Tours

Customized tours, excursions and transport service in Sicily
Palermo - Monreale - Cefalù - Lipari Islands - Messina - Milazzo - Catania - Etna Mount - Piazza Armerina - Siracusa - Ragusa - Noto - Agrigento - Selinunte - Segesta - Mozia - Erice

Palermo Palermo
The beautiful capital of Sicily stands on a wide bay, dominated by the Monte Pellegrino headland. Although much spoiled in the 1970s, Palermo still shows ample traces of its past, when it was one of the greatest cities in the Mediterranean, and vied with Cordoba, Cairo and Constantinople as a centre of culture and learning, or when the Arabs called it 'the city of 1,000 minarets', famed for its gardens and fountains. The breathtaking cattedrale, with its golden stone and eclectic contrasts, is a perfect example of the way the city blends diverse styles, materials and traditions to its own taste. Founded by the Normans in 1185 on the site of an Arab mosque, and much manipulated through the centuries, the interior is comparatively simple. The first two chapels of the south aisle house the royal tombs of kings and queens of Sicily, including those of Roger II, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, his mother Constance de Hauteville and his father Henry VI, son of the Barbarossa. West of the cathedral is the interesting Diocese Museum with a rich collection of paintings, sculptures and other works of art, both from the cathedral and from the churches of Palermo. The royal palace, Palazzo dei Normanni, stands in the highest part of the old city. It was built by the Arabs, enlarged by the Normans, and restored by the Spanish, who added the principal façade; it is the seat of the Sicilian parliament. In the interior is the Cappella Palatina), the royal chapel, a jewel of Arab-Norman art, built by Roger II in 1132. It is famous for the exquisite mosaics which cover the walls in the interior, and the carved and painted ceiling, with stalactite effects, the work of Arab craftsmen using cedar from Lebanon. The chapel, which much impressed Guy de Maupassant, is dominated by the magnetic image of Christ Pantocrator in the main apse. Compare this figure with the similar ones at Monreale and Cefalù; their expressions are surprisingly different. Here at the Palatine Chapel we see a stern father figure, while at Monreale the impression is that of a rather strict older brother, and at Cefalù the face of Christ is that of a wise, understanding friend. South of the royal palace is the charming church and garden of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, also built by Roger II in 1132, on the site of a mosque. The little church with its red domes is the symbol of Palermo, and the garden is a peaceful retreat on a hot day. [TOP MENU CITY]

Monreale Monreale
Monreale, with its splendid Norman-Arab cathedral, is nearby. On the hillside behind Palermo, Monreale has one of the most superb churches in the world, and certainly the most important Norman building in Sicily. The duomo (open 8-6) was built as a political statement by William II in 1182, and he had to invent the discovery of a buried treasure to justify the expenditure. The interior walls are entirely covered with a dazzling expanse of golden mosaics, relating the whole Bible. It is estimated that 2,200kg of pure gold were used. The huge mosaic in the main apse shows Christ Pantocrator reclining on cushions, his hair resembling a turban, like an Oriental potentate; for the Byzantine craftsmen, that was the way He should look. Next door is the remarkable Cloister , a masterpiece of 12th-century art, its arches supported by 228 twin columns with carved capitals, of which very few are alike. In one corner is a Moorish fountain in the form of a palm tree. [TOP MENU CITY]

Cefalù Cefalù
Under the great head-shaped rock which gives it its name, Kephalé in Greek, and with its stunning cathedral, Cefalù is a picturesque town with a sandy beach. The old cobbled streets are still medieval in character, with many enticing shops, restaurants and cafés. The Norman cattedrale, with its two artfully different bell-towers, built by King Roger II in 1131, dominates the whole town. The luminous interior, now stripped of its later Baroque additions, reveals the 16 stone columns from a nearby Roman temple, the wooden ceiling, still bearing traces of painting, the rather controversial modern stained glass windows, and the exquisite mosaics in the presbytery, the oldest and the best-preserved in Sicily. They are perhaps the work of craftsmen from Constantinople, summoned here by Roger himself. In the main apse is the figure of Christ Pantocrator, Lord of All, his expressive face with its wayward locks of hair on the forehead, thought to be the portrait of Christ closest to the image on the Turin Shroud. Near the cathedral is the Museo Mandralisca, the interesting collections of a Sicilian aristocrat. Not to be missed here is the enigmatic portrait by Antonello da Messina of the Unknown Man , perhaps a sailor; Antonello was one of the first masters of the art of revealing the personality of his sitters. In the Madonie Mountains behind Cefalù lies Castelbuono, its little rose-coloured stone houses huddled under the protection of the enormous castello, not at all forbidding, although reputed to be haunted by several ghosts. On the surrounding mountainsides the inhabitants collect sap from the manna-ash trees, used for medicinal purposes and confectionery, the only place in the world where this is still done. [TOP MENU CITY]

Lipari Islands Lipari Islands
A group of volcanoes off the north coast of Sicily, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and the remote Alicudi, are all extinct except for Vulcano and Stromboli, which is one of the world's most active volcanoes. In summer Stromboli, Filicudi and Panarea are packed with the rich and famous, acquiring a worldly atmosphere, while Vulcano, noted for its hot mud springs, and at 20km the nearest to Sicily, attracts a more homely clientele of young families with children. Salina is the greenest of the islands, with many trees, and vineyards producing the renowned Malvasia (Malmsey) wine, while Lipari has a salty old town centre dominated by the Castello, an impressive citadel built on a great mass of bronze-red lava rock. The various churches and palaces within its walls house the superb Museo Archeologico Eoliano, with departments dedicated to Geology, Prehistory, Classical and Roman History, and a wonderful Underwater Archaeology section with amphorae, anchors and other objects recuperated from shipwrecked vessels on the sea-bed, testifying to the treacherous nature of these waters.
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Messina Messina
Wind-blown Messina, overlooking the Straits and only 3km from the Italian mainland, has enjoyed long periods of prosperity, thanks to its superb position, but it has also suffered very much in the course of its history. Known as Zancle, sickle, by the Greeks because of the shape of its beautiful natural harbour, before the discovery of America it was one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean. Its patroness is the Madonna, to whom ambassadors dedicated the city in 42 ad, which she accepted with a letter; her gilded statue stands at the entrance to the harbour. In spite of this protection, however, terrible epidemics and plagues have hit Messina from time to time (the 14th-century Black Death is said to have entered Europe from an infected ship which docked here), and, recalcitrant to commands from unloved rulers, it has been bombarded mercilessly on several occasions. Moreover, it is surrounded by a network of earthquake-prone fault-lines, causing disasters such as that of 28 December 1908, which killed over 80,000 people and completely destroyed the town.
It was decided to rebuild Messina exactly where it stood before, but with wide avenues and low buildings, to lessen the risk for the future. The duomo (open 8-7) in the centre, originally built by Great-Count Roger and one of the grandest Norman churches in Sicily, was lovingly and patiently rebuilt from its fragments, as far as possible (the impressive columns inside are made of cement), but it was gutted by a World War II bomb and once more reconstructed, while the Orion Fountain (1553) in front of it was fortunately little damaged. Made by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, who had worked in Michelangelo's atelier, Orion, the mythical founder of Messina, stands on the top with Sirius his dog, while around the bowl are four statues representing great rivers, accompanied by a host of tritons, dolphins and sea-monsters, in a particularly successful composition. The fountain caused quite a stir in Sicily when it was unveiled, causing Palermo to hastily find something equally magnificent; the result is the huge Pretoria Fountain outside the town hall, recycled from the garden of a Tuscan villa. To the left of the duomo is the Clock Tower (1933), housing a remarkable astronomical clock made in Strasbourg, which functions at noon every day, when the mechanical figures noisily illustrate historical episodes and religious events.
On the sea-front just north of the town, near the hospital at 465 Viale della Libertà, is the Museo Regionale, previously an old silk-mill which had miraculously survived the 1908 earthquake, where the survivors brought the fragments of sculptures and paintings that they found in the rubble. The heart-rending displays of flawed works of art are an eloquent reminder of how rich the city once was, and how much damage can be inflicted by 20 seconds of a 7.5 Richter-scale earthquake. However, many masterpieces survived intact, and many more have been cleverly restored, such as the polyptych by Antonello da Messina of the Madonna with Sts Gregory and Benedict (1473), a superb blend of Flemish and Italian-Renaissance styles. There are also two great works by Caravaggio, painted 1608-9, the Nativity, showing Mary strangely placed at the bottom of the scene, and for this reason initially refused by the senate which had commissioned it, and the Raising of Lazarus, where the harmonious movement of the hands and the arms of the figures against the sombre background tells the story of Lazarus's unwilling resurrection. Taormina is not far away. [TOP MENU CITY]

Milazzo Milazzo
You'll probably reach Lipari via boat from Milazzo, whose coastal fortress is visible from afar. The citadel, built by Normans with later (13th century) external walls, is actually Milazzo's only real attraction, and it is unfortunate that hardly anybody ever visits this vast structure Located on the edge of town, the castle is one of Norman Sicily's best kept secrets and well worth a visit if you're a lover of medieval military architecture. The castle was one of the first Norman buildings erected in Sicily, though there were additions over the centuries. Milazzo itself was founded as Mylae by Greeks from Zancle (Messina) in 716 BC. [TOP MENU CITY]

Catania Catania
Founded in 729 BC by colonists from Chalcis, Catania is a lively city, the second largest on the island after Palermo. It has been destroyed nine times in the course of its history, and every time the people have rebuilt it on the same spot. The elegant Piazza Duomo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its smart Baroque buildings of black or dark grey lava stone, set off with white limestone around the doors and the windows. The square is dominated by the splendid cattedrale di Sant'Agata, dedicated to the much-venerated patron saint, and originally built by Great-Count Roger the Norman in 1093; the apses are still recognisably Romanic. In the interior is the tomb of Vincenzo Bellini (1801-35), the local composer.
To the right of the cathedral is the Museo Diocesano (open 9-12.30, closed Mon), with a remarkable collection of artistic treasures from the churches of the city, and especially objects relating to the cult of Agatha. The north side of the square is taken up by Palazzo degli Elefanti, the city hall. Opposite, behind the Amenano Fountain, is the noisy, colourful fish market. In the centre of the square is the symbol of the city, the lava-stone statue of 'U Liotru, an elephant said to protect Catania from harm. Very ancient, perhaps Phoenician, after the 1693 earthquake it was topped with an Egyptian obelisk to make the fountain, inspired by that of Minerva in Rome. Close by is an interesting Greek Theatre, incorporated into the fabric of the city. From Piazza Duomo the main street, Via Etnea, leads north, by more Baroque churches, the Roman Amphitheatre (closed) and the Villa Bellini public gardens. Parallel to it, to the west, the lovely Via Crociferi, with a further array of Baroque churches, corresponding to the Greek and Roman temples of the acropolis. The opera house, Teatro Massimo Bellini, inaugurated in 1890 with a performance of Bellini's Norma, and much admired for its acoustics by the tenor Beniamino Gigli, is well worth a visit.
Catania is surrounded by many interesting towns and villages, such as ancient Randazzo; Caltagirone, famous for its ceramics; Militello, World Heritage Site for its Baroque architecture, and Vizzini, the birthplace of Giovanni Verga (1840-1922), acclaimed in 1884 as the greatest living Italian writer. [TOP MENU CITY]

Mount Etna Mount Etna
At 3,350 metres, Mount Etna is not only Europe's largest active volcano, but one of the major volcanoes of the world. Together with the four summit craters, which are all open and act as safety-valves by constantly releasing gases and steam, there are hundreds of side craters on the slopes, which never erupt twice. Thought to have formed about 500,000 years ago, it is almost three times the size of Mt Vesuvius, which is over a million years old. The frequent eruptions are usually more spectacular than damaging, but from time to time the slow-moving rivers of lava cover cultivated areas and sometimes even towns and villages. The inhabitants accept their situation with philosophy, and passionately defend from criticism their volcano, which they call simply 'a muntagna, the mountain. Now a national park, created to protect flora, fauna and the characteristic lava flows, the best approaches are from the villages of Nicolosi, Linguaglossa or Zafferana on the slopes. Skiing is possible in winter.
Poised on a cliff between Etna and the sea is the tiny city of Acireale, noted for its Baroque architecture, thermal springs, church bells, confectionery, lemons, and the proverbial stubbornness of the inhabitants. Magnificent carnival parades attract crowds of visitors, but it is sleepy throughout the rest of the year. [TOP MENU CITY]

Piazza Armerina Piazza Armerina
From Enna a country road leads by Lake Pergusa and through dense woods to the old hill-town of Piazza Armerina, with its well-defined medieval districts and stone-paved streets, scented with freshly-baked bread, and resonant with the sounds of the Lombard dialect still spoken by the people. In the valley 6km away is the extraordinary Villa Romana del Casale, worth the journey to Sicily for its 3,500sq m of splendid 4th-century ad Roman mosaic floors, the most extensive in the world, and protected for posterity by a providential mud-slide in the early Middle Ages. Perhaps the hunting lodge of an emperor, or the retreat of a wealthy merchant dealing in the animal trade, the villa, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprises c. 50 rooms. Some of the scenes portrayed on the floors are dedicated to the hunt, and the capture abroad and transport to Rome of wild animals destined for the circus. Particularly notable among these are the richly-detailed Room of the Small Hunt, and the long corridor known as the Great Hunt. Well known is the Triclinium, the three-lobed banqueting hall with its masterful portrayals of the Labours of Hercules, or the Room of the Girls in Bikinis.
A small room is entirely devoted to the moment when Ulysses offers Wine to the Cyclops Polyphemus, while close by is the famous Erotic Scene, a fairly innocent embrace between a half-naked young lady and her boy-friend. The colossal, expensive enterprise of creating these floors in what must have been a relatively short time (5-10 years) involved bringing hundreds of skilled craftsmen from various North African ateliers (although contemporary, the floors are very different stylistically), and providing enormous quantities of material for them to work with ­ the rich chromatic effects were obtained by using cubes of coloured stone, together with pieces of terracotta and glass. Some of the yellow and green marble, from quarries which were already exhausted at that time, must have been recuperated from preceding buildings elsewhere.
Morgantina, a short distance (14km) from Piazza Armerina, is near the little farming community of Aidone. It is the site of a city inhabited by both Greeks and Sicels, which reached its moment of greatest splendour in the 3rd century bc. It was sacked and totally destroyed by Marcus Marcellus' mercenaries, Mamertine soldiers from Spain, as a reward for helping him take the recalcitrant city of Syracuse in 212 bc. The hauntingly beautiful site, dominated by Mount Etna to the north, offers the interesting possibility of exploring the ruined town street by street, with its unusual stepped agora, fine town-houses, temples, industrial areas and the theatre. [TOP MENU CITY]

Siracusa Siracusa
Founded in 733 bc as a colony of Corinth, it soon eclipsed all the other settlements on Sicily, thanks to several favourable circumstances: two harbours, one for the military and one for the merchant fleet, abundant fresh water, its position dominating the approach to the Straits of Messina, and a series of excellent governors, or tyrants, such as Gelon, who obtained the victory over the Carthaginians at Himera in 480 bc, or Dionysius, who came to power in 406 bc, a household name for despotism, but a great leader. Archimedes, the great scientist and mathematician, was born in Syracuse, where he died during the Roman attack in 212 bc. Under the Romans the city gradually lost all its former glory. In 1693 it was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake, and was rebuilt in Baroque style. Now Syracuse (pop. 135,000), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a small provincial town, quite prosperous thanks to its much-maligned oil refineries and the flourishing agriculture. The small island of Ortygia (meaning the Quail, so-called because of its bird-like shape), which separates the two harbours, is the heart of the city, where it was originally founded, and where you will find the ruins of the late 7th century bc Temple of Apollo, the first Doric temple to be built in Sicily. In the centre of the island is the duomo, still recognisably the Doric temple of Athena, complete with most of its columns and the interior cella, still intact; the arches in its wall were cut by early Christians. It was built under the orders of Gelon, by Carthaginian prisoners taken at the Battle of Himera, and was renowned for its beauty and the richness of its fittings ­ the doors were made of gold and ivory, the cult statue of the goddess had a golden shield, while above the entrance another great golden shield acted as a landmark for shipping, by reflecting the rays of the sun.
The cathedral is dedicated to the Madonna, although the patroness of Syracuse is St Lucy, who suffered her martyrdom here in 304. Not far from the cathedral, at 16 Via Capodieci, is the museum of medieval art, the Galleria Regionale di Palazzo Bellomo, housed in a 14th-century aristocratic palace and a 15th-century convent. Among the precious works of art displayed here is a masterpiece by Antonello da Messina, the Annunciation (1474), strongly reminiscent of Piero della Francesca in its gentle mood and the arrangement of the figures. Where Via Capodieci emerges onto the Great Harbour is a pool of sweet water with papyrus, ducks and lots of fish, the Fountain of Arethusa, said to be the spring into which Arthemis transformed the nymph Arethusa, when she was being pursued with dishonourable intentions by the river-god Alpheus. At the tip of the island, the 'beak' of the quail is represented by the Castello Maniace (open 9-1, closed Sun), built by Frederick of Hohenstaufen in 1234.
Back on the mainland is the Archaeological Park, a wooded garden. The path leads past the little Norman church of San Nicolò on the right, built over a Roman cistern, to the ruins of the perfectly elliptical, 1st-century ad Roman Amphitheatre, then to the so-called Ara di Ierone, the great altar (198m long, it is the largest known) built by Hieron II c. 240 bc to accommodate the annual sacrifices to Zeus, said to consist of 450 bulls, slaughtered in one day. Only the part carved into the rock is visible, the upper stones were removed by the Spanish in 1528 to fortify the harbour. Here the path turns to reach the celebrated Greek Theatre, commenced by Gelon in 478 bc, and inaugurated by Aeschylus in 476 bc with the first performance of his Women of Aetna. The immense cavea is carved into the limestone, and together with a superstructure which was successively dismantled, could accommodate 15,000 people. Close to the theatre, steps meander down into the Latomy of Paradise, one of the many limestone quarries surrounding the city, now verdant with lemons, magnolias and pomegranates ­ hence the name, although it was used as a concentration camp by the tyrants.
In the heart of the quarry is the Ear of Dionysius, a strange, man-made cave, with surprising acoustics. East of the Archaeological Park, opposite the horrible modern church dedicated to the Madonna delle Lagrime (Our Lady of the Tears), and said to resemble a lemon-squeezer with an egg-beater on the top, is the Museo Archeologico Regionale 'Paolo Orsi', with magnificent collections of objects found during excavations in the surrounding area, but also from other sites in Sicily. The ground floor sections include Sicily before the Greeks (Geology, Palaeontology and Prehistory); Greek Colonisation, and Sub-Colonies, while the upper floor displays Roman and Early Medieval Art. Still further east, in Piazza Santa Lucia, is the church of Santa Lucia, marking the spot where the saint was interred in the catacombs. In 1608 Caravaggio, who had arrived here adventurously from Malta after escaping from prison, painted the large canvas over the altar of the Burial of St Lucy, one of his most impressive works. [TOP MENU CITY]

Ragusa Ragusa
Ragusa Ibla and Ragusa Superiore stand on a limestone plateau, deeply scored by its waterways, which have formed canyons and gorges luxuriant with vegetation in their depths. Ibla is of ancient origin; it is the Sicel Hybla Heraea. Devastated by the 1693 earthquake, which killed 5,000 people, the wealthy aristocracy decided to rebuild the city where it was, with a new cathedral dedicated to their patron St George, while the equally wealthy middle class preferred to build Ragusa Superiore, a new city close by, with its own cathedral, dedicated to St John the Baptist. The resulting cities, with their splendid late Baroque churches and palaces in creamy-gold limestone, represent in their quality and consistency a vivid final flowering of the style in Italy, and have been recognised by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. There was intense rivalry between the two Ragusas until 1926, when they were finally united as one city, with one bishop and one official cathedral, the solemnly elegant San Giovanni Battista, with its wide façade, in Ragusa Superiore. From here, a spectacular walk leads south to the town limit on the edge of the plateau, and thence down through Ibla, a seemingly interminable sequence of stepped streets, passing little churches and decrepit palaces, to the soaring, breathtaking grandeur of San Giorgio.
Modica, nearby, is also a World Heritage Site, with its 100 Baroque churches forming a series of backdrops in a maze of tiny up-and-down streets, like theatre settings. Built of pale honey-coloured limestone after the 1693 earthquake, but of very ancient origin, Modica reached its moment of greatest glory in the 16th century, when it was an important cultural centre and one of the largest and most powerful cities on the island, called the 'Venice of Sicily' for its position at the confluence of two rivers, acting as waterways for the transport of people and goods. The rivers were covered after a disastrous flood in 1902, and are now the main streets. The town with its various districts is formed of two parts, Modica Bassa, at the foot of the church of San Pietro, and Modica Alta, dominated by the church and monumental stairway of San Giorgio. Modica was the birthplace of Nobel-Prizewinning poet Salvatore Quasimodo (1901-68). The people are proud of their excellent cuisine, based on the use of prime-quality local produce and fish from the sea.
More World Heritage Baroque palaces and churches can be admired in the nearby towns of Scicli, Ispica and Comiso, while Chiaramonte Gulfi, famed for its olive oil and numerous museums, and Santa Croce Camerina, site of ancient Kamarina, are well worth a visit. Close to Santa Croce Camerina is Donnafugata (open 9.30-12.30, Sun and holidays also 3.30-6.30, closed Mon), a lovely old country house with 122 rooms, completely rebuilt by the eccentric baron Corrado Arezzo De Spuches in the 19th century, and often used as a film setting. [TOP MENU CITY]

Noto Noto
Often called il giardino di pietra, the garden of stone, Noto has also been recognised as a World Heritage Site for the great beauty of its Baroque architecture. Founded in 448 bc by Doucetius, king of the Sicels, under the Arab government in 903 it became one of the three administrative centres of the island, and flourished, thanks to its wool mills and tanneries, a large population of Jewish craftsmen and merchants, and the abundant production of silk, citrus, rice, almonds, sugar-cane and cotton. Destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, for reasons of stability it was rebuilt 14km away from the original site, against the wishes of the Church and the majority of the inhabitants. So only in 1702 was the ruined old city regretfully abandoned for the rational new town, planned and built by some of the greatest engineers, architects and master-builders of the time.
From the public gardens at the east end of Noto, Corso Vittorio Emanuele leads through to the west, with the lovely, burnt-gold limestone churches, palaces and monasteries, rising on one side and falling away on the other. In the centre is the imposing cattedrale, dedicated to St Nicholas, opposite Palazzo Ducezio, the town hall. Close by is Palazzo Nicolaci Villadorata, with delightfully lavish Baroque balconies, each one telling a different story. [TOP MENU CITY]

Agrigento Agrigento
Founded as Akragas, a colony of Gela, in 580 bc, Agrigento became the wealthiest city of Magna Graecia, and boasted a series of Doric temples, defiantly built along a crest between the sea and the city as a demonstration of power and the protection afforded by the gods. It was the birthplace of the philosopher Empedocles and, more recently, of the Nobel prizewinning playwright and short-story writer Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936).
The town stands on a long narrow hill, perhaps the acropolis of ancient Akragas. Via Atenea, the main street, with smart shops and old churches, leads up to the 14th-century duomo di San Gerlando on the summit, dedicated to the patron saint, the Norman Bishop Gerland.
The walk along the Valley of the Temples (open 9-7, late closing in summer, combined ticket to include museum available, where the golden sandstone columns emerge among olives and almonds, between the sea and the sky, should begin at the Temple of Hera, or Juno Lacinia, on the highest point of the crest. Continue along the fortifications to the magnificently-preserved Temple of Concord, and thence, after passing Villa Aurea, a house now used as offices, but from 1921-33 the home of Captain Alexander Hardcastle, an eccentric Englishman who provided the funds for much of the excavations in this area, to the oldest of the group, the 6th-century bc Temple of Herakles, still showing the parallel ruts where the stones were dragged from the quarry to the site, after being fitted with wooden wheels. The catacombs to be seen here, with tunnels extending under the road, form part of a Palaeo-Christian Necropolis (no access). Across the road is the ticket office and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, measuring 110.1m x 52.7m, the largest Doric temple in existence, built to celebrate the victory over the Carthaginians in 480 bc.
Abandoned still unfinished in 406 bc, its subsequent complete destruction is due to earthquakes and to 18th-century quarrying, when stones were taken from here to build the harbour structures at Porto Empedocle (now known as Porto Empedocle Vigata, Agrigento's ancient port was the birthplace of Andrea Camilleri, creator of Police Superintendent Salvo Montalbano, and currently Italy's most popular writer). Unique in design, the 14 columns along the sides were engaged in the walls, alternating with 38 colossal telamons and caryatids, almost 8m high, fragments of which can be seen in the museum. A cast of one of the giants can be seen in the middle of the temple. The U-shaped grooves on the stones were to accommodate the ropes used for shifting them into position. West of the temple is the vast excavation of ancient sanctuaries dedicated to the Chthonic Divinities (gods of the earth), and the picturesque group of columns known as the Temple of Castor and Pollux, more probably the remains of the Temple of Dionysus. Close by is the entrance to the Garden of Kolymbetra, once an artificial lake dug by Carthaginian prisoners taken at the Battle of Himera in 480 bc, and used as a fishpond and a reservoir. It was soon filled in, probably due to malaria, and later the Arabs turned it into a garden planted with oranges, dates and pomegranates. From the garden it is easy to cross the railway line in order to reach the two surviving columns of the Temple of Hephaistos.
Agrigento has a museum, the Museo Archeologico Regionale with a superb collection of painted vases, statues and sarcophagi found during the excavations. Not to be missed is the Ephebus, a 5th-century bc marble statue of a young man, representing perhaps a victorious athlete from Agrigento at the Olympic Games. [TOP MENU CITY]

Selinunte Selinunte
In a superb position overlooking the sea are the extensive ruins (270ha, the largest archaeological park in Europe) of the ancient city of Selinunte. Founded in 651 bc as a colony of Megara Hyblaea, the name derives from the wild celery, Apium graveolens (selinon in Greek), which grows here in abundance, and which appears on the coins. The ancient town with its acropolis occupied a raised terrace between the River Selinon, now Modione, and a marshy depression called Gorgo di Cottone, and possessed a harbour at the mouth of each valley, a necropolis to the north, a sanctuary to Demeter to the west, and a group of large Doric temples to the east; it was very wealthy, and had a huge population.
Attacked by Carthage in 409 bc, Selinunte fell after only 9 days' siege, in spite of the redoubtable fortifications; the inhabitants were sold into slavery and the city destroyed. Forgotten for centuries, it was rediscovered in the 16th century, but serious excavations were begun only 300 years later. The temples are identified by letters of the alphabet, because their attribution is still uncertain; they were found completely flattened, partly due to the Carthaginian destruction, partly to earthquakes, but one of the eastern group has been restored. A miniature train connects the most important areas in the park, or you can walk. Parking areas are available at the entrance and at the acropolis. [TOP MENU CITY]

Segesta Segesta
The view of the perfectly-proportioned Doric temple of Segesta amid the rolling hills, with their neatly-manicured vineyards and bonsai-sized olive trees, has been admired by travellers for centuries. Segesta, the ancient Egesta, was a city of the Elymians, the legendary survivors of the Trojan War, who were led here by Aeneas. Always at loggerheads with Selinunte, it is thought that the temple was deliberately built in 426 bc in order to impress the Athenians, with whom the city was seeking an alliance, rather than as a place of worship; in fact, it was never finished, and was probably never intended to be so. Mt Barbaro, the hill to the east of the temple, was the site of the city; on the north slope, near the top, is the ancient theatre, offering indescribably lovely views. The tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse inexplicably sacked the town in 307 bc, and catapulted thousands of the inhabitants into the ravine behind the temple; it is an eerie place, even today, even in bright sunlight, with jackdaws cawing overhead. Although inhabited by the Arabs, Segesta was abandoned by the 13th century.
Dramatic Productions: Each Summer, a series of classical Greek dramas is performed (in Italian) at Segesta's ancient amphitheatre. [TOP MENU CITY]

Mozia Mozia
Just 400,000 m² in size, the history Mozia is very ancient: as a shipping centre and staging post, and due to its presence near the coast of important trade city, it was one of the most important Phoenician and Carthaginian settlements in the Mediterranean area. The Phoenicians transformed the inhospitable island, which they called Motya, into one of the most affluent cities of its time, naturally defended by the lagoon as well as high defensive walls. Ancient windmills and salt pans were used for evaporation, salt grinding and refinement, and to maintain the condition of the lagoon and island itself. Recently the mills and salt pans (called the Ettore Infersa) have been restored by the owners and opened to the public. [TOP MENU CITY]

Erice Erice
Built entirely of grey limestone, and perfectly triangular in shape, Erice stands on the wind-blown, misty summit of Mount San Giuliano, a perfect example of a walled medieval city. It was the Elymian Eryx, famous throughout the Mediterranean for its temple dedicated to Astarte, goddess of fertility, and known to the Romans as Venus Erycina; the Castello di Venere (open 9-1), with views as far as Mt Etna, now stands on the spot. Mossy churches, inscrutable convents, and surprising hidden courtyards with pots of basil and geraniums; the silent, cobbled streets are filled with wafting aromas of vanilla, cinnamon and toasted almonds from the confectioneries.
Then there's Trapani far below. Called Drepanon, scythe, in the past, for the perfectly-shaped harbour (said to have been dropped by the distraught Demeter, when searching for her daughter Persephone), Trapani was the emporium of ancient Erice; it is now a large and busy city, the centre of the sea-salt industry which dates back to the days of the Phoenicians. The old centre is largely unspoilt, but is little visited by tourists. In the modern part of town is the Santuario dell'Annunziata (open 9-12 & 4-7), once an isolated church outside the city limits, now an 18th-century building with some surviving medieval chapels. Here you will find the lovely, much venerated Madonna di Trapani, a 14th-century marble statue from Pisa, perhaps the work of the influential master Nino Pisano himself. Close by, at 200 Via Conte Pepoli, is the Museo Pepoli, with a superb collection of the work of local craftsmen from the 17th-19th centuries, in wax, alabaster, and especially the unique blood-red local coral. [TOP MENU CITY]