Ever since the Mafia became famous thanks to the Godfather film, Sicily has been a mysterious Island with feudaing hill top villages. The truth is that the feuding has stopped but the hill villages remain along with some of the best Roman & Greek archiological sites in the world. Sicily is heaven to lovers of the Baroque with some of the finest Baroque Cathedrals & buildings in Europe. This guide is an introduction leading to our photo galleries and guides to Sicily

Sicily is the most densly populated island in the Mediterranean. At its centre is the 3323 mt Mount Etna, Europes biggest and most active Volcano.

It is against this backdrop that Sicily has played an active role in all the major ancient and medieval civilisations and cultures.

The Greeks, Catheginians, Romans, Arabs and later the Normans have all left their mark on the island. Much has been destryed though both by constant conflict and devestating earthques. Messina was destroyed in 1908 and the western part of the Island was rocked by Earthquakes in 1966. The toal destruction of the south west of the Island in thje late 1600's gave a chance to build new towns and some of the best examples of the Baroque can be found here.

Famed in recent years by the Mafia, this informous group has shaped the modern legend of Sicily. Sicilians have a united disrespect for laws including any rules of the road. They drive in a state of perpetual motion that ignors red lights and is obl;ivious of any other drivers. Somehow though they all manage to avoid each other until they reach their destination and double park on the busiest boulavards in rush hour without anyone batting an eye lid.

The Mafia is slowly being dismantled by the authorities and Sicily has its own parliment and president. This is slowly changing years of neglet by central government that led to poverty and the slums of the island.

Our Sicily photo collections have tried to capture all these aspects of the island and Pixel Pigs will soon be available with more detailed stories.

Selinute was a very big Greek town standing on a headland overlooking the sea. Like many Greek settlements it was conquered, sacked and abandoned. Over the years the many devistating eathquakes that hit the town reduced it to ruins. The temples have been partially rebuilt and stand on the huge archiological site.

The best time to visit the site is near to sunset when the sun casts long shadows across the temples on the isolated headland.

[ See our Selinute Greek Temples stock photos & picture Gallery]

Monreale Cathedral is situated in the hills behind Palermo. Commisioned in 1172 by Norman King William II as a showpiece to outshine the Palantine Chapel. It is a mixture of Byzantine , Norman and Arab architecture and art. It only took 17 years to built and decorate the inside of the vast cathedral with mosaics Like the Palatine chapel the beauty of Monreale conflicts with the Normans reputation for being ruthless barbaric rulers and conqueres.

[ See our Monreale Abbey, Sicily stock photos & picture gallery ]

 

Villa Romana has one of the biggest areas of Roman mosaics in the world. The Villa was covered by mud from a landslide and remained undesturbed for centuries. This protected the remarkable mosaics and today is a must for Roman art enthusiasts. The quality of the mosaics is unsurpassed anywhere else with mosaics over 20 meters long that run down what would have been corridors. The theme of this is hunting in Africa which has led to the it being thought that this villa was an Imperial dwelling owned ny Emperor Maximianus. Eaxh room has a different theme with child galdiators fighting in the childrns room to a reconstruction of the Circus Maximus in another. The Villa Roimana is spectacular in an extreme and there are no superlatives that acurately describe its mosaics.

[ See our Villa Romana Roman Mosaics, Sicily stock photos & pictures & image ]

Noto was destryed by an earthque in the late 1600's and was rebuilt as a model Baroque town to the principles of the great Venetian Baroque architects of the time. One of the unique features of the town are the highly decorated balconies of its palaces. The cathedral was destroyed by another earthquake and has the exterior has just been rebuilt and the internal frescos are being restored now. In spring the town decorates its streets with petal pictures.

[ See the Baroque town of Noto, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images ]

Siracusa or Syracuse was a famous Greek city in ancient times where the great mathamatician Archimedes lived and died at the hands of a Roman soldier after a long seige of the city had been broken. Today old medieval Siracusa is on a peninsula and like all the cities, villages & towns of south east Sicily it was destroyed by ab earthquake in the late 1600's. The heart of Syracuse is Baroque with a spectacular Baroque Cathedral sitting in a huge square surrounded by Baroque mansions.

[ See the Baroque town of Siracusa, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images gallery ]

The most active volcano in Europe Mount Etna dominates central Sicily. Eruptions still occur and the long slopes of the mountain are covered with black lava flows that cut through the forests on the slopes. The peak is covered with black volcanic ash and is capped with snow in the winter.

[ See our Mount Etna, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images gallery ]

Sicily had many great Greek settlements and Agrigento is one of them. Its temples are in good order mostly because they were used by the Christians as a place of worship until recent times. Its Acropolis is paticularily well preserved.

See our the Greek Temples of Agrigento, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images

Palermo is the capital of Sicily. Its medieval centre is still run down with second world war bomb sites. This is due to the Mafia taking money that was meant to be for Palermo's revovation and building a nes town outside instead. Things are changing now as the Mafia has been weakened in recent years and Palermo is now under restoration and will eventually be returned to its Baroque splendor. In the mean time it is a facinating city to visit and its back streets can reveal some great markets that sre completely unspolt by tourism.

[ See our Palermo, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images ]

Tropana is in the South West of Sicily. The salt marshes that run down the caost from Tropana have for centuries been an important salt making area. Small windmills pump the water into the salt pans. As the waters salinty increases through evaporation the water is pumped into other salt pans and is eventually left to create salt.

See our Tropana, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images

Ragusa Ibla is a beautiful medieval town with small lanes that are crammed onto a hill top. After the eathqaue that devestated Sicily Ragusa followed the trends of the time and built a church that is a masterpiece if Sicilian Baroque. Like most other Sicilian hill top towns you will able to wander its narrow lanes and experiience real Sicily with the locals as most tourists prefer to sit on the beach.

[See our Ragusa Ibla, Sicily stock photos & pictures & image gallery ]

Sitting high aboce Tropana is the medieval hill town of Erice. With breathtaking view this beautiful town with its narrow lanes is one of the most beautiful hill towns of Sicily. Erice sits high above the tourist beaches of Tropana and is therefore more touristy than inland hill towns buy wander away from the main drag and you will have the town to yourself.

[ See our Erice, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images gallery ]

Cefalu is a charming tourist resort with a medieval old town and sandy beaches. The old town has some wonerful medieval walls with restaurant terraces overlooking the sea. Cefalu cathedral like Monreale and the Palantine Chapel has Byzantine mosaics. The mosaics are not as spectacular as the Palatine Palace but still well worth a look.

[ See our Cefalu, Sicily stock photos & pictures & images gallery ]

• Photos, pictures & images of the Roman Mosaics of Villa Romana, Sicily
• Photos, Pictures & Images of The Forum
• Pictures, images & photos of Rome

• Stock Photography and Images of Burano
• Stock Photos and Images of Rome
• Stock Photos and Images of Alberobello
• Stock Photography and Images of Portofino
• Stock Photos and pictures of Pisa
• Stock Photos of Florence
• Stock Photos and Images of San Gimignano
• Stock Photos and pictures of Amalfi
• Stock Photos of The Amalfi Coast
• Stock Photography of Positano
• Stock Photos and Images of Tivoli
• Stock Photos and Images of Pizzas
• Stock Photography of Italian Food

• Villa Palagonia pictures, images and photos
• Noto Baroque Cathedral & Town pictures, images and photos
• Siracusa pictures, images and photos
• Palermo pictures, images and photos
• Pal an tine Chapel Palermo Byzantine Mosaics pictures, images and photos
• Villa Romana Roman Mosaics pictures, images and photos
• Selanute Greek Temples pictures, images and photos
• Agrigento Greek Temples pictures, images and photos
• Taormina pictures, images and photos
• Mount Etna pictures, images and photos
• Monreale Byzantine Mosaics & Norman Abbey pictures, images and photos
• Erice pictures, images and photos
• Cefalu Cathedral & Byzantine Mosaics & town pictures, images and photos
• Trapani & Masala Salt Pans & Windmills pictures, images and photos
• Scopello & Zingaro Park pictures, images and photos
• Ragusa Ibla Baroque Cathedral pictures, images and photos
• Modica pictures, images and photos
• Scicli pictures, images and photos