Tours Albania - The Evia School

SICILY

Sicily’s central position in the Mediterranean has given it a rich and incredibly diverse cultural inheritance. The gorges of the south west contain the cave tombs of the neolithic peoples of Sicily, forebears of the Sikels and Siculs, who originaly inhabited the island, and the Aeolian and the Egadi islands to the north and west, offer obsidian tools and cave-paintings as evidence of lost civilisations. The Mycenaean Greeks traded with the Sicilians and their classical left a multitude of temples as evidence of their colonisation of the island. The Carthiginians competed with the Greeks in the west until the Romans overwhelmed them both and carved theisland up into the massive estates which still characterise the landscape today. The Romans finally gave way to the Arabs, closely followed by the Normans, whose Byzantine-decorated churches adorn Palermo. Thereafter it is a story of the successive monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire, the French and the Spanish until Garibaldi’s modest invasion made Sicily a part of inified Italy.

Day 1 Fly to Catania. Stay in Taormina, the famously pretty hill-top town between Etna and the sea.

Day 2 Visit the Graeco-Roman theatre in the morning and escape before the hordes arrive. Drive south down the coast to Syracuse. Visit the theatre and quarries of ancient Syracuse, the greatest of the Greek colonies. In the evening stroll through the streets of Ortygia and visit the duomo, which is built into the Greek temple of Athena. Stay on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse.

Day 3 In the morning go to the archaeological museum in Syracuse before heading west to the baroque town of Noto, stopping briefly to admire the mosaics at the Roman Villa Tellaro nearby. In the afternoon walk down into the gorge and swim in river pools. Stay in the ruins of Noto Antica.

Day 4 Drive inland via Palazzolo Acreide, a small baroque town and the site of ancient Akrai, to visit the stunningly located Greek city of Morgantina and nearby the famous mosaics at the Roman Villa Casale near Piazza Armerina. Then drive south and stay near Agrigento.

Day 5 Visit the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, the best known of the Greek sites, and the archaeological museum. Drive west in the afternoon and have a swim in the sea. Stay further along the coast Mazara del Vallo.

Day 6 Relaxed morning in port town of Mazara del Vallo including a visit to the small museum to see the Dancing Satyr. Late afternoon visit to the seaside temples at Selinunte. Stay in Mazara dl Vallo.

Day 7 Drive arround the western tip of Sicily, via Marsala, famed for its wine and Garibaldi’s landing, to Mozia, the island city of the Carthaginians. Then on to stay in Trapani, just 80 miles from Africa and overlooking the Egadi islands. In the summer take the half hour boat trip to Favignana and stay there.

Day 8 Having driven up to Erice, the medieval town perched above Trapani, drop down to the isolated and unfinished temple at Segesta before ending up at the seaside village of Scopello for a walk in the coastal nature reserve and an evening swim.

Day 9 Drive to Monreale to visit the Norman cathedral and then down into Palermo. Spend the afternnon in the museums, chapels and palaces of Palermo.

Day 10 Spend the morning in Palermo or take a trip along the coast to ancient Himera and the Norman cathedral at Cefalu. Fly out in the late afternoon.

Get in touch if you’d like to discuss or plan this tour at info@theeviaschool.com