5 Things you Didn’t Know About Sicily

Spending a vacation in Sicily means not only sunbathing on the best beaches of Sicily but also embarking on a journey of discovery to learn and experience the multi-faceted characteristics and culture of one of the most important centres of activity in Mediterranean history.

This is exactly what makes the Southern Italian island (the biggest in the Mediterranean) so appealing to visitors, because it is a treasure trove of hidden knowledge – and we are not just talking about its great collection of ancient Greek, Roman, Arabic, Northern European and North African temples, ruins and monuments of art like the cathedrals and churches which are spread all over the island and its Aeolian and Egadian Archipelagos. From the local gastronomy to the architectural wonders dating back over 3000 years, Sicilian history has impacted popular culture in more ways than one.

The capital, Palermo – located in the Northwest, is a central destination for tourists who want to experience the best of authentic and traditional Sicilian recipes. In fact it has been established as the European capital of street food, being nominated by Forbes magazine as one of the top five cities in the world with the best local cuisine, and ranking first in Europe. Here you will experience everything that Sicily has to offer food-wise, with a large variety of delicacies served by street vendors.

Sicily also grows the best and sweetest kinds of pistachios in the world – the Gelato al Pistacchio is in fact another favourite among locals and tourists alike. Sicilian pistachios are also used in many recipes ranging from pasta dishes with garlic and tomato to grilled swordfish (another specialty of the Island, offer of the teeming waters of the Mediterranean where swordfish along with tuna and sardines abounds), croissants, and to make an extraordinary Pesto sauce that complements an infinite variety of course dishes. The most famous pistachio in the world probably comes from Bronte.

It may come as a shock, but the Godfather movies were not shot in the town of Corleone, but in the regions around Messina and Taormina – specifically in the towns of Savoca and Forza D’Agrò. Do not despair, however, as – by some strange coincidence of fate – in real life Al Pacino really was born in the town of Corleone! And you can still enjoy a wonderful gastronomic adventure at the Bar Vitelli in Savoca, where in the famous scene Michael Corleone asks – quite bluntly – the owner Apollonia for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Another less-known fact that makes Sicily unique in terms of ancient architecture is its wide variety of beautifully preserved Temples, amphitheatres and archaeological ruins, considered to be even better than those in Greece. Check out the 5^th Century B.C. Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, housing the Temples of Juno, Concordia, Olympian Zeus and Hercules among others; as well as the Greco-Roman amphitheatre in Taormina (3^rd Century B.C.), and you will be amazed at their preservation throughout the millennia.

A further fact that may come as a surprise – considering especially that the economy in the South and particularly Sicily since the early part of the 20th Century was destroyed by Mafia control well through the period following the 1950s is that in the early to latter part of the 19th C (1814-1860) the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which also incorporated Naples, was the richest kingdom in Italy. The unification of Italy in 1861 also contributed to Sicily’s demise and along with the infiltration of the Mafia in Italian politics, did little to speed up the South in terms of industrialization compared to the other Italian regions.

Have you been to Sicily, or is it on your travel bucket list?

*This is a collaborative post.