The Rough Guide to Sicily (5th Edition)

INTRODUCTION

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. Although just 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 which separates Sicily from the rest of Italy – experienced outdoors in markets, piazzas and alleys with an operatic exuberance, and reflected in the unique festivals, ceremonies and processions that take place throughout the year.

There’s certainly a separate quality in the people, who see themselves as Sicilians first and Italians a very firm second. The island’s strategic importance meant it was held by some of the western world’s richest civilizations – notably the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards – which, while bequeathing many fine monuments, made Sicily the subject of countless foreign wars, and left it with little economic independence. Centuries of oppression have bred insularity and resentment, and the island was probably the most reluctantly unified Italian region, with Sicilians almost instinctively suspicious of the intentions of Rome. Even today, relations with the mainland are often strained. For many Sicilians, their place in the modern Italian state is illustrated every time they look at a map to see the island being kicked – the perpetual football.

And Sicilians do have a point. There’s much that hasn’t changed since Unification in the nineteenth century, and what modernization there is has brought associated ills. Pockets of the island have been disfigured by bleak construction projects and unsightly industry, and despite Sicily’s limited political autonomy, little has really been done to tackle the more deep-rooted problems: emigration (both to the mainland and abroad) is 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 off by organized crime, which, in the west of the island at least, is still widespread. For visitors, however, these matters rarely impinge upon their experience. Mafia activity, for example – almost a byword for Sicilian life when viewed from abroad – is usually an in-house affair, 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 outlying islands and the volcanic foothills of Mount Etna. Sicily’s diverse history, meanwhile, has left it with a surprising abundance of archeological remains and architectural marvels. The island was an important power-base during the Hellenistic period, and the Greek relics, especially, are superb, standing comparison with any of the ruins in Greece itself. The Arab and Norman elements of Sicily’s history are vividly manifest on the west and north coasts, while Baroque architecture shows its face in the elegantly restrained cities of the southeast. And if the history leaves you cold, you could simply come – as many do – for the food, the sun, the sea and the beaches. The coastal settlements soak up most of the summer-holiday trade, either at fashionable resorts or simple! fishing villages fronted by long swaths of sand, though a number of offshore islands – some quite remote – offer a real chance to escape the crowds.

Before turning to crime fiction, Robert Andrews published four thrillers that drew from his own experiences as a Green Beret, a CIA operative, and as an aide to senior U.S. senator John Glenn. He is the author of A Murder of Honor, which Publishers Weekly called "a gem of a thriller." Robert Andrews lives in Washington, D.C.

Jules Brown first visited the Lake District when he was nine. He returned regularly throughout his childhood and as an adult. He is the author of The Rough Guide to the Lake District, Pocket Rough Guide Barcelona, and a coauthor of The Best Places to Stay in Britain on a Budget.