Visit My-Sicily.com for Sicily Hotels, Holidays and Car Hire.

The Aeolian Islands off the coast at Milazzo are well worth a visit. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation Mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey and thought to be the home of Aeolus (the god of the wind) by the ancient Greeks, they offer spectacular volcanic scenery and fine beaches. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. The island of Lipari is the most developed. Giarre Hotels Sample some of the island’s sweet white Malvasia wine while here. Head for Taormina – Sicily’s most picturesque town. Houses to rent in Marsala Its magnificent setting on a terrace of Monte Tauro overlooking the sea and its views of Mt Etna have long made it a top tourist destination. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. The town was an important centre for trade and art through successive Roman, Norman, Spanish and French rules. Cheap accommodation in Trapani

Palermo was founded by Phoenicians who sailed there from their native Carthage. Sicily weather forecast The Greeks colonized the whole island, leaving some of the most beautiful and best-preserved temples they ever built at Agrigento, Selinunte and Segesta. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. Around those glorious sites they planted Sicily's first olive trees and grape vines. Discount accommodation Solunto Traces of the Roman period in Sicily can be found in the amphitheatres at Taormina and Siracusa, as well as in that city's Christian catacombs. But perhaps Rome's most lasting (and infamous) contribution to the island came in fostering the great land ownerships which eventually impoverished the peasantry and led, many centuries later, to the founding of secret societies aimed at destroying the fabulously wealthy landlords. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. In Palermo, these groups were known as mafia. Information about Giarre

As elsewhere in the Roman Empire, the Romans were replaced by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths, who demolished far more than they built (one rare example is the villa of Piazza Armerina) and were swept away by the Byzantines. Tourist attractions in Ragusa The Arabs who followed them moved the capitol from Siracusa to Palermo, renamed most of the existing towns, and planted the first carobs, date-palms, citrus trees, jasmines and melons. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. The Normans took over in 1061. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation They tore down almost all signs of Arab culture. Cheap Enna Hotels They brought the island to a new level of prosperity and planted a different kind of seed, still visible today in the blonde and red tresses of many Sicilians. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. It is to the Normans that we owe the most spectacular of Sicily's architectural treasures. Cheap guesthouses Caltanissetta From the cathedrals of Cefalù, Messina and Monreale to Palermo's Zisa and Cuba, the churches of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, San Cataldo and the Martorana. Under the realm of Frederick II, the Swabian king, Sicily became one of the centers of the Western world, and perhaps it is not surprising that the principal architectural endeavors of this era. These lasted only from 1220 to 1250, were of a military nature, such as the castles in Siracusa, Catania and Salemi. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. When Frederick died in 1250, his successor Manfred was murdered by the ruthless Charles of Anjou, whose French allies streamed into the island and established a new aristocracy so despised that it led to the popular uprising called the Sicilian Vespers. Car Hire Caltanissetta Eventually, in 1302, the French gave way to the Aragonese (part of the same dynasty which sponsored Christopher Columbus), who dominated until 1734. Campo Bello di Mazara Accomodation. The aristocracy created during this realm left their magnificent homes, such as Palermo's Palazzo Sclafani and Palazzo Chiaramonte, scattered all over the island. Diving Centres Dive Sites and Schools Sciacca The Aragonese clergy, while wielding the heavy arm of the Inquisition, effectively conspired to keep almost all artistic traces of the Renaissance out of the island.

Cheap guesthouses Milazzo
Cheap flats in Siracusa Syracuse
Hotels Acitrezza
Hostels in Noto
Sicily travel