Sfincione soft focaccia with tomato, onion, anchovies and caciocavallo
Tall, soft bread dough, tomato, onion, anchovies, oregano and caciocavallo: sfincione is Palermo's focaccia, cut into squares.
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For 686 years, from 1130 to 1816, Sicily was not a region but a state: the Kingdom of Sicily. That history did not end with Italian unification — the island has been autonomous since 1946 and since 1947 has had its own parliament, the Sicilian Regional Assembly, set up before the Italian Republic itself was born. It is the largest region in Italy, with 390 comuni in nine provinces, and it also includes the Aeolian, Egadi and Pelagie islands, Ustica and Pantelleria: islands of an island. It is also the fifth Italian region by number of inhabitants.
Whoever arrives finds a compressed continent: the Greek temples of Agrigento and Syracuse, Arab-Norman Palermo recognised by UNESCO in 2015, the baroque of the Val di Noto rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693, and Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe, also a World Heritage site. And a cuisine that takes no prisoners, from arancino to cannolo. One journey is not enough: Sicilians know it and are in no hurry.
The best of Sicily
The places worth the trip on their own, picked by our editors.
Palermo 🏛 Palermo Arab-Norman mosaics and ancient street markets 
Catania 🏛 Catania Baroque streets built in black lava beneath Etna 
Syracuse 🏛 Syracuse The Greek theatre and the island of Ortygia 
Marsala 🍷 Trapani Historic wineries and salt pans at sunset 
Modica 🍷 Ragusa Aztec-style chocolate in a baroque hill town 
Erice 🏘 Trapani A medieval stone town 750 metres above the sea 
Bronte 🍷 Catania Italy's pistachio capital 
Cefalù 🏖 Palermo The Norman cathedral by the sea The provinces of Sicily
Map and list are connected: hover one to light up the other, click to enter.
The top 20 places in Sicily
Our editors' ranking: the area's most important places, drawn from the individual town guides. See the national rankings →
1 🏺 Archaeological sites Valle dei Templi 📍 Agrigento Doric temples in a row along a ridge: what is left of Akragas, above Agrigento. 
2 🌋 Nature & views Mount Etna – Southern Slope 📍 Nicolosi Silvestri craters, cable car and Monti Rossi: Etna as climbed from Nicolosi. 
3 ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries Monreale Cathedral 📍 Monreale A Christ Pantocrator 13 metres by 7, in a church lined with gold mosaic since 1172. - 4 Selinunte Archaeological Park Castelvetrano · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 5 Teatro Antico di Taormina Taormina · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 6 Ortigia e il Duomo Syracuse · 🏛️ Squares & old towns
- 7 Villa Romana del Casale Piazza Armerina · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 8 Palazzo dei Normanni e Cappella Palatina Palermo · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 9 Parco Archeologico della Neapolis Syracuse · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 10 Scala dei Turchi Realmonte · 🏖️ Beaches & sea
- 11 Siracusa Syracuse · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 12 Stromboli and the Sciara del Fuoco Lipari · 🌋 Nature & views
- 13 Agrigento Agrigento · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 14 Cattedrale di Palermo Palermo · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 15 Selinunte Castelvetrano · 🖼️ Museums
- 16 Isola Bella Taormina · 🏖️ Beaches & sea
- 17 Piazza del Duomo e Fontana dell'Elefante Catania · 🏛️ Squares & old towns
- 18 Monastero dei Benedettini Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 19 Pantalica Ferla · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 20 Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele Palermo · 🖼️ Museums
Sicily and around, on the map
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
🍝 At the table: Sicily
Arancina fried rice ball stuffed with meat ragù
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo cheese inside a golden crust. Round and feminine in Palermo, pointed and called arancino in Catania: the quarrel is serious.
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Arancino fried rice cone stuffed with ragù, pointed like Etna
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo inside a golden cone-shaped crust: in Catania it is masculine and pointed, and the quarrel with Palermo over the name is serious.
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Cappero di Pantelleria the island’s caper buds, picked at dawn and cured in sea salt
Not a fruit but a bud: it is picked before the flower opens, at dawn, and cured under sea salt. On the volcanic island of Pantelleria it has been PGI since 1996.
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Pistacchio di Bronte the PDO pistachio of Etna, grown on lava soil between Bronte, Adrano and Biancavilla
Emerald green and known as «green gold»: it grows on the lava slopes of Etna between 400 and 900 metres, is picked by hand every two years and is both PDO and a Slow Food Presidium.
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Nocellara del Belice large green olive, buttery flavour, dual-purpose
A large, green olive with firm flesh and a buttery flavour: Nocellara del Belice, sold in America as «Castelvetrano olive», has held DOP status since 1998.
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Upcoming events in Sicily
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Saint Fortunatus, patron of the island of dammusi with the Barbacane castle on the harbour
📅 Every year, on 16 October
Pantelleria celebrates Saint Fortunatus on 16 October; the island preserves the Barbacane castle, which still dominates the main harbour today, and the Sese archaeological park, with its Bronze Age settlement and necropolis.
Saint Luke the Evangelist, patron of the town of a champion of the Challenge of Barletta
📅 Every year, on 18 October; Saint Roch, protector, is celebrated on 16 August
Motta d'Affermo celebrates Saint Luke the Evangelist on 18 October; the town was ruled by the Albamonte family, including Guglielmo, one of the thirteen Italian champions of the famous Challenge of Barletta in 1503.
Maria Santissima of Capo d'Orlando
📅 Every year, on 22 October
On 22 October Capo d'Orlando celebrates its patroness, the Madonna whose sanctuary of 1600 stands among the remains of the castle, on the hill above the town.
Funghi Fest
📅 Every year, one weekend in late October
A late-October weekend built around the mushrooms of the Madonie woods: twice-daily tastings in Piazza Castello, show cooking, guided forest walks and stalls along Via Sant'Anna. The 2025 edition was the nineteenth.