Here I have gathered a list of some interesting facts about Sicily.

Thanks to my recent visit to Sicily, I learned a lot about the history, geography and culture of the island and gained great impressions, most of which I shared in several separate articles dedicated to a trip to Sicily.

Taormina is one of the most beautiful places on the island of Sicily – a town blessed with wonderful natural features and a rich history. When you visit Taormina, you’ll find it set on rugged terrain high above the Ionian Sea, charming visitors with its historic center, cozy atmosphere, small shops, fragrant restaurants, and narrow streets that seem to embrace you the moment you step into them. This is one of those places that gives you the feeling you’ve traveled back to a beautiful moment in time.

Syracusa is the city of the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes and more. We visited it during the second day of our Sicilian trip this fall. There we touched the remains of ancient times, Sicilian baroque and maritime romance. Before them, however, we had to find a place to park twice because it was full of people – it was Sunday and it was a day with free entrance to the Archaeological Park in the city.

Noto quickly made it onto my wish-list of places to visit in Sicily when I was planning our trip to the island and it did not disappoint me. It revealed a wonderful baroque historical center with huge buildings, mostly churches and palaces, in a honey-peach color. In addition, we happened upon a medieval reenactment event, which made our experience even more vivid and memorable.

This is my guide to visiting Catania, Sicily. With the island’s main airport, many travelers start their trip to Sicily from Catania.

Catania was our first touch with Sicily. We landed there, took our first walk on the island, and passed by there almost every day, traveling somewhere. The city is located on the coast of the Ionian Sea and lives in constant connection (visual and functional) with the Etna volcano – powerful, unpredictable and beautiful in its own way. Black volcanic lava is everywhere – in the stones, in the streets, in the architecture. As the ancient Greek geographer and traveler Strabo noted, Catania’s proximity to Etna was both a test and a gift – the volcano destroyed the city several times in the past, but at the same time endowed the land with exceptional fertility.

Caltagirone was one of the places in Sicily that we decided to visit a bit on the go. There we climbed up to the popular Santa Maria del Monte staircase, connected to the city’s centuries-old livelihood – pottery production. We also tried the typical cannoli sweets of the region.