Sicily is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy. With 4.8 million inhabitants, including 1.3 million in and around the capital city of Palermo, it is the most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age. Sicily has a rich and unique culture in arts, music, literature, cuisine, and architecture. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate. It is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is generally considered part of Southern Italy.
Bagheria is a city and comune in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre.
Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food also has Greek, Spanish, French, Jewish, Maghrebi, and Arab influences.
The province of Palermo was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Palermo. On 4 August 2015, it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Palermo.
The Florio family was a prominent entrepreneurial Italian family who started many lucrative activities in Sicily involving the export of Sicilian products in the 19th century, in some ways redeeming Sicily from feudal immobility. The family extended its interests to shipping, shipbuilding, fisheries, mining, metallurgy and ceramics. The Florio economic dynasty was one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century. In the heyday of the Florio business empire reportedly some 16,000 people depended on the family, and the press sometimes referred to Palermo as 'Floriopolis'.
Ventimiglia di Sicilia is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, located in the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy. Though "Ventimiglia di Sicilia" is its official name, in Sicilian, the city is known as Calamigna.
Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture which evolved on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was part of the Spanish Empire. The style is recognisable not only by its typical Baroque curves and flourishes, but also by distinctive grinning masks and putti and a particular flamboyance that has given Sicily a unique architectural identity.
Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia was an Italian architect.
Aldo Renato Guttuso was an Italian painter and politician. He is considered to be among the most important Italian artists of the 20th century and is among the key figures of Italian expressionism. His art is characterized by social and political commentary, and as a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) he became its senator for two legislatures, from 1976 to 1983, during Enrico Berlinguer's secretariat.
Santa Flavia is a town in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy.
The Villa Spedalotto is the country home of the Paternò di Spedalotto family. The villa is situated on a hill surrounded by olive groves at Bagheria, near Palermo in Sicily. As all the Villas in Bagheria, it was built as a country house, and was traditionally used by the family only during the spring and autumn. While considered a national monument, it remains a private residence.
The Villa Palagonia is a patrician villa in Bagheria, 15 km from Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy. The villa itself, built from 1715 by the architect Tommaso Napoli with the help of Agatino Daidone, is one of the earliest examples of Sicilian Baroque. However, its popularity comes mainly from the statues of monsters with human faces that decorate its garden and its wall, and earned it the nickname of "The Villa of Monsters".
Vito D'Anna was an Italian painter, considered the most prominent painter of Palermitan rococo and one of the most important artists of Sicily.
The Metropolitan City of Palermo is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. It replaced the province of Palermo and comprises the city of Palermo and 82 other comuni.
Notarbartolo is one of the main aristocratic families of the Sicilian nobility. Originated in the Middle Ages, it gave to the island numerous personalities who have made a significant contribution to its social, political, intellectual and artistic life. The different branches of the family collected, over the centuries, numerous fiefdoms and noble titles.
Topazia Alliata was an Italian painter, curator, art dealer and writer.
Vincenzo Florio Sr. was an Italian entrepreneur and politician, member of the rich Florio economic dynasty, one of the wealthiest Sicilian families during the late 19th century.
Pina Calì was an Italian painter who was born and died in Sicily.
Princess Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca is an Italian author and translator. As a teenager, she produced the first translation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings into Italian. She later wrested control of the family's 100-room summer palace from Opus Dei and the Mafia, and had it renovated.
Pasta ca nunnata is a pasta dish originating in the Sicily region of Italy prepared with newborn fish, which may be anchovies, sardines, red mullet or bream, as well as spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, parsley, white wine and black pepper. Sardines are most common and preferred, especially in the Palermo area. Where bream is used, the most common species is common pandora, known as luvari, uvari or luari in Sicilian. Tomatoes are sometimes added, but this is less common. The dish is also sometimes referred to as pasta ca sfighiata.
