 The Place
It's more than an island!
Discover Sicily and discover the world. The world's first multicultural society, Sicily is Italy's
(and Europe's) most historically cosmopolitan region, having been ruled by Asians, Africans and
Europeans. Sicily is black and white and a million shades of gray. There's no other place on Earth
like Sicily. Our island is a unique place full of art, archeology, history, folklore and  breathtaking scenery.
And, of course, great food. Sicily is almost a nation unto itself. The enchanting land where
Archimedes taught and Saint Paul preached was a Greek colony, a Roman province, an Arab emirate and
a Norman kingdom. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Swabians, Angevins and Aragonese made Sicily their
own, leaving behind an eclectic history that you can still touch today. And Sicily will
touch you. Sicily is Europe, Africa and Asia on one island. Greek
tyrants, Arab emirs, Norman knights, Byzantine bishops and Holy Roman Emperors made Sicily the place
it is. Experience their legacy in Phoenician settlements, Punic cities, Greek temples, Roman
amphitheatres, Norman Arab castles and Aragonese churches. Thirty centuries of history expressed in
the Classical, the Romanesque, the Gothic, the Baroque...
Sikania to its most ancient peoples, Sicily was Sikelia, Plato's utopian society, to the ancient
Greeks. Later, the sonnet was created at the Court of Frederick II, and Sicily found her place in
the literature of Dante and Boccaccio. Sunny Sicily is Punic Palermo, towering Taormina, ancient Agrigento, splendid Siracusa, and medieval Monreale and Cefalù.
And God created Sicily. The place
where the mountains meet the sea. Sicilia, the island in the sun, is home to Heavenly beaches, majestic mountains and Europe's
greatest natural wonder, Mount Etna. Sicily's coasts are gold with orange
and lemon orchards. In northeastern Sicily you'll find lush forests. In the central regions you'll
encounter rugged land and rolling hills. Dignified vineyards, ancient olive groves, hardy almond
orchards and endless wheat fields complete the picture. Summer is amber land under a sky of blue.
Winter finds palm trees dusted with snow in a surreal symphony. Spring is a rainbow of wild flowers
set against greenest fields...
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 The Discovery
Welcome to the world's
favorite Sicilian website! The Sicily you never knew existed. Sicily's definitive online destination
guide is full of information and easy to use. Sights, scenery, cities, shopping, history, culture,
nature, beaches, hotels, restaurants, travel planning, arts, fashion, food and wine, and an online
magazine with real information you won't find on any other site, written for thinking people.
All uniquely indexed and easy to find. If you have even a general idea of what you're looking for,
you'll find it in Best of Sicily. Featuring descriptions of places you'll want to visit, indexed by
both city and things to see, along with some useful travel
tips, a history of Sicily (with sections on customs, culture, the Sicilian language, life in
Sicily, genealogy and more), and even  a good book page, Best of Sicily offers timely,
useful information, provided by a qualified staff based in Sicily --not just travel writers or tour
guides but archeologists and historians who really know Sicily and Sicilians, presenting facts and
details you won't find anyplace else. Viewed eight thousand times each day, our pages offer varied
(even controversial) points of view. The real Sicily, not the generic
"tourism" version presented by other sites. Most online destination guides list their
descriptions by locality. With Best of Sicily, you can search by locality but also by the kind of sight to see.
A world in itself, Sicily, in all its complexities, is a land like no other. We're not just about
travel and vacations (holidays). Best of Sicily is all things Sicilian, with timely information on
dozens of subjects described in articles written here in Sicily by dozens of Sicilian authors. It's
for the person who wants to really know Sicily, and also for the visitor who needs to find
specific travel information quickly. We're not a travel agency, but you can find a flight, book your hotel and reserve a car through Best of
Sicily. Plan your entire visit (with Sicily's greatest links page), or just find out more about Sicily. There's something here for
almost everybody interested in something Sicilian. Every day, Best of Sicily is Sicily's
international point of reference for thousands of the Web's most discerning readers: Travelers,
teachers, students, journalists, food and wine aficionados, culture vultures and virtual tourists.
Informed readers, not just "visitors."
Yes, our island is Italian. And French and Spanish and Greek. Sicily is the world's island. A
place where time and tradition have been forged by peoples and faiths from the north and south, from the east and west. Timeless
beauty in eclectic diversity: Europe, Africa and Asia in one magical moment...
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 The People
Archimedes, Arethusa,
Persephone, Demeter, Frederick II, Antonello da Messina, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vincenzo Bellini,
Giovanni Verga, Fulco di Verdura, Leonardo Sciascia, Eleonora Abbagnato, Marella Ferrera, Giuseppe
Tornatore, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Giovanni Falcone and the Beati Paoli are just a few of the Sicilians you'll meet in Best of Sicily Online Magazine. Featuring original articles about people, places, art, theatre, dance, cuisine and culture (and even a goddess or two), Best of Sicily Magazine is the first  Sicilian online magazine published entirely in Sicily in English. Every month, insightful, original articles by Sicily's best authors on the life and soul of the place called Sicily. And articles on a few "honorary" Sicilians like Aeschylus, Idrisi, Goethe, Wagner, D.H. Lawrence, Emilio Segré and Danilo Dolci. Uncensored, unbiased and uninhibited, it's the real Sicily and real Sicilians: Artists, musicians, writers, performers, athletes... Sicily is alive! Let our living island reveal herself to your curiosity.
With more "foreign" (non-Italian) readers around the world than any Sicilian newspaper
or hard-copy magazine (over two million last year), the Magazine has a  little of everything. Hundreds of articles about people, trends, wildlife, nature, art, out of the way places, esoteric history. And vital social issues dealing with life in today's Sicily
--things like education, the women's movement, the workplace and environmental conservation. The undiscovered, living Sicily, a place full of complex issues and real people. Best of Sicily is the most widely read English-language non-fiction publication about Sicily. And,
of course, it's free. (The only Sicilian publication to have enjoyed more readers internationally is Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's bestselling
novel, The Leopard.) The truest colours of
Sicily, polished but never varnished, in a multicultural mosaic beyond "Sicilian tourism." We thank
you, the Web's most sophisticated
readers, for making Best of Sicily the world's favorite Sicilian website!
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All text and images on this site (indexed under domain name bestofsicily.com) Copyright
1999-2008. Unauthorized re-publication is prohibited. All material on this website is original or used by permission. Published entirely in Palermo (Italy), Best of Sicily is an independent Italian publication which is not affiliated with any travel agency, tour operator, hotel, resort,
organisation, advertising agency, political association, public administrative agency or government
travel bureau. Advertising is welcome. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the
editors. See our Links
Guide for our linking policy, and visit our Site Faqs and Site Description for additional editorial information.
