MINI GUIDE
Historic Sicily
COMPILED BY LORNA PARKES, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GREGOR CLARK AND VESNA MARIC. PHOTOGRAPHS: YIN JIANG/EYEEM/GETTY, DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/GETTY, WESTEND61/GETTY, MARTIN JUNG/IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY, DE AGOSTINI/A DAGLI ORTI/GETTYSicily essentials The know-how
FURTHER READING
Lonely Planet’s
Sicily guide
(US$21.99)
recommends
sights,
restaurants and
activities across the island.
Sicily’s greatest novel is the
1950s The Leopard by
Giuseppe Tomasi di
Lampedusa (US$12; Vintage
Classics), which examines
the impact of mid-19th-
century Italian unification
on Sicilian culture through
the eyes of an ageing
aristocrat. The Norman
Centuries podcast by Lars
Brownworth explores how
the Normans transformed
Palermo into a powerhouse
(normancenturies.
com).SICILY’S OVERLORDS
The Greeks Cities including
Syracuse and Agrigento are
founded from 735 BC onwards.
The Romans In 241 BC, Rome
overcomes its superpower rival
Carthage and conquers Sicily.
The Byzantines The island passes
from the Ostrogoths to the
Byzantines in 535 AD.
The Saracens An Arab army lands
at Mazara del Vallo in 827 and
goes on to take Sicily.
The Normans Robert Guiscard
seizes Palermo from the Saracens
in 1072; the island’s most
prosperous era ensues (coin of
Frederick II pictured).
The Spanish A violent uprising in
1282 overthrows the French-
born king and Peter of Aragon
takes control, initiating more than
500 years of Spanish rule.
The Italians The revolutionary
Giuseppe Garibaldi lands in
Marsala, and in 1861 Sicily
becomes part of a unified Italy
under Victor Emmanuel II.With lime-green polystyrene
furniture and 19th-century
frescoes, Suite d’Autore is an
unusual design hotel in Piazza
Armerina, near the Villa Romana
del Casale. Each of its seven
rooms is differently styled
(suitedautore.it; Via Monte 1;
from US$111).
BB22 is a b&b in name only.
Palermo’s most gorgeous small
hotel is a little palace of luxury,
with welcoming hosts, elegant
rooms and quirky designer lamps.
It’s tucked away on a backstreet
in the Vucciria quarter (bb22.it;
Via Pantelleria 22; from US$130).WHERE TO STAY
Three miles east of Erice in
Valderice, Baglio Santa Croce is
a 17th-century manor house set
in citrus groves, complete with
pool. Rooms in the old stone
building are lovely; those in the
modern extension are less
charming (bagliosantacroce.it;
from US$99).TRANSPORT
It is easier to get to Sicily's
Palermo airport in the northwest
from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.
National carrier Alitalia flies from
both with two stops in Abu
Dhabi and Rome (from US$1,190;
alitalia.com). Getting around the
island by bus or train can be
difficult and time-consuming; it’s
preferable to hire a car, and the
major rental firms are all
represented at Palermo and
Catania airports. That said,
driving is not stress-free: prepare
for incomprehensible one-way
systems, narrow medieval
streets and nightmarish parking.The ‘Geometria’ room at Suite
d’Autore in central SicilySights Sleeping