Gold covers nearly every surface inside Monreale Cathedral. Six thousand four hundred square metres of Byzantine mosaics tell stories from the Old and New Testaments. The figures stare down from the walls with enormous eyes, their robes shimmering in the dim light. King William II built this cathedral in the twelfth century to outshine the […]
Categories: Islands, Italy, Nature, Religious Monuments, Sicily, Sights, Sights, Virtual Travel
Honey-hued limestone glows golden in the Sicilian sunset as you stand among ancient Greek columns overlooking the Ionian Sea. Taormina clings to a dramatic hillside where human genius and natural beauty converge in breathtaking harmony. The Teatro Antico frames Mount Etna like a postcard come to life, its stage still hosting performances beneath a sky […]
The market of Ballaro hits every sense at once. Vendors shout prices in Sicilian dialect, the smell of grilled sardines and frying arancini fills the air, and the colors of piled citrus and wild herbs blur into a dizzying mosaic. Palermo does nothing by halves. Decaying Norman palaces stand next to bustling street food stalls. […]
Categories: Cities, Islands, Italy, Nature, Sicily, Sights, Sights, Virtual Travel
The ferry cuts through the Tyrrhenian Sea toward a cluster of volcanic islands that rise from the water like black jewels. The Aeolian Islands smell of salt and sulphur and wild Mediterranean herbs. Each island has its own personality. Stromboli glows orange at night as lava tumbles down its slope. Lipari offers white pumice beaches […]
Categories: Islands, Italy, Nature, Nature, Sicily, Volcanoes
Perched on a volcanic hillside above the Ionian Sea, the Castello di San Marco commands a view that stretches from the Bay of Calatabiano to the smoking summit of Mount Etna. This medieval fortress bears the scars of centuries: Norman foundations, Aragonese additions, and the quiet patience of stone that has outlasted every dynasty that […]
Categories: Castles and Palaces, Islands, Italy, Nature, Religious Monuments, Sicily, Sights, Sights
The Mediterranean crashes against golden sand as the Rocca looms overhead, a massive limestone promontory that has watched over this fishing town for millennia. Cefalù is the kind of place where life moves at the pace of the tide. Narrow alleyways wind past pastel coloured houses, laundry fluttering from wrought iron balconies. The Cathedral, a […]
Updated: April 23, 2020 | By Claire | More Tindari is a small coastal town situated on a rocky hill (Capo Tindari) and contains the remnants of an ancient Greek site Tyndaris from 396 BC. Thanks to its strategic location, the city could easily control and prevent the sea between the Aeolian islands and Messina […]
Categories: Cities, Islands, Italy, Nature, Rome, Sicily, Sights, Sights
Updated: May 23, 2020 | By Claire | More Elba is one of the most beautiful islands of Italy with crystal clear water. It is the third largest island of Italy – after Sicily and Sardinia. Its capital city is Portoferraio which is the largest city of Elba. The island is situated about 20km west […]
The Scala di Santa Maria del Monte in Caltagirone is not merely a staircase. It is a work of art, a feat of engineering, and a symbol of the city’s identity all rolled into one. This monumental staircase, consisting of 142 steps, climbs the hillside from the Piazza del Municipio to the Church of Santa […]
Categories: Islands, Italy, Nature, Sicily, Sights, Virtual Travel
Segesta is one of Sicily’s most hauntingly beautiful ancient sites, a perfectly preserved 5th-century BC Doric temple standing in solitary splendour on a remote hillside in the Sicilian interior, its 36 columns silhouetted against the sky with no modern development in sight. Built by the Elymians, one of Sicily’s three indigenous peoples, this unfinished temple […]
Categories: Cities, Islands, Italy, Nature, Sicily, Sights, Sights
