Facts about Sicily

Once the war was completed in 242 B.C.E., Rome occupied the entire country of Sicily.

Sicily's ancient pottery and rare works of art contain some of the greatest sources of archeological masterpieces in the world.

Sicily is famous for its art and is the birthplace of many poets and writers.

that the Roman consul M. Valerian proclaimed to the Roman Senate that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily."

The Greeks knew Sicily as Trinacria, which refers to its triangular shape.

The most famous artists from Sicily include Luigi Pirandello, Giovanni Verga, Salvatore Quasimodo, and Gesualdo Bufalino.

Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, is an autonomous region of Italy.

In 902, Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold, also fell to the Arabs and by 965 all of Sicily was under Arab control.

In 535, Emperor Justinian I made Sicily a Byzantine province, and for the second time in Sicilian history, the Greek language became a familiar sound across the island.

The position of Sicily as a stepping stone in the center of the Mediterranean Basin has lent it strategic importance throughout history, resulting in an endless procession of settlers and conquerors.

At this time in Sicily's history the most notable event was Verres infamous government, which Cicero strongly criticized.

Sicily has been noted for two millennia as a grain-producing territory.

Sicily was the birthplace of the well-known Mafia, an organized crime operation common in Italy and the United States.

Sicily was then ruled by the Byzantine Empire until the Muslim Arab conquest of 827–902.

Charles I was an unpopular ruler who was primarily interested in using Sicily as a base to expand his trade and power in the Mediterranean.

Sicily's historical connections lie not just with mainland Italy, but also the ancient Greeks and more recent Arab occupiers.

After ten years of sporadic warfare and major political changes in Portugal, Mozambique became independent on June 25, 1975.

The United States used the Italian connection of the American Mafiosi during the invasion of Italy and Sicily in 1943.

Sicily, which is the most densely populated island in the Mediterranean Sea, has an economy that is largely underdeveloped.

The Normans, under Count Roger de Hauteville (Altavilla), attacked Sicily in 1061 beginning a 30 year struggle against the Arabs.

In 550 the Ostrogothic King Totila drove down the Italian peninsula and plundered and conquered Sicily.

Sicily, together with the islands of Egadi, Lipari, Pelagie, and Panteleria, forms an autonomous region of Italy.

Sicily became a kingdom in 1130, and was established as one of the wealthiest states in Europe.

Sicily is home to two prominent folk art traditions, both of which draw heavily on the island's Norman influence.

Sicily, however diverse it may be genetically, retains many characteristics of more rural regions bred of its isolation and distance from mainland Italy.

Sicily was colonized by Phoenicians, Punic settlers from Carthage, and by Greeks, beginning in the eighth century B.C.E..

Sicily's earliest inhabitants were the Elymians who may have originated near the Aegean Sea.

The other four autonomous regions besides Sicily are Sardinia, Trentino–Alto Adige, Friuli–Venezia Giulia, and Valle d'Aosta.

A tsunami immediately ensued along the Ionian coasts of Sicily and the Messina Strait.

Many cities in Sicily have beautiful examples of architecture that include ruins of aquaducts, Roman patrician villas, temples in Segesta, Selinunte, and Agrigento, and decorations on ancient buildings.

Greek influence existed primarily in the eastern areas of Sicily; Lilybaeum, in the far west, was not thoroughly Hellenized.

Unfortunately, the Crusades instigated local Christian-Muslim conflicts and in 1224, Frederick II, grandson of Roger II, removed the remaining Arabs from Sicily.

Sicily's population is approximately 5 million, and there are an additional 10 million people of Sicilian descent around the world, mostly in the United States, Argentina, Canada, Australia, and other European Union countries.

Sicily in the Middle Ages experienced diseases and natural disasters along with political problems.

The most crucial battle was the siege of Palermo in 1072, and the conquest of Sicily was completed by 1091 with the defeat of the last Emir in Noto.

The Mafia is a hierarchically structured criminal society that arose in Sicily during the Middle Ages as a means of providing protection from the various foreign conquerors of the island.

Malta was a part of the Kingdom of Sicily, in its various forms, until the late eighteenth century.

Bishop Gualtiero reconstructed much of the old Palermo Cathedral and expanded it to become the greatest cathedral in medieval Sicily.

The climate of Sicily is subtropical and Mediterranean.

The cuisine of Sicily shows traces of all the cultures that established themselves on the island over the last two millennia.

Sicily's principal cities include the regional capital Palermo, and provincial capitals Catania, Messina, Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian), Trapani, Enna, Caltanissetta, Agrigento, and Ragusa.

Sicily's historical banner since 1282 became its official regional flag in January 2000.

Most Americans, especially outside of the largest cities, are familiar with the Mafia only through its glamorized depiction in the movie "The Godfather," which portrays a detailed example of Sicily and Sicilian mafia traditions.

Sicily is also home to a great variety of Christian music, including a cappella devotional songs from Montedoro and many brass bands like Banda Ionica, who play songs from a diverse repertoire.

Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 9,926 square miles (25,708 sq km) and 5 million inhabitants.

Trading arrangements were made between Sicily and Arab merchants, who established themselves in Sicilian ports.

Sicily has an almost unparalleled history of cultural diversity.

Highly educated, the prince established a political system set to bring Sicily's economy to the highest levels in all of Italy.

In 1479 Sicily fell under the control of Spain.

Western Sicily particularly prospered with Berbers settling in the Agrigento area coupled with Bedouin, Syrians, and Egyptian Arabs in Palermo.

Muslim rule in Sicily slowly came to an end following an invitation by the Emirs of Catania and Siracusa for a Norman invasion.

Sicily's agricultural products include olives, almonds, barley, wheat, corn, citrus fruits, wine grapes, and cotton.

The Greeks experienced conflict with the Punic trading communities, who dealt with Carthage on the African mainland and who had their own colonies on Sicily.

Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania.

In 415 B.C.E., in an effort to re-exert its trading power, Athens launched the Sicilian Expedition by attacking Sicily and breaking its seven year truce with Syracuse.