Roman Quarter which, when seen altogether, can give an excellent perspective of a remarkable period in human history. The old part of the city is home to a great collection of shops located along the Via Atena. The Norman church of Salita Santa Maria dei Greci, at one thousand years old, is also in the city and a wonderful place to visit.

Like other areas of Italy, Sicily too has been exposed to an enormous variety of languages and cultures and the result is a diversity of languages, religions and cuisines available from town to town. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the foods that visitors to Sicily will experience. Most of the cuisines are based on the predominance of seafood as a major food source. The cuisine of Sicily is also noted for its lack of dairy and its intensity or spices. There is also a remarkable culture built around sweets and baked goods such as cannoli - the tubular cookies filled with sweet creams, almond cookies and even iced fruit beverages.

Sicily is also noted for its Sicilian wines, and in fact has more vineyards than any other region in the country. The region is home to Marsala, a world famous sweet dessert wine, and occasionally produces its own version of Limoncello.

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