The little known Aeolian Islands just of the northern coast of Sicily are an undiscovered delight, particularly if you're looking for peace and quiet surrounded by the pleasures of nature. Cheap hostels in Ragusa The sea is deep blue, warm and clear, ideal for underwater swimming and fishing, accompanied by flying-fish, swordfish, turtles, sea-horses and hammerfish. Cheap hostels in Ragusa. The islands are bathed in a limpid clear light, setting off the black volcanic pumice stone. Places of interest in Egadi Islands Vines are cultivated on the coastal strips and around the towns. Farmhouses in Erice On the island of Vulcano bathe in its warm sea-water, heated by underground volcanic springs. Cheap hostels in Ragusa. The active volcano on Stromboli offers a spectacular opportunity to observe lava flows and frequent noisy minor eruptions. Cefalu apartments  

Palermo was founded by Phoenicians who sailed there from their native Carthage. Lampedusa lodging The Greeks colonized the whole island, leaving some of the most beautiful and best-preserved temples they ever built at Agrigento, Selinunte and Segesta. Cheap hostels in Ragusa. Around those glorious sites they planted Sicily's first olive trees and grape vines. Capo D Orlando apartments 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. Cheap hostels in Ragusa. In Palermo, these groups were known as mafia. Cheap Palermo Hotels

Ironically, the earthquake that devastated the southeastern provinces in 1693 became the springboard for Sicily's most glorious period, the baroque. Eolie Aeolian Islands villas It gleams in the cities and towns of Palermo, Catania, Siracusa, Ragusa, Noto, Comiso, Scicli and dozens more, all of which had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Nightlife Entertainment in Agrigento After the Aragonese, Sicily passed briefly into the hands of the Austrians, to be willingly rescued in 1734 by the Bourbons of Spain, whose throne was actually located in Naples. Cheap hostels in Ragusa. During one forced exile in Palermo, the Bourbon king Ferdinand's wife Maria Carolina (sister of Marie Antoinette) built La Favorita. , A magnificent refuge in which to hide from the subjects she thoroughly loathed. Erice Holiday Accommodation Sicily remained in Bourbon hands until 1861, when unification created the Kingdom of Italy.

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