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Sicily (Italian language and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, situated south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe. With 4.7 million inhabitants, including 1.2 million in and around the capital city of Palermo, it is both the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sicily is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age. Sicily has a rich and unique culture in arts, music, literature, Sicilian cuisine, and Sicilian Baroque. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate. It is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is generally considered part of Southern Italy.
The earliest archaeological record of human activity on the island dates to around 14,000 BC. By around 750 BC, Sicily had three and a dozen Greek colonies along its coasts, becoming one of the centers of Magna Graecia. The Sicilian Wars of 580–265 BC were fought between the Carthaginians and Greeks, and the Punic Wars of 264–146 BC were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Roman province of Sicilia ended with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Sicily was ruled during the Early Middle Ages by the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantine Empire, and the Emirate of Sicily.
The Norman conquest of southern Italy led to the creation of the County of Sicily in 1071, which was succeeded by the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130.Pasquale Hamel – L' invenzione del regno. Dalla conquista normanna alla fondazione del Regnum Siciliae (1061–1154) In 1816, the kingdom unified with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Following the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, Sicily was ruled by Aragon and then Spain, either in personal union with the crown or by a cadet branch, except for a brief period of Savoy and then Habsburg rule in 1713–1735. Following the Expedition of the Thousand, an invasion led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, and a subsequent Referendum, the island became part of the newly unified Italy in 1860. Sicily was given special status as an autonomous administrative division on 15 May 1946, 18 days before the 1946 Italian institutional referendum.
Discoveries of on the island (dating to the second half of the third millennium BC) seem to offer new insights into the culture of primitive Sicily.
The impact of at least two influences is clear: the European one coming from the Northwest, and the Mediterranean influence of an eastern heritage. Ibidem, p. 31.
No evidence survives of warring between tribes, but the Sicanians moved eastwards when the Elymians settled in the northwest corner of the island. The Sicels are thought to have originated in Liguria; they arrived from mainland Italy in 1200 BC and forced the Sicanians to move back across Sicily and to settle in the middle of the island. Other minor Italic groups who settled in Sicily included the Ausones (Aeolian Islands, Milazzo) and the Morgetes of Morgantina.
The settlements in the western part of the island predate the arrival of Greek people colonists. From about 750 BC, the Greeks began to live in Sicily ( – Sikelia), establishing many significant settlements. The most important colony was in Syracuse; others grew up at Agrigentum, Selinunte, Gela, Himera and Messina.E. Zuppardo-S.Piccolo, Terra Mater: sulle sponde del Gela greco, Betania Ed., Caltanissetta 2005 The native Sicani and Sicel peoples became absorbed into the Ancient Greece with relative ease, and the area became part of Magna Graecia along with the coasts of the southern Italy, which the Greeks had also colonised. Sicily had fertile soils, and the successful introduction of and fostered profitable trading. Greek culture significantly centered around Greek religion, and the settlers built many temples throughout Sicily, including several in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento.
Politics on the island became intertwined with those of Greece; Syracuse became desired by the who set out on the Sicilian Expedition (415–413 BC) during the Peloponnesian War. Syracuse gained Sparta and Ancient Corinth as allies and, as a result, defeated the Athenian expedition. The victors destroyed the Athenian army and their ships, selling most of the survivors into slavery.
The Greek kingdom of Syracuse controlled most of eastern Sicily while Carthage controlled the western side.
In the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC), the Carthaginians attempted to recapture Sicily. Some of the Greek cities on the island who were loyal to Rome switched sides to help the Carthaginians, prompting a Roman military response. Archimedes, who lived in Syracuse, helped defend his city from Roman invasion; Roman troops killed him after they captured Syracuse in 212 BC. The Carthaginian attempt failed, and Rome became more unrelenting in its annihilation of the invaders; Roman consul M. Valerian told the Roman Senate in 210 BC that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily".
As the Roman Republic's granary, Sicily ranked as an important province, divided into two : Syracuse to the east and Lilybaeum to the west. Roman rule introduced the Latin language to the island, which underwent a slow process of latinisation but Sicilian culture remained largely Greek and the Greek language did not become extinct on the island, facilitating its Hellenization much later under the Byzantines. The prosperity of the island went into sharp decline during the governorship of Verres (73 to 71 BC). In 70 BC, the noted statesman Cicero condemned the misgovernment of Verres in his oration In Verrem.
Various groups used the island as a power base at different times: slave insurgents occupied it during the First (135−132 BC) and Second (104−100 BC) Servile Wars. Sextus Pompey had his headquarters there during the Sicilian revolt of 44 to 36 BC. Christianity first appeared in Sicily during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313, when Emperor Constantine I lifted the prohibition on Christianity, a significant number of Sicilians had become , including Agatha, Christina, Saint Lucy, and Euplius. Sicily remained a Roman province for around 700 years.
The Vandals found themselves in a position to threaten Sicily – only 100 miles away from their North African bases.
After taking Carthage, the Vandals, personally led by King Gaiseric, laid siege to Palermo in 440 as the opening act in an attempt to wrest the island from Roman rule.J.B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, 1958 edition, p. 254 The Vandals made another attempt to take the island one year after the 455 sack of Rome, at Agrigento, but were defeated decisively by Ricimer in a naval victory off Corsica in 456.Bury, p. 327. The island remained under Roman rule until 469. The Vandals lost possession of the island 8 years later in 477 to the Germanic peoples of the Ostrogoths, who then controlled Italy and Dalmatia. The island was returned to the Ostrogoths by payment of tribute to their king Odoacer. He ruled Italy from 476 to 488 in the name of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor. The Vandals kept a toehold in Lilybaeum, a port on the west coast. They lost this in 491 after making one last attempt to conquer the island from this port.Bury, pp. 410, 425. The Ostrogothic conquest of Sicily (and of Italy as a whole) under Theodoric the Great began in 488. The Byzantine Emperor Zeno had appointed Theodoric as a military commander in Italy. The Goths were Germanic, but Theodoric fostered Roman culture and government and allowed freedom of religion. In 461 from the age of seven or eight until 17 or 18 Theodoric had become a Byzantine hostage; he resided in the great palace of Constantinople, was favored by Emperor Leo I () and learned to read, write and do arithmetic.Frassetto, Michael (2003), Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara, CA, p. 335: ABC-CLIO. .
At the time of the reconquest Greek was still the predominant language spoken on the island. Sicily was invaded by the Rashidun army of Caliph Uthman in 652, but the Arabs failed to make permanent gains. They returned to Syria with their booty.
The Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II moved from Constantinople to Syracuse in 660. The following year he launched an assault from Sicily against the Lombardy Duchy of Benevento, which occupied most of southern Italy. Rumors that the capital of the empire was to be moved to Syracuse probably cost Constans his life, as he was assassinated in 668. His son Constantine IV succeeded him. A brief usurpation in Sicily by Mezezius was quickly suppressed by this emperor. Contemporary accounts report that the Greek language was widely spoken on the island during this period. In 740 Emperor Leo III the Isaurian transferred Sicily from the jurisdiction of the church of Rome to that of Constantinople, placing the island within the eastern branch of the Church.Treadgold. History of the Byzantine State, pp. 354–355.
In 826 Euphemius, the Byzantine commander in Sicily, having apparently killed his wife, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor Michael II caught wind of the matter and ordered general Constantine to end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' head. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine, and then occupied Syracuse; he, in turn, was defeated and driven out to North Africa. He offered the rule of Sicily to Ziyadat Allah, the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia, in return for a position as a general and a place of safety. A Muslim army was then sent to the island consisting of , Berber people, Cretans, and Persian people.
The Muslim conquest of Sicily was a see-saw affair and met with fierce resistance. It took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered; the largest city, Syracuse, held out until 878 and the Greek city of Taormina fell in 962. It was not until 965 that all of Sicily was conquered by the Arabs. In the 11th-century Byzantine armies carried out a partial reconquest of the island under George Maniakes, but it was their italo-Norman mercenaries who would eventually complete the island's reconquest at the end of the century.
A description of Palermo was given by Ibn Hawqal, an Arab merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb, called the Al-Kasr (the palace), is the centre of Palermo to this day, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of al-Khalisa (modern Kalsa) contained the Sultan's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices, and a private prison. Ibn Hawqal estimated there were 7,000 butchers trading in 150 shops. The Muslim rule introduced lemons, oranges and sugar cane, as well as cotton and mulberries for sericulture, and introduced the Qanat to improve irrigation systems for agriculture.
Around 1050, the western half of Sicily was ethnically and culturally distinct from central and eastern Sicily. During this time, there was also a small Jewish presence in Sicily, evidence seen in the catacombs discovered on the island.Raphael Patai, The Jewish Mind, Scribners, 1977, p. 155–6Palermo was initially ruled by the Aghlabids; later it was the centre of the Emirate of Sicily, which was under the nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid Caliphate. Muslim sovereignty was never absolute across the island, and the creation of three subdivisions served to distinguish different approaches to government. Under the Arab rule the island was divided in three administrative regions, or "vals", roughly corresponding to the three "points" of Sicily: Val di Mazara in the west; Val Demone in the northeast; and Val di Noto in the southeast. As , that is as members of a protected class of approved monotheists, the Eastern Orthodox Christians were allowed freedom of religion, but had to pay a tax, the jizya (in lieu of the obligatory alms tax, the zakat, paid by Muslims), and were restricted from active participation in public affairs. Western Sicily was more Islamization and heavily populated by Arabs, allowing for full and direct administration; by contrast, the northeast region of Val Demone remained majority Christian and often resistant to Muslim rule, prompting a focus on tax collection and maintaining public order, as a result, revolts by Byzantine Sicilians continuously occurred in the east where Greek-speaking Christians predominated. Parts of the island were re-occupied before revolts were quashed. By the 11th century, the Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as intra-dynastic quarreling fractured the Muslim government.
The Norman Hauteville family appreciated and admired the rich and layered culture in which they now found themselves. They also introduced into Sicily their own culture, customs, and politics from Normandy. Many Normans in Sicily adopted the habits and comportment of Muslim rulers and their Byzantine subjects in dress, language, literature, even to the extent of having palace and, according to some accounts, a harem.
While Roger I died in 1101, his wife Adelaide ruled until 1112 when their son Roger II of Sicily came of age. Having succeeded his brother Simon as Count of Sicily, Roger II was ultimately able to raise the status of the island to a kingdom in 1130, along with his other holdings, which included the Maltese Islands and the Duchies of Apulia and Calabria. Roger II appointed the powerful Greek George of Antioch to be his "emir of emirs" and continued the syncretism of his father. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and politically powerful, becoming one of the wealthiest states in all of Europe—even wealthier than the Kingdom of England.
The court of Roger II became the most luminous centre of culture in the Mediterranean, both from Europe and the Middle East, like the multi-ethnic Caliphate of Córdoba, then only just eclipsed. This attracted scholars, scientists, poets, artists, and artisans of all kinds. Laws were issued in the language of the community to whom they were addressed in Norman Sicily, at the time when the culture was still heavily Arab and Greek.
Governance was by rule of law which promoted justice. Muslims, Jews, Byzantine Greeks, Lombards, and Normans worked together fairly amicably. During this time many extraordinary buildings were constructed. "Norman Sicily of the 12th Century" – Inter-American Institute for Advanced Studies in Cultural History – Retrieved 15 July 2011.However this situation changed as the Normans imported immigrants from Normandy, England, Lombardy, Piedmont, Provence and Campania to secure the island. Linguistically, the island shifted from being one-third Greek- and two-thirds Arabic-speaking at the time of the Norman conquest to becoming fully Latinised. In terms of religion the island became completely Roman Catholic (bearing in mind that until 1054 the Churches owing allegiance to the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople belonged to one Church); Sicily before the Norman conquest was under the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch. After Pope Innocent III made him Papal Legate in 1098, Roger I created several Catholic bishoprics while still allowing the construction of 12 Greek-speaking monasteries (the Greek language, monasteries, and 1500 parishes continued to exist until the adherents of the Greek Rite were forced in 1585 to convert to Catholicism or leave; a small pocket of Greek-speakers still live in Messina).
Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led, in 1266, to Pope Innocent IV crowning the French prince Charles, count of Anjou and Provence, as the king of both Sicily and Naples.
Strong opposition to French officialdom due to mistreatment and taxation saw the local peoples of Sicily rise up, leading in 1282 to an insurrection known as the War of the Sicilian Vespers, which eventually saw almost the entire French population on the island killed. During the war, the Sicilians turned to Peter III of Aragon, son-in-law of the last Hohenstaufen king, for support after being rejected by the Pope. Peter gained control of Sicily from the French, who, however, retained control of the Kingdom of Naples. A crusade was launched in August 1283 against Peter III and the Crown of Aragon by Pope Martin IV (a pope from Île-de-France), but it failed. The wars continued until the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, which saw Peter's son Frederick III recognized as the king of the Isle of Sicily, while Charles II was recognized as the king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII. Sicily was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives of the kings of Aragon until 1409 and then as part of the Crown of Aragon.
In October 1347, in Messina, Sicily, the Black Death first arrived in Europe.
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, waves of Greeks from the Peloponnese (such as the Maniots) and Arvanites migrated to Sicily in large numbers to escape persecution after the Ottoman conquest of the Peloponnese. They brought with them Eastern Orthodoxy as well as the Greek language and Arvanitika languages, once again adding onto the extensive Byzantine/Greek Culture influence.
The onset of the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 led to Ferdinand II decreeing the expulsion of all Jews from Sicily. The eastern part of the island was hit by destructive earthquakes in 1542 and 1693. Just a few years before the latter earthquake, the island was struck by a plague. The earthquake in 1693 took an estimated 60,000 lives." Italy's earthquake history". BBC News. 31 October 2002. There were revolts during the 17th century, but these were quelled with force, especially the revolts of Palermo and Messina. Barbary pirates slave raids discouraged settlement along the coast until the 19th century.Rees Davies, British Slaves on the Barbary Coast, BBC, 1 July 2003" Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800". Robert Davis (2004) The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 saw Sicily assigned to the House of Savoy; however, this period of rule lasted only seven years, as it was exchanged for the island of Sardinia with Emperor Charles VI of the Austrian Habsburg Dynasty.
While the Austrians were concerned with the War of the Polish Succession, a Bourbon prince, Charles from Spain was able to conquer Sicily and Naples. At first Sicily was able to remain as an independent kingdom under personal union, while the Bourbons ruled over both from Naples. However, the advent of Napoleon I's First French Empire saw Naples taken at the Battle of Campo Tenese and Bonapartist King of Naples was installed. Ferdinand III, the Bourbon, was forced to retreat to Sicily which he was still in control of with the help of Royal Navy protection.
Following this, Sicily joined the Napoleonic Wars, and subsequently the British under Lord William Bentinck established a military and diplomatic presence on the island to protect against a French invasion. Sicilian volunteers joined the British military to form the Royal Sicilian Regiment, which saw action at the Battle of Maida and then transferred to Peninsular War. After the wars were won, Sicily and Naples formally merged as the Two Sicilies under the Bourbons. Major revolutionary movements occurred in 1820 and 1848 against the Bourbon government with Sicily seeking independence; the second of which, the 1848 revolution resulted in a short period of independence for Sicily. However, in 1849 the Bourbons retook control of the island and dominated it until 1860. Regno Delle Due Sicilie nell'Enciclopedia Treccani. Treccani.it. Retrieved on 18 December 2012.
The Sicilian economy (and the wider mezzogiorno economy) remained relatively underdeveloped after the Italian unification, in spite of the strong investments made by the Kingdom of Italy in terms of modern infrastructure, and this caused an unprecedented Italian diaspora. In 1894, organisations of workers and peasants known as the Fasci Siciliani protested against the bad social and economic conditions of the island, but they were suppressed in a few days.
This period was also characterized by the first contact between the Sicilian Mafia (the crime syndicate also known as Cosa Nostra) and the Italian government. The Mafia's origins are still uncertain, but it is generally accepted that it emerged in the 18th century initially in the role of private enforcers hired to protect the property of landowners and merchants from the groups of brigandage who frequently pillaged the countryside and towns. The battle against the Mafia made by the Kingdom of Italy was controversial and ambiguous. The Carabinieri (the military police of Italy) and sometimes the Royal Italian Army were often involved in fights against the mafia members, but their efforts were frequently useless because of the weakness of the Italian judicial system and cooperation between the mafia and local governments. Arma dei Carabinieri – Home – L'Arma – Ieri – Storia – Vista da – Fascicolo 22. Carabinieri.it. Retrieved on 18 December 2012.
In the 1920s, the Italian fascism regime began taking stronger military action, led by Cesare Mori (nicknamed the "Iron Prefect" for his iron-fisted campaigns), against the Sicilian Mafia, the first that ended with considerable success. There was an Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II starting on 10 July 1943. In preparation for the invasion, the Allies revitalised the Mafia to aid them. The invasion of Sicily contributed to the 25 July crisis; in general, the Allied victors were warmly embraced by Sicily.
In the aftermath of World War II, Italy became a Republic in 1946. Under the Constitution of Italy, Sicily is one of five regions with autonomy. Both the partial Italian land reform and special funding from the Italian government's Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (Fund for the South) from 1950 to 1984 helped the Sicilian economy. During this period, the economic and social condition of the island was generally improved due to investments in infrastructure (such as motorways and ) and the creation of industrial and commercial areas. In the 1980s, the Mafia was weakened by another campaign led by magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Between 1990 and 2005, the unemployment rate fell from about 23% to 11%.
The Cosa Nostra has traditionally been the most powerful group in Sicily, especially around Palermo. A police investigation in summer 2019 also confirmed strong links between the Palermo area Sicilian Mafia and American organized crime, particularly the Gambino crime family. According to La Repubblica, "Off they go, through the streets of Passo di Rigano, Boccadifalco, Torretta and at the same time, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. Because from Sicily to the US, the old mafia has returned."
To the north-east, it is separated from Calabria and the rest of the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about wide in the north, and about wide in the southern part. Britannica – Travel & Geography – Sicily Italian Sicilia – retrieved 11 May 2010. The northern and southern coasts are each about long measured as a straight line, while the eastern coast measures around ; total coast length is estimated at . The total area of the island is , while the Autonomous Region of Sicily (which includes the smaller surrounding islands of Lipari, Egadi, Ustica, and Pantelleria) has an area of .
The terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the of Madonie, , Nebrodi, , and Peloritani, , are an extension of the mainland Apennines. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast. In the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains, .
The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, but have declined since the 1950s.Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. This is due to Sicily being geographically on the northern edge of the African Plate. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and casts black ash over the island with its recurrent eruptions. It stands high as of September 2024. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of with a basal circumference of . This makes it the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily.
The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex. The three volcanoes of Vulcano, Stromboli and Lipari are also active, although the last is usually dormant. Off the southern coast of Sicily, the underwater volcano of Ferdinandea, which is part of the larger Empedocles volcano, last erupted in 1831. It is located between the coast of Agrigento and the island of Pantelleria (which itself is a dormant volcano).
The autonomous region also includes several neighbouring islands: the Aegadian Islands, the Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria and Lampedusa. From a geographical perspective, also forming a part of Sicily is the Maltese Archipelago, the islands constitute the republic of Malta.
| +Five tallest mountains of Sicily !Name !Height (meters) !Height (feet) | ||
| Mount Etna | 3,357 | 11,014 |
| Pizzo Carbonara | 1,979 | 6,493 |
| Monte Soro | 1,853 | 6,079 |
| Rocca Busambra | 1,613 | 5,292 |
| Monte San Calogero | 1,326 | 4,318 |
| Salso | |
| Simeto | |
| Belice | |
| Dittaino | |
| Platani | |
| Gornalunga | |
| Gela | |
| Salso Cimarosa | |
| Torto | |
| Irminio | |
| Dirillo | |
| Verdura | |
| Alcantara | |
| Tellaro | |
| Anapo |
Snow falls above 900 metres, but it can fall in the hills. The interior mountains, especially Nebrodi, Madonie, and Mount Etna, enjoy a mountain climate, with heavy snowfalls during winter. The summit of Mount Etna is usually snow-capped from October to May.
In the summer, the sirocco – the wind from the Sahara – can be felt. Rainfall is scarce, and in some provinces a water crisis can occur.
According to the Regional Agency for Waste and Water, on 10 August 1999, the weather station of Catenanuova (EN) recorded an unofficial maximum temperature of . On 11 August 2021, a new highest temperature record for Europe with a reading of was set near the city of Syracuse. Total precipitation is highly variable, generally increasing with elevation. In general, the southern and southeast coast receives the least rainfall (less than ), and the northern and northeastern highlands the most (over ).
Sicily has a wide variety of fauna. Species include the European wildcat, red fox, least weasel, pine marten, fallow deer, wild boar, crested porcupine, European hedgehog, common toad, Vipera aspis, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, Eurasian hoopoe and black-winged stilt. Sicilia, flora e fauna-Specie vegetali e animali in Sicilia. Insicilia.org. Retrieved on 18 December 2012. Roe deer were driven to extinction on the island. The Sicilian wolf ( Canis lupus cristaldii) was an endemic wolf subspecies that was driven to extinction in the 20th century. During the Late Pleistocene, a species of dwarf elephant, Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis inhabited the island, with its latest records on Sicily dating to around 20,000 years ago.
The Riserva naturale dello Zingaro (Zingaro Natural Reserve) is one of the best examples of unspoiled coastal wilderness in Sicily.
Marine Life of the Straits of Messina includes varieties of birds and marine life, including larger species such as greater flamingo and fin whale.
The trend of emigration, particularly among young Sicilians leaving the island in search of employment elsewhere in Italy and abroad, continues in early 21st century. Sicily remains the Italian region with the highest number of : as of 2017, over 750,000 Sicilians, 14.4% of the island's population, lived abroad.
| 1 | Palermo | 625,956 | 160.59 | 3,897 |
| 2 | Catania | 297,517 | 182.90 | 1,626 |
| 3 | Messina | 216,918 | 213.75 | 1,014 |
| 4 | Syracuse | 115,636 | 207.78 | 556 |
| 5 | Marsala | 79,693 | 243.26 | 327 |
| 6 | Ragusa | 73,778 | 444.67 | 165 |
| 7 | Gela | 70,341 | 279.07 | 252 |
| 8 | Vittoria | 65,714 | 182.48 | 360 |
| 9 | Caltanissetta | 58,045 | 421.25 | 137 |
| 10 | Agrigento | 55,227 | 245.32 | 225 |
Traditionally, Sicily votes for centre-right parties during elections.Peppe Cuva (12 May 2012). Sicilia, l'ex roccaforte del centro-destra. Latestatanews.it. Retrieved on 18 December 2012. From 1943 to 1951, there was also a separatism political party called Sicilian Independence Movement ( Movimento Indipendentista Siciliano, MIS). Their most successful result was at the 1946 general election, when MIS obtained 0.7% of national votes (8.8% of votes in Sicily), and four seats. However, the movement lost all their seats following the 1948 general election and the 1951 regional election. Even though it has never been formally disbanded, today the movement is no longer part of the politics of Sicily. After World War II, Sicily became a stronghold of the Christian Democracy. Sicily is now governed by a centre-right coalition. Renato Schifani is the current President and has served since 2022.
| Agrigento | 3,042 | 453,594 | 149.1 | 43 |
| Caltanissetta | 2,128 | 271,168 | 127.4 | 22 |
| Catania | 3,552 | 1,090,620 | 307.0 | 58 |
| Enna | 2,562 | 172,159 | 67.2 | 20 |
| Messina | 3,247 | 652,742 | 201.0 | 108 |
| Palermo | 4,992 | 1,249,744 | 250.3 | 82 |
| Ragusa | 1,614 | 318,980 | 197.6 | 12 |
| Siracusa | 2,109 | 403,559 | 191.3 | 21 |
| Trapani | 2,460 | 436,240 | 177.3 | 24 |
Sicily is the third largest wine producer in Italy, after Veneto and Emilia Romagna (and Italy is the world's largest wine producer). Produzione vino in Italia nel 2010 – fonte: ISTAT | I numeri del vino. Inumeridelvino.it (30 May 2011). Retrieved on 18 December 2012. The region is known mainly for fortified . In recent decades the wine industry has improved, new winemakers are experimenting with less-well-known native varieties, and Sicilian wines have become better known. The best known local variety is Nero d'Avola named after Avola, a town not far from Syracuse. Other important native varieties are: Nerello, used to make the Etna DOC; Frappato, a component of the Frappato; Moscato di Pantelleria (also known as Zibibbo), which is used to make different Pantelleria wines; Malvasia di Lipari, used for the Malvasia di Lipari DOC wine; and Catarratto, mostly used to make a white wine, Alcamo wine. Furthermore, in Sicily, high-quality wines are also produced using non-native varieties like Syrah, Chardonnay and Merlot. Vini siciliani . sicilyontour.com. Retrieved on 19 December 2012.
Sicily is also known for its liqueurs, such as Amaro Averna, produced in Caltanissetta, and the local limoncello.
Fishing is another fundamental resource for Sicily. It has important tuna, sardine, swordfish and European anchovy fisheries. Mazara del Vallo is the largest fishing centre in Sicily and one of the most important in Italy. Economia Regione Siciliana. Esploriamo.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2012.
| 88,328 |
| 17,533 |
| 1.84% |
| 18.30% |
| 5.41% |
| 20.54% |
| 24.17% |
| 18.97% |
| 10.76% |
| A18 Messina-Catania | Yes | Yes | ||
| RA15 Catania's Bypass (West) | Free | Yes | ||
| Motorway Catania-Siracusa | Free | No | ||
| A18 Siracusa-Rosolini | Free | No | ||
| A19 Palermo-Catania | Free | Yes | ||
| A20 Palermo-Messina | Yes | Yes | ||
| A29 Palermo-Mazara del Vallo | Free | No | ||
| A29dir Alcamo-Trapani/Marsala | and | Free | No |
In Catania there is an Rapid transit service (metropolitana di Catania); in Palermo the national railway operator Trenitalia operates a commuter rail (Palermo metropolitan railway service), the Sicilian Capital is also served by 4 AMAT (Comunal Public Transport Operator) tramlines; Messina is served by a tramline.
While a bridge across the Strait of Messina had been proposed since ancient times, the first detailed plan was made in the 1990s for a suspension bridge. The project was cancelled in 2006 under prime minister Romano Prodi. On 6 March 2009, as part of a massive new public works programme, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's government announced that construction of the Messina Bridge would indeed go ahead, pledging €1.3 billion as a contribution to the total cost, estimated at €6.1 billion. The project was cancelled again on 26 February 2013, by prime minister Mario Monti's government, due to budget constraints. A decade later, the project was revived again with a decree by Giorgia Meloni's government, on 16 March 2023, which received presidential approval on 31 March 2023.
If fully approved and built, it will be the longest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge would be part of the Berlin–Palermo railway axis (Line 1) of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). Construction is set to begin in April 2025, with completion expected in 2032.
Some scenes of several Hollywood and Cinecittà films were shot in Sicily. This increased the attraction of Sicily as a tourist destination. The Godfather. Sicilian Shooting* Locations. thegodfathertrilogy.com
| Caltanisetta | Castello Manfredonico | Mussomeli |
| U Cannuni | Mazzarino | |
| Castelluccio di Gela | Gela | |
| Catania | Castello Ursino | Catania |
| Castello Normanno | Adrano | |
| Castello Normanno | Paternò | |
| Castello di Aci | Aci Castello | |
| Enna | Castello di Lombardia | Enna |
| Messina | Forte dei Centri | Messina |
| Castello di Milazzo | Milazzo | |
| Castello di Federico II | Montalbano Elicona | |
| Castello di Sant'Alessio Siculo | Sant'Alessio Siculo | |
| Castello di Pentefur | Savoca | |
| Castello di Schisò | Giardini Naxos | |
| Palermo | Zisa, Palermo | Palermo |
| Castello di Caccamo | Caccamo | |
| Castello di Carini | Carini | |
| Castello dei Ventimiglia | Castelbuono | |
| Ragusa | Castello di Donnafugata | Ragusa |
| Torre Cabrera | Pozzallo | |
| Castello Dei Conti | Modica | |
| Syracuse | Castello Maniace | Syracuse |
| Castello Svevo | Augusta | |
| Trapani | Castle of Venus | Erice |
| Castle of the Counts of Modica | Alcamo | |
| Castle of Calatubo | Alcamo | |
Most existing towers were built on architectural designs of the Florentine architect Camillo Camilliani from 1583 to 1584 and involved the coastal periple of Sicily. The typology changed completely in '800, because of the new higher fire volumes of cannon vessels, the towers were built on the type of Martello towers that the British built in the UK and elsewhere in the British Empire. The decline of Mediterranean piracy caused by the Second Barbary War led to a smaller number of coastal towers built during the 19th century.
Many films of Italian cinema have been filmed in Sicily, amongst the most noted of which are: Luchino Visconti's "La Terra Trema" and "Il Gattopardo", Pietro Germi's "Divorzio all'Italiana" and "Sedotta e Abbandonata", Tornatore's "Cinema Paradiso".
The annual Taormina Film Fest takes places in Taormina.
These poets drew inspiration from the troubadour poetry of Occitania written in langue d'oc, which applied the feudal honor system to the relation between a man (acting as the vassal) and a woman (acting as king or superior). This is a reversal of the traditional role of women, traditionally dependent on men, and marks a new awareness in Middle Ages society: the decadence of feudalism with the increasing power of the middle class, causes a shift in the reading public, the Epic poetry (traditionally devoted to great military pursuits) gradually giving way to the Lyric poetry (generally focused on love). In the lower Middle Ages more and more women were reading books than ever before and poetry tried to adapt to their point of view and their newly acquired role in society.
This features Occitan poetry, then very influential in Italy. What distinguishes the Sicilian School from the troubadours, however, is the introduction of a kinder, gentler type of woman than that found in their Occitan models; one who was nearer to Dante Alighieri's madonnas and Petrarch's Laura, though much less characterised psychologically. The poems of the Sicilians hardly portray real women or situations (Frederick's song cannot be read as autobiographical), but the style and language are remarkable, since the Sicilians (as Dante called them) created the first Italian literary standard by enriching the existing vernacular base, probably inspired by popular love songs, with new words of Latin language and Occitan language origin.
Some of the most noted figures among modern writers and poets are Luigi Pirandello (Nobel laureate, 1934), Salvatore Quasimodo (Nobel laureate, 1959), Giovanni Verga (the father of the Italian Verismo), Domenico Tempio, Giovanni Meli, Luigi Capuana, Mario Rapisardi, Federico de Roberto, Leonardo Sciascia, Vitaliano Brancati, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Elio Vittorini, Vincenzo Consolo and Andrea Camilleri (noted for his novels and short stories with the fictional character Salvo Montalbano as protagonist). On the political side notable philosophers include Gaetano Mosca and Giovanni Gentile who wrote The Doctrine of Fascism.
Sicilian was an early influence in the development of the first Italian standard, although its use remained confined to an intellectual elite. This was a literary language in Sicily created under the auspices of Frederick II and his court of notaries, or Magna Curia, which, headed by Giacomo da Lentini, also gave birth to the Sicilian School, widely inspired by troubadour literature. Its linguistic and poetic heritage was later assimilated into the literary Florentine dialect use by Dante Alighieri, the father of modern Italian. Dante, in his De vulgari eloquentia, claims that "In effect, this vernacular seems to deserve higher praise than the others since all the poetry written by Italians can be called Sicilian".
It is in this language that appeared the first sonnet, whose invention is attributed to Giacomo da Lentini himself.Other languages are spoken in Sicily. Within the province of Palermo, four towns are home to speakers of Arbëresh varieties. Arbëresh is the name given to varieties of Albanian spoken in Italy. In the eastern part of the island, there are Gallo-Italic varieties known as Gallo-Italic of Sicily, which are related to the other Gallo-Italic languages spoken in most of northern Italy and in other isolated pockets of southern Italy. It dates back to migrations from northern Italy during the reign of Roger I, the Normans Grand Count of Sicily, Ann Katherine Isaacs, Immigration and emigration in historical perspective, Edizioni Plus, Pisa 2007, p, 71. and his successors. Towns inhabited by the new immigrants became known as the "Lombard communities" (, ). The settlers, known as the Lombards of Sicily, actually came principally from the Aleramici fiefdoms of southern Montferrat, comprising today south-eastern Piedmont and north-western Liguria, "Lombardy" being the name for the whole of northern Italy during the Middle Ages. In addition to a common place of origin, the colonizers brought their Gallo-Italic languages. These languages added to the Gallic influence of the developing Sicilian language (influences which included Norman language and Old Occitan) to become the Gallo-Italic of Sicily language family.
Syracuse is also an experimental centre for solar technologies through the creation of the project Archimede solar power plant that is the first concentrated solar power plant to use molten salt for heat transfer and storage which is integrated with a combined-cycle gas facility. All the plant is owned and operated by Enel. Archimede . Enel.com. Retrieved on 18 December 2012. The world's first molten salt concentrating solar power plant | Environment | guardian.co.uk. Guardian (22 July 2010). Retrieved on 18 December 2012. The touristic town of Erice is also an important science place thanks to the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture which embraces 123 schools from all over the world, covering all branches of science, offering courses, seminars, workshops, and annual meetings. It was founded by the physicist Antonino Zichichi in honour of another scientist of the island, Ettore Majorana known for the Majorana equation and . Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture . Ccsem.infn.it (2 July 2012). Retrieved on 18 December 2012. Sicily's famous scientists also include Stanislao Cannizzaro (chemist), Giovanni Battista Hodierna and Niccolò Cacciatore (astronomers).
Much of the island was initially Magna Graecia, who left a preference for fish, wheat, , Vitis vinifera, Vicia faba, , Lentil, , , and fresh vegetables. Arabs influences on Sicilian cuisine trace to the Arab domination of Sicily in the 10th and early 11th centuries,Piras, 423. and include the use of sugar, citrus, rice, , Pine nut and spices such as saffron, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Normans influences are also found, such as in the fondness for meat dishes. The Jews community, who lived in the island, also left their mark on the Sicilian cuisine, they were responsible for introducing garlic fried in olive oil into the sauce. Later, the Spanish cuisine introduced numerous items from the New World, including chocolate, maize, Bell pepper, zucchini, , and , along with other produce. Much of the island's cuisine encourages the use of fresh vegetables such as eggplant, artichoke, and tomatoes, and fish such as tuna, Sparidae, European seabass, cuttlefish, and swordfish. In Trapani in the extreme western corner of the island, Maghrebi cuisine influences are clear in the use of couscous.
The island has a long history of producing a variety of noted cuisines and wines, to the extent that Sicily is sometimes nicknamed God's Kitchen because of this. Every part of Sicily has its speciality (e.g. Cassata is typical of Palermo although available everywhere in Sicily, as is Granita). The ingredients are typically rich in taste while remaining affordable to the general public. The savoury dishes of Sicily are viewed to be healthy diet, using fresh vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes, , (including olive oil), citrus, , aubergines, onions, , commonly coupled with seafood, freshly caught from the surrounding coastlines, including tuna, sea bream, European seabass, cuttlefish, swordfish, , and others.
The most well-known part of Sicilian cuisine is the rich sweet dishes including and pastry. Cannoli (singular: cannolo), a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough filled with a sweet filling usually containing ricotta, is strongly associated with Sicily worldwide.
Biancomangiare, biscotti ennesi (cookies native to Enna), braccilatte (a Sicilian version of ), buccellato, ciarduna, pignoli, Biscotti Regina, giurgiulena, frutta martorana, cassata, pignolata, granita, cuccidati (a variety of fig cookie; also known as buccellati) and cuccìa are some notable sweet dishes.Like the cuisine of the rest of southern Italy, pasta plays an important part in Sicilian cuisine, as does rice; for example with arancini. As well as using some other cheeses, Sicily has spawned some of its own, using both cow's and sheep's milk, such as pecorino and caciocavallo. Spices used include saffron, nutmeg, clove, Black pepper, and cinnamon, which were introduced by the Arabs. Parsley is used abundantly in many dishes. Although Sicilian cuisine is commonly associated with sea food, meat dishes, including goose, domestic sheep, goat, rabbit, and turkey meat, are also found in Sicily. It was the Normans and Hohenstaufen who first introduced a fondness for meat dishes to the island. Some varieties of wine are produced from vines that are relatively unique to the island, such as the Nero d'Avola made near the baroque town of Noto.
Palermo and Catania have a heated rivalry and compete in the Sicilian derby together. Palermo is the only team in Sicily to have played on the European stage, in the UEFA Cup. In the island, the most noted footballer is Salvatore Schillaci, who won the Golden Boot at the 1990 FIFA World Cup with Italy. Other noted players include Giuseppe Furino, Pietro Anastasi, Francesco Coco, Christian Riganò, and Roberto Galia. There have also been some noted managers from the island, such as Carmelo Di Bella and Franco Scoglio.
Although football is the most popular sport in Sicily, the island also has participants in other fields. Amatori Catania have competed in the top Italian national rugby union league called National Championship of Excellence. They have even participated at the European level in the European Challenge Cup. Competing in the basketball variation of Serie A is Orlandina Basket from Capo d'Orlando in the province of Messina, where the sport has a reasonable following. Various other sports that are played to some extent include volleyball, Team handball, and water polo. Previously, in motorsport, Sicily held the prominent Targa Florio sports car race that took place in the Madonie Mountains, with the start-finish line in Cerda. The event was started in 1906 by Sicilian industrialist and automobile enthusiast Vincenzo Florio, and ran until it was canceled due to safety concerns in 1977.
From 28 September to 9 October 2005 Trapani was the location of Acts 8 and 9 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. This sailing race featured, among other entrants, all boats that took part in the 2007 America's Cup.
Sicilian religious festivals also include the presepe vivente (living nativity scene), which takes place at Christmas time. Deftly combining religion and folklore, it is a constructed mock 19th-century Sicilian village, complete with a nativity scene, and has people of all ages dressed in the costumes of the period, some impersonating the Holy Family, and others working as artisans of their particular assigned trade. It is normally concluded on Epiphany, often highlighted by the arrival of the magi on horseback.
Oral tradition plays a large role in Sicilian folklore. Many stories passed down from generation to generation involve a character named "Giufà". Anecdotes from this character's life preserve Sicilian culture as well as convey moral messages.
Sicilians also enjoy outdoor festivals, held in the local square or piazza where live music and dancing are performed on stage, and food fairs or sagre are set up in booths lining the square. These offer various local specialties, as well as typical Sicilian food. Normally these events are concluded with fireworks. A noted sagra is the Sagra del Carciofo or Artichoke Festival, which is held annually in Ramacca in April. The most important traditional event in Sicily is the carnival. Famous carnivals are in Acireale, Misterbianco, Regalbuto, Paternò, Sciacca, Termini Imerese.
The Opera dei Pupi (Opera of the Puppets; Sicilian: Òpira dî pupi) is a marionette theatrical representation of Frankish romantic poems such as the Song of Roland or Orlando furioso that is one of the characteristic cultural traditions of Sicily. The sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes; these same tales are enacted in traditional featuring hand-made marionettes of wood. The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî (singers of tales) are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition in Sicily during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the first half of the 13th century. A great place to see this marionette art is the puppet theatres of Palermo. The Sicilian marionette theatre Opera dei Pupi was proclaimed in 2001 and inscribed in 2008 in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Today, there are only a few troupes that maintain the tradition. They often perform for tourists. However, there are no longer the great historical families of marionettists, such as the Greco of Palermo; the Gaspare Canino of Partinico and Alcamo; Crimi, Trombetta and Napoli of Catania, Pennisi and Macri of Acireale, Profeta of Licata, Gargano and Grasso of Agrigento. One can, however, admire the richest collection of marionettes at the Museo Internazionale delle Marionette Antonio Pasqualino and at the Museo Etnografico Siciliano Giuseppe Pitrè in Palermo. Other elaborate marionettes are on display at the Museo Civico Vagliasindi in Randazzo.
The Sicilian coppola is a traditional kind of flat cap typically worn by men in Sicily. First used by English nobles during the late 18th century, the tascu began being used in Sicily in the early 20th century as a flat cap, usually worn by car drivers. The coppola is usually made in tweed. Today it is widely regarded as a definitive symbol of Sicilian heritage.
Palermo and Corleone were the first two cities to found a confederation against the Angevin rule. The triskeles symbol came to be on the Sicilian flag in 1943 during World War II when Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile led an independence movement, in collaboration with the allies. Their plan was to help Sicily become independent and form a free republic. The colours, likewise introduced in the 1940s, respectively represent the cities of Palermo and Corleone. The separatist behind the movement used a yellow and red flag with the Trinacria in the centre of it. When World War II ended, Sicily was recognized as an autonomous region in the Italian Republic.
The flag became the official public flag of the Regione Siciliana in January 2000, after the passing of an apposite regional law which advocates its use on public buildings, schools and city halls along with the national Italian flag and the European one.
Familiar as an ancient symbol of the region, the Triskelion is also featured on Greek coins of Syracuse, such as coins of Agathocles (317–289 BC).The symbol dates back to when Sicily was part of Magna Graecia, the colonial extension of Greece beyond the Aegean Sea.Matthews, Jeff (2005) Symbols of Naples The triskelion was revived, as a neoclassicism – and non-Bourbon – emblem for the new Napoleonic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, by Joachim Murat in 1808. In the case of Sicily, the triskelion symbol is said to represent the three capes ( or promontory of the island of Sicily, namely: Pelorus (Peloro, Tip of Faro, Messina: North-East); Capo Passero (Passero, Syracuse: South); and Marsala (Lilibeo, Cape Boeo, Marsala: West), which form three points of a triangle.Radicini, Ninni. "The Trinacria: History and Mythology | The Symbol of the Hellenic Nature of Sicily | Article by Ninni Radicini." The Trinacria: History and Mythology | The Symbol of the Hellenic Nature of Sicily | Article by Ninni Radicini. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 November 2014.
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