Sicily is the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. The island has 4.8 million inhabitants. Its capital city is Palermo. It is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age.
Bagheria is a city and comune in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy, 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, and Arab influences.
The province of Agrigento is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy, situated on its south-western coast. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by the Free municipal consortium of Agrigento. It has an area of 3,041.90 square kilometres (1,174.48 sq mi), and a total population of 474,493. There are 43 comunes in the province.
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.
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.
Renato Guttuso was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include Flight from Etna (1938–39), Crucifixion (1941) and La Vucciria (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre and did illustrations for books. Those for Elizabeth David’s Italian Food (1954), introduced him to many in the English-speaking world. A fierce anti-Fascist, "he developed out of Expressionism and the harsh light of his native land to paint landscapes and social commentary".
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 other 82 municipalities (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.
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 'ncasciata is a celebratory baked pasta dish originating from Messina, Sicily, but today there are many versions from every province of Sicily as well as Calabria, in Southern Italy. Ingredients vary according to the region as well as personal preferences. For example, while the dish usually utilizes two types of cheese, besciamella may be used in lieu of one of the cheeses. It was traditionally baked in a dish placed over, as well as covered by, hot coals. The dish was made more well known by Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano.
Pasta ca nunnata is a pasta dish originating from Sicily made 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.
