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The Rough Guide to Sicily 7 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) PDF

500 Pages·2008·23.75 MB·English
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THE ROUGH GUIDE to Sicily ROUGHGUIDES 7Xekjj^_iXeea Hek]^=k_Z[iVgZYZh^\cZYidWZ\ddYidgZVYVcYZVhnidjhZ#I]ZWdd`^h Y^k^YZY^cidi]Z[daadl^c\hZXi^dchVcYndjh]djaYWZVWaZidÒcYl]ViZkZg ndjcZZY^cdcZd[i]Zb# I]ZYebekh_djheZkYj_ed^hYZh^\cZYid\^kZndjV[ZZa[dgH^X^an!hj\\Zhi^c\ l]Zcid\dVcYl]Vicdiidb^hh!VcY^cXajYZhV[jaaa^hid[Yedj[dji#I]Zc XdbZhXWi_Yi![dgegZ"YZeVgijgZ^c[dgbVi^dcVcYdi]ZgegVXi^XVa^i^Zh# I]Z]k_Z[X]VeiZghXdkZgZVX]gZ\^dcd[H^X^an^cYZei]!hiVgi^c\l^i]V ]^\]a^\]iheVcZa!^cigdYjXi^dcVcYVbVeid]ZaendjeaVcndjggdjiZ#I]Z Yedj[njihZXi^dcÒaahndj^cdc]^hidgn!i]ZBVÒV!i]Z^haVcYÉh7VgdfjZ VgX]^iZXijgZ!VcY]dl^i]VhWZZcgZegZhZciZY^cWdd`hVcYÒabh!l]^aZ ^cY^k^YjVaYebekh_di[hji^cigdYjXZi]Z[ddYVcYl^cZd[ H^X^an!VcY^ihbdhicdiZldgi]n[Zhi^kVahVcYZkZcih# BWd]kW][\^kZhndjVcZmiZch^kZbZcjgZVYZgVcYV[jaa \adhhVgn!VcYZcdj\]>iVa^Vcid\ZiWn# I]ZWdd`XdcXajYZhl^i]Vaai]ZicWbbfh_dj!^cXajY^c\ YZiV^ahd[]dlidhZcY^cjeYViZhVcYXdggZXi^dch!VcYV XdbegZ]Zch^kZ_dZ[n# J^_ii[l[dj^[Z_j_edfkXb_i^[Z@kd[(&&. I]ZejWa^h]ZghVcYVji]dgh]VkZYdcZi]Z^gWZhiidZchjgZi]ZVXXjgVXnVcY XjggZcXnd[Vaai]Z^c[dgbVi^dc^cI]ZGdj\]<j^YZidH^X^an!]dlZkZg!i]Zn XVcVXXZeicdgZhedch^W^a^in[dgVcnadhh!^c_jgn!dg^cXdckZc^ZcXZhjhiV^cZY WnVcnigVkZaaZgVhVgZhjaid[^c[dgbVi^dcdgVYk^XZXdciV^cZY^ci]Z\j^YZ# JH(&$//86C()$&& I SBN 978-1-85828-437-8 5 2 0 9 9 9 7 8 1 8 5 8 2 8 4 3 7 8 The Rough Guide to Sicily written and researched by Robert Andrews and Jules Brown NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI www.roughguides.com Contents Colour section 1 Contexts 421 Introduction ............................. 05 Sicily’s histor y ........................ 423 Where to go ............................. 08 The Mafia in Sicily ................. . 437 When to go .............................. 12 Sicilian Baroque .................... . 443 Things not to miss ................... 14 Books .................................... 448 Films ...................................... 455 Basics 25 Language 457 Getting there............................ 27 Getting aroun d......................... 32 Italian ..................................... 4 59 Accommodatio n....................... 37 Some tips .............................. 459 Food and drink ........................ 40 A language guide .................. . 460 Sports and outdoor activities... 44 Menu reader .......................... 464 Travelling with children ............. 45 Glossaries .............................. 471 Travel essentials ...................... 46 Travel store 473 Guide 55 1 Palermo and around............ 57 Small print & Index 477 2 The Tyrrhenian coast......... 119 3 The Aeolian Islands........... 151 4 The northern Ionian Food and wine in Sicily coast............................... 185 colour section 5 Catania, Etna and following p.184 around ........................... . 215 6 Siracusa and the southeast ........................ 243 Festivals and events 7 The interior........................ 287 colour section 8 The south coast ................ 323 following p.408 9 Trápani and the west......... 357 3 왗왗 Palace of the Normans, Palermo 왗 Riserva Naturale dello Zíngaro | CONTENTS | 4 | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO Introduction to Sicily At the centre of the Mediterranean but on the periphery of Europe, the island of Sicily is a distinct entity from the rest of Italy. A mere 3km from the mainland across the Straits of Messina, it’s much further away in appearance, feel and culture. A hybrid Sicilian dialect is still widely spoken, and many place names are tinged with the Arabic that was once in wide use on the island. The food is noticeably different, too: spicier and with more emphasis on fish, fruit and vegetables in the daily diet than in the north. The flora also echoes the shift south – oranges, lemons, olives, almonds and palms are ubiquitous. Above all, though, it’s the nature of day- to-day living that separates Sicily from the rest of Italy – experienced outdoors with an operatic exuberance in markets, piazzas and alleys, and reflected in the unique festivals, ceremonies and processions that take place throughout the year. The people certainl y have a se parate quality, seeing themselves as Sicilians frst and Italians a very frm second. The island’s strate gic importance meant it was held by some of the western world’s richest civilizations, among them the Gree ks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards. While be queathing many fne monuments, that made Sicily the subject of countless foreign wars, and left it with little economic in dependence. Centuries of oppression have bred insularit y and resentment, and the island was probably 5 the most reluctantly unifed Italian region, with Sicilians almost | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO Fact file • Sicily is the largest and one of the most densely populated islands in the Mediterranean, with extensive areas of mountains in the north and east, the highest being Mount Etna (3323m) – Europe’s largest active volcano. Apart from Etna’s sporadic eruptions, Sicily is also prone to seismic upheavals – massive earth- quakes destroyed Messina in 1908, and rocked the western part of the island in 1966. • Sicily has a semi- autonomous status within the Italian republic, with its own parliament and president, and limited legislative powers in such areas as tourism, transport, industry and the environment. There is no separatist movement to speak of, though suspicion of instinctively sus picious of the central government runs deep. intentions of Rome. Even today, • Compared to north Italy, relations with the mainland are often the economy has remained relatively underdeveloped. strained. For man y Sicilians, their Though there are pockets place in the modern Italian state is of oil-refining and chemical- illustrated every time they look at a industrial activity, Sicily is map to see the island bein g kicked mainly agricultural, devoted to – the perpetual football. the cultivation of wheat, barley, corn (maize), olives, citrus fruit, And Sicilians do have a point. There’s almonds, wine grapes and much that remains unchanged since some cotton. Tuna and sardine Unifcation in the nineteenth century, fishing are also important, and what modernization t here is while the last thirty years or so has brought associated ills. Pockets have seen tourism playing an increasingly crucial role. of the island have been disfgured • The population – mainly by bleak construction projects and concentrated in the two main unsightly industr y, and despite Sicily’s cities of Palermo and Catania, limited political autonomy, little has on the northern and eastern really been done to tac kle t he more coasts – is something over five 6 deep-rooted problems: emi gration million. (both to the mainland and abroad) is 왔 Piazza Duomo, Cefalù | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO still high, poverty seemingly endemic, and there’s an almost feudal attitude to business and commerce. Both European and central government aid continues to pour in, but much has been siphoned of by organized crime, which, in the west o f the island at least, is sti ll wi despread. For visitors, however, these matters rarely impinge upon their experience. Mafa activity, for example – almost a byword for Sicilian life when viewed from abroad – is usually an in- house afair, with little or no consequence for travellers. First-time visitors and regular returnees alike all remark on the island’s astonishingly all-encompassing appeal. Its dramatic landscapes range from a mountainous interior and rugged coastlines to remote outl ying islands and the volcanic foothills of Mount Etna. Sicily’s diverse history, Catacombs, caves and holes in the ground Sicily is home to some of the world’s creepiest tourist destinations, in the form of its catacombs and caves, used as burial places fo r thousands of years and accessible to anyone with a flashlight and a strong nerve. The oldest, the rock-cut tombs o f the great necropolis at Pantálica, were first used in the thirteenth century BC. Anothe r huge swathe of tombs is on view below the Greek temples at Agrigento, while catacombs riddle the ground in the city of Siracusa. But for sheer hands-in-the-air horror, there’s no beating the infamous preserved bodies that line the catacombs of Palermo’s Convento dei Cappuccini, or the smaller-scale show in the little village o f Sávoca, near Taormina. Bodies were placed here as late as the nineteenth centur y, and the locals used to pa y daily visits, o ften standing in the adjacent niches to accustom themselves to the idea o f the great ever-a fter. 7 | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO meanwhile, has left it with an amazing abundance of archeological remains and arc hitectura l marve ls. The is land was an important power-base during the Hellenistic period, and its Greek relics, especially, are superb, standing comparison with any ruins in Greece itself. The Arab and Norman e lements o f Sici lian history are vivi dly mani fest on the west and nort h coasts, w hile Baroque arc hitecture s hows its face in the elegantly restrained cities of the southeast. And if the history leaves you cold, you cou ld simply come – as many do – for the food, the sun, the sea and the beaches. The coasta l sett lements soa k up most of the summer-holiday trade, either at fashionable resorts or simple fshing villages fronted by long swathes o f san d, though a number of ofshore islands – some quite remote – o fer a rea l chance to escape the crowds. Where to go et in a wide bay at the foot of a fertile valley, the capital, Palermo, is among Ital y’s most visuall y strikin g cities, boastin g some of the island’s fnest churches, markets, museums and Srestaurants. It gets hot and stu fy here in summer, though, 8 which makes escapes out of the cit y all the more tem pting: to the fashionable beach at Mondello, the sanctuary on Monte Pellegrino or to see 왔 Lípari, Aeolian Islands | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO

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