Sicily UNESCO Heritage

We’ll meet at 10 a.m. at the airport of Catania for a “Welcome to Sicily” coffee break. Then we’ll take a meandering day walk through Catania city centre and its famous street market, the most charming city area, and get acquainted with one another over lunch together. Sleep in Catania area (between Taormina and Siracusa) (2 nights). Bbus. Walking: light.

Taormina is a flourishing garden with figs, grapes, pomegranates, peaches, almond trees, purple anemones, hibiscus and salvia; it gives you the sense of the interaction between humanity and nature, feeling of wonder and of historical pain. Its historical roots are older than the Greeks’ arrival in Sicily. There’ is no doubt that the role of Taormina was significant for the island, thus Pliny the Elder, a great intender and connoisseur of good Italian wines, noted Taormina for its excellent wine.
Capricious Etna plays many jokes to locals, they are helpless in worshiping their “Mongibel”. The beautiful mount still waits for the return of Ulysses whose cinematic appearance fires modern imagination.

The history of this place in Sicily is unforgettable, and it still preserves the elegance and prestige with its limestone buildings from different epochs seeing the ageless Athena with her golden hair dressed in white and armed with a sword. The glory of old Syracuse is sung by Livius, Plutarch, Cicero, Ovid, Pindar, Virgil, Plato. It witnessed various wars, conflicts and competitions, the most famous victim was the prodigy Archimedes, whose death signalled the intellectual decline of this fertile land. You’ll have free time to wander back before dinner together. Sleep in Ragusa province (2 nights). Walking: light.

Modica and Ragusa area is a real “Island within the island” where your are captured by the warmth and courtesy of the people. The reality is immersed in an atmosphere between the past and the present, in the experience of unforgettable emotions. The majestic facades of the noble constructions with enormous, well-molded pillars, nooks containing statues and beautiful baroque style decorations. The splendid architecture recall memories of the royal glory once existed here.

Among the most formidable conquerors Greeks play the most significant role in the history of Sicily, having transformed this island in the World Greatest Open Air Museum. Old Greek constructions thrown down a gage to modern architecture. The Greek philosopher Empedocles praised old Akragas: “the people enjoy the trouble-free and bohemian life here as if it’s the last day in their existence; but they build up temples and palaces as if they never die.” Thanks to their grandeur and superiority the temples are still in Agrigento involving each single visitor. Genially projected temples are in a perfect state, the presence of colossal telamons, which used to support some structures, are decorative elements to remind us about the glorious past and the wounded present. 2 nights in Palermo province

This is only one place which can compete with Syracuse and this place is Palermo with its prestigious past evident in the magnificent architecture and its natural and cultural beauty. Surrounded by the rugged mountains and washed by the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea; it is the most attractive piece of the Paradise on our earth passed through various historical periods and dominated by various peoples. Palermo celebrated its splendid glories and cured its bleeding wounds. “Travelers come from everywhere, merchants and dealers from every city and metropolis, and all agree in praising it, and praise its splendid beauty, speak of its happy circumstances, its various advantages and the good things Sicily attracts from every other country of the world”, said Al Idrisi in the 12th century. The Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Carthaginian, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Spanish and even a bit Italian leave underpasses, signs and crypts to Palermo survivors in the magnificent Cathedral, the Palatine Chapel of the Norman Palace, the Capuchin Catacombs, Church of S. Maria dell’Ammiralgio or “Martonana” and the constant Christian devotion to Saint Rosalie appearing from in time to save the Palermitani.

It’s time to say “Arrivederci, Italia, we love you so much! See you soon”