Situated at a crossroads in the Mediterranean, Sicily was for centuries seduced, conquered, possessed, enriched, exploited and abandoned by successive invaders – Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Barbarians, Arabs, French, Spanish. Each left its mark on the island’s customs, cuisine, culture and architecture. Most erased all visible trace of earlier occupiers.
Nature, too, has frequently been a destructive force here, with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions leaving towns and villages in ruins. Their many rebuilding styles reveal plenty about Sicily’s past; so structures in the local white limestone, which fades to a honey-toned gold, provided many of our tour’s highlight sights.
Our first three nights were spent in Noto, one of the eight Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto in South-Eastern Sicily, rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1693, which together…
