I’ve been giving you a lot on the cities and towns of Sicily lately, but what about rural Sicily, which makes up the majority of the island? I’m glad you inquired because below is what rural Sicily looks like… Now, I don’t have much commentary on these specific scenes as I just took these pictures … Continue reading
Taormina is a small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, found north of the city of Catania and close to Mount Etna… Given the region of the world in which it is found, Taormina, of course, has an extensive history which stretches back to pre-Greek times. Taormina has been inhabited or … Continue reading
Described by Cicero as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all”, Siracusa still possesses quite a bit of charm: Located on the southeastern corner of Sicily, the 2,700-year-old city was once one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Siracusa was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers … Continue reading
Agrigento is located on the southern coast of Sicily and is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas. So, I’ll focus on that first… In its day, Akragas was one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies. Ancient Akragas covered a huge area — much of which is … Continue reading
Perhaps it is a guy thing, but I have always been fascinated by volcanoes. I remember seeing video footage when I was a child of Etna spraying lava hundreds of meters into the night sky and wanted to visit ever since then. Nice to cross something else off of the list… Mount Etna is actually … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket staff are quite familiar with Italy and have seen most of it. And we (including our Italian correspondent) remain unanimous on one point: Sicily is our favorite part of Italy. These scenes from the small Sicilian town of Cefalù, which can be found in the province of Palermo along the northern coast, … Continue reading
Sicily’s Catacombs of the Capuchins (Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Italian ) are unlike anywhere else I know of in the world. Described by some as a “ grisly one-stop shop for horror” or the “ultimate museum of the macabre”, I believe there is actually far more to them. The catacombs were created in the 16th … Continue reading
