Even on an Island like Sicily, until the arrival of automobiles there were entire populations who had never seen so much as a glimpse of the sea. This was so for the Sicilians who lived inland, in cities like Enna, often referred to as the "umbilical of Sicily" due to its central position, or Caltanissetta, the economy of which for centuries has relied on sulfur mining.

Ceramics form the basis of the economy of another well-known Sicilian city, situated far from the island's...

A journey discovering the intimate soul of Sicily, an island where heartfelt sentiments and firmly held beliefs find their ultimate expression within the most theatrical of baroque edifices. This whirlwind tour of 18th century Sicily, takes us from Noto to Ragusa, visiting any number of elaborately decorated churches and palazzi, the ornately carved facades of which, at sunset, blush a delicate shade of pink.

Our adventure begins in Noto, the capital of Sicilian Baroque, and in the city's...

From the sea, Palazzo Florio is visible long before we reach the Island of Favignana where it was built, in the distant 1874. The building was constructed by the influential Sicilian industrialist Ignazio Florio, soon after his coming in to possession of the Egadi islands and Favignana's tuna fisheries. Until the tourist boom, the economy of the island was based on tuna fishing and tuff quarrying and, to this very day, from the bay of Cala Rossa, signs of where the great blocks of tuff were...

A journey in the company of Mount Etna, the volcano which rises up above the city of Catania and gazes out over the sea of Taormina. The much-traveled writer Guy de Maupassant described this part of eastern Sicily as "a landscape in which it is possible to find all that which has ever been made to seduce the eyes, the mind, the imagination". In fact, if Taormina's beaches never fail to enrapture lovers of the sea, the historic center enamors both those wishing to visit the city's...

For those arriving from the Italian main land, Messina is the first place they will see; the native city of Antonello, considered to be one of the greatest masters of 15th century Italian painting. In the Peloritano Museum, his San Gregorio Polyptic is conserved. Among the other works housed in the museum, one also finds the 'Adoration of the Shepherds' and the 'Resurrection of Lazarus' by Caravaggio, and the 'Scylla' by the sculptor, Giovanni Montorsoli.

From Messina to Palermo the coast is...

The historic center of Palermo is home to an impressive number monuments and a market, that of Vuccira; immortalized by Renato Guttuso and which, to this very day, offers a veritable explosion of color, whilst filling the air with the pungent scents of the fresh Mediterranean produce cramming the stalls.

Three monuments, dating back to Palermo's Norman era, are particularly worthy of mention; the Palatine Chapel, situated on the first floor of the Palazzo dei Normanni; the Cathedral; and the...

Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Salina, Alicudi, and Filicudi: the names of the splendid islands of volcanic origin which together form the Aeolian or Lipari archipelago, a territory which falls under the jurisdiction of the province of Messina. A few numbers: twenty towns, 4 districts, a population of 12.000, a total surface area of 115 square kilometers. The best way to reach the islands is to take a ferry boat or hydrofoil from Milazzo, the closest port. An alternative route is that...