Travel to Sicily

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In our journey in Italy we already visited Umbria. Today we will visit Sicily.

The Italian island of Sicily ist he largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. In former times it was very important for strategical reasons because of its position in the middle of the sea. People have always loved the mild climate. 5 mill. people live on the island with its 26.500 km².

In Sicily

The capital Palermo, with its 750.000 inhabitants is situated in the west of the island where you can see beautiful ancient buildings. The secon largest city is Catania with 420.000 inhabitants. The Italian saying „Palermo grandezza, Catania bellezza“ means Palermo is bigger but Catania is more beautiful.

The surrounding of Catania is full of variety. The friendliness of the people is impressing. Goethe, the famous German poet, who spent some time in Taormina, loved the beauty of Sicily and appreciated the area arount the volcano Etna. This is the biggest volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. It is 3.450 m high. Between 2002 to 2003 the volcano was very active and impressed Catania and the whole world for four month.

The Mediterranean’s largest island is an extraordinary showcase of the natural beauty of mountain and sea, where fishing villages bustle below ancient temples and olive groves mingle with volcanoes. Sicily’s friendly, enigmatic people are a complex overlay of the diverse races that have flourished here, with influences as disparate as Greek, Spanish, Arab and Albanian.

Just off the southwestern tip of the Italian peninsula, Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Its jagged coastlines have borne great epochs of Greek, Roman, Arab and Norman civilizations. Towering over an exotic blend of architectural styles and archeological treasures are the snowcapped peaks of majestic Mount Etna. Overlooking the island’s eastern shores, beautiful Taormina cascades down mountain slopes in terraces toward splendid beaches. In Homer’s Odyssey, Sicily represented the unknown end of the world. Today, its visitors embark on amazing adventures in classic antiquity.

History of Sicily:

35000 BC Palaeolithic times: inhabitants along NW and SE coast (nomads, hunters).
16000 BC Stone Age: rock drawings in Palermo (hunting and gathering).
3000 BC Immigration of Elymi and Sicani from Eastern Mediterranean area.
1400 BC Immigration of Ausoni, Morgeti and Siculi from Italian mainland (= origin of name Sicily).
1100 BC Immigration of Phoenicians on west coast (Palermo).
8th-3th BC Greek colonies in eastern Sicily (Syracusa).
212-532 AD Sicily is a Roman province and no longer autonomous. It under the feudal system. It in the Beginnings of Christianity Period.
440 The Vandals (german trip) hold Africa.
491 The Ostrogoths reclaim territory from Vandals.
535-827 The Byzantines settle in Sicily.
827-1072 Under Arab rule. In this period, Sicily (capital Palermo) richest and most tolerant country of the Mediterranean, cultural height. In the first half of the eleven century Sicily reconquested by Byzantine 1038-1043.
1060-1194 Under Viking rule, trade.
1194-1266 Staufen inherit Sicily from Sicilian Vikings. Court life in Palermo. Frederic II (1197-1250).
1266-1282 The papacy plus Anjou rising: the Sicilian Vespers.
1282 Aragon in power (Constance of Aragon wife of Frederic of Anjou). Under Alfonso V: federation of Catalonia. Kingdom of Valencia and kingdom of Napoli Sicilia.
1302 Sicily independent. After that we can say the end of the Kingdom of Sicily, coming of a unified Italy.
1377-1713 Aragon >> Castilia >> Spain >> Spanish Habsburgers. From 1415-1712, a Spanish viceroy in Sicily. Economic and cultural decline (also due to expulsion of Jews) up till end 17th. 1449, Alfonso imposes maritime imperialism: import from abroad limited expansion of ship building. Aragonese flag. Slow penetration of Hanse in Mediterranean: only one German ship to Sicily before 1450. 1442, Sicilia and Naples united into Kingdom of Both Sicilies. Visit of Charles V. Earthquake destroys Southern Sicily: start of baroque architecture.
1713-1718 After War of the Spanish succession: Savoie = Piemonte.
1718-1735 Austrian Habsburgers (Victor Amadeus II of Savoie gave Sicily to Habsburgers).
1735-1860 Spanish Bourbons: Charles III of Spain. Looting and poverty in the countryside.
1816 Kingdom of Both Sicilies (province of Napoli).
1860 Garibaldi.
1870 Sicily part of unified Italy.
1914-1918 World War I on side of Allied Countries.
1940-1944 World War II on side of Axis Powers.
1951-today Member of European Institutions, from ECCS to EU. Also Member of NATO.

Sicily Hotels:

One of the neat things about Sicily hotels is the fact that the prestigious hotels have preserved their architecture for many years. Some Sicily hotels have been around for many decades- and just being able to stay in a building built in times much different than what we experience today is quite invigorating- but also educational as an effect.

Types of the hotels in Sicily

Not everyone has a six-figure income each month, so we can't all afford suites in hotels that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars for only one night of stay. The good news is that these types of prices are only apparent on hotels that are considered to have 5-star ratings. Hotels with smaller ratings will be much cheaper, and of course friendlier to the wallet of the tourist.

Still cheaper solutions in Sicily hotels may be the Liberty Hotel or the Hotel Cavalieri. Both are typically under $200 for a night, depending on the travel season. Both also offer great service, clean rooms, and friendly service- but they aren't going to be the 5-star service that previously mentioned hotels are acclaimed as being.

The best advice to take from this point forward is that one should ask about reviews of a hotel before planning a reservation. Hotels will always claim they are the best, exaggerate services, or otherwise make their hotel look or sound better than it really is in advertisements. To get around this marketing ploy, consult friends or travel agents that have personal experience in Sicily hotels.

As a last piece of advice, try to focus more on other forms of spending time on a vacation than worrying about a hotel stay. If possible, book ahead and get reservations so more time can be put into enjoying the stay rather than actually debating on hotel choices for several hours. And in peak tourism months, finding a hotel anywhere might be a hard task indeed. More about Sicily Hotels.