Wonders of Sicily

Travel Program…

We are excited to welcome our guests to the isle of Sicily, a land of cross-cultural influences, maritime history, traditional life, and magnificent art, architecture, and cuisine. Our tour is organized around visits to the most significant attractions on the island, with each day commanding a different historic theme. We begin the tour in the historic city of Siracusa visiting sites associated with the first Greek colonists to settle in Sicily. In the following days, we visit towns resplendent for their exquisite Baroque architecture in Modica, Noto, and Ragusa.

Near Agrigento, we visit the “Valley of Temples” to see well-preserved Greek temples, then visit the Villa del Casala, where some of the most impressive Roman floor mosaics in the world are preserved. Making our way west through Sicily’s viticulture region, we visit the isle of Mozia and the Greek-Trojan sites at Segeste, staying overnight in the picturesque port town of Trapani.

In Palermo, we hope to attend the opera (schedule permitting), and spend a full day touring the magnificent medieval mosaics and frescoes in the city’s historic Byzantine-influenced cathedrals. We conclude our tour at the base of Sicily's iconic volcano, Mount Etna, where we finish our tour in Castelmola.

Airport transfers are provided to Siracusa on arrival, and from Castelmola at the end of the trip. We will travel in minibus between cities, but we will also be doing a lot of walking in the cities, and around sites. This tour will be led by John Graham, but also accompanied by a bi-lingual group leader from a local company. In addition, we will meet many local people on this trip, including local specialist guides. Our team is particularly keen on presenting a fantastic diversity of cuisine and wine, one of Sicily's great gifts to the world. Read more about our program in the pages that follow!

 

Historical-Cultural view:

The history of settlement in Sicily is attested in neolithic times in pottery finds from as early as the 7th millenium BC. As a large and fertile island in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily has always been at the crossroads of maritime travel, bringing together conquering fleets, refugees, and travelers. The first historical cities are attributed to the ancient Greeks, who established the city of Siracusa in 713BC, birthplace of Archimedes. Around the same time, the Phoenicians established a trading port called Zis (modern Palermo). War was frequent between the various Greek city-states on the island, their rivals in Carthage just 160 miles across the Mediterranean, and the local indigenous populations of Siculi and Sicani.

By the mid-3rd century BC, a new power had emerged: Rome. After defeating Carthage in Corsica, Sicily, and north Africa, Sicily became the first Roman colony. The island’s inhabitants continued to speak Greek, but were forced to send one-tenth of their grain to Rome every year as an imperial tax. Local Roman rulers became fabulously wealthy, as evidenced by the incredible mosaics at one of the main Roman-era sites, the Villa Romana del Casale. As the Roman Empire fell apart in the 5th century AD, the Byzantines controlled Sicily. Constantinople’s influence on Sicily’s art and architecture remained strong even up to the 12th Century, as seen in the incredible dome and gold interior of La Monreale, a church in Palermo.

Sicily came under Arab control for about a century during the 10th century. Arab farmers improved irrigation and introduced more crops into Sicilian agriculture: cotton from Syria, pistachios from Persia, sugar cane, olive trees, and citrus. Much of the Tunisian architectural legacy is lost, buried beneath later construction, but the walls of one Qasr palace still remain in Palermo, though the Grand Mosque to which it was once attached is now the site of the Palermo Cathedral. By the 11th century, Normans had defeated the Arabs and other rivals to take over the island, leaving a legacy of magnificent medieval churches especially in Palermo.

In order to understand this complex history, we have devised a program with daily themes in each location. As we circumnavigate the coastline for 10 days, we discuss Greek heritage, the Roman and Carthaginian empires, medieval crusader forts and cathedrals, Baroque architecture, village agrarian lifestyles and livelihoods, and modern life including refugee migration from North Africa, myths of mafia culture, mass tourism, agricultural challenges in the EU, and other themes of the day. We also explore themes of pre-history by discussing evidence of neolithic habitation in Sicily, and the legends and mythologies that give life to Sicilian culture.

 

Art and Culture:

The oldest layers of Sicilian traditional music are connected with shepherd flutes and the zampogna bagpipe. As an agrarian society, many work and harvest songs are attested. The religious music of the isle is associated with the Catholic Church in the form of Gregorian chant for liturgical services, and para-liturgical hymns sung at the religious festivals especially those associated with Nativity and Pascha. The Arabs brought lutes, the Spanish the guitar, the Europeans the accordian and other instruments such that today, Sicily has a wide diversity of musical traditions mapping over one another.

The architecture of the island is considered the jewel of its artistic contribution. Every civilization to set foot on Sicily has been inspired to produce spectacular buildings, whether Greco-Roman ampitheaters and temples, palaces and villas, Byzantine and Catholic churches, or Baroque decorative secular architecture. As a maritime isle, the port cities are full of utilitarian architecture as well, including a diversity of historic quays, wharfs, storm walls, harbor barriers, and other port infrastructure.

The Sicilian Trinacria is one of the most ubiquitous secular symbols of Sicily, deeply rooted in the island’s history, culture, and mythology. The symbol features three bent legs radiating from a central head, which is often depicted as Medusa or a Gorgon, surrounded by three stalks of wheat.

 

Faces of Sicily:

The official language of Sicily is Italian, but most locals speak Sicilian (Siculo) and its many dialectal derivatives. The many civilisations that invaded the island left their mark on the language and today, Sicilian has elements of Greek, Catalan, Spanish, Arabic, French and Provençal. For example, the Italian word for ‘snail’ is lumaca but is babbaluciu in Sicilian, from the Arabic babūš and the Greek boubalákion. The Italian word for ‘cherry’ is ciliegia, but in Sicilian it is cirasa, from the Greek word kerasós.

The main industries of the island’s 4.8 million population are its fisheries, together with production of processed foods, fertilizers, refined oil, and natural gas. Other exports include sulfur, ships, textiles, wine, leather goods, and forest products. The chief crops are barley, wheat, olives, and corn. 75% of the land is used for agriculture, which remains a strong employment sector. Tourism is also a major economic driver, accounting for 40% of the economy in some places, and 15% overall.

 

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