Walking in Sicily. Gillian Price

Walk 1 Taormina and the Castello Saraceno

       Walk 2 Castelmola

       The Alcantara River Valley

       Walk 3 Monte Mojo

       Walk 4 Francavilla and the River

       Monte Etna

       Walk 5 The Craters of Monte Silvestri

       Walk 6 Monte Nero degli Zappini Loop

       Walk 7 Schiena dell’Asino

       Walk 8 The Monti Sartorio Circuit

       Walk 9 Monte Nero Circuit and Grotta dei Lamponi

       Walk 10 Monte Etna: The North–South Traverse

       Monti Iblei and the Southeast Corner

       Walk 11 Wondrous Pantalica and its Necropolises

       Walk 12 The Pantalica River Walk

       Walk 13 Cava Grande del Cassibile

       Walk 14 Noto Antica

       Walk 15 Riserva Naturale di Vendicari

       Walk 16 Isola delle Correnti

       Walk 17 Cava d’Ispica

       Antiquities in the West

       Walk 18 The White Cliffs of Eraclea Minoa

       Walk 19 The Stones of Selinunte

       Walk 20 Mozia and its Lagoon

       Le Isole Egadi (Egadi Islands)

       Walk 21 Favignana by Bicycle

       Walk 22 Levanzo and its Cave Paintings

       Walk 23 Marettimo’s Coastal Path

       Walk 24 Marettimo’s High Level Circuit

       The Glorious Northwest

       Walk 25 Marvellous Medieval Erice

       Walk 26 Riserva Naturale di Monte Cofano

       Walk 27 Riserva Naturale dello Zingaro

       Palermo Surrounds

       Walk 28 Palermo’s Monte Pellegrino

       Walk 29 Monte Iato

       Walk 30 Piana degli Albanesi

       Walk 31 Bosco della Ficuzza

       Walk 32 Rocca Busambra

       Le Madonie (Madonie Mountains)

       Walk 33 Cefalù and its Rocca

       Walk 34 Isnello to Gratteri

       Walk 35 Pizzo Carbonara

       Walk 36 Piano Cervi

       Walk 37 Vallone Madonna degli Angeli

       Walk 38 Piano Sempria Sentiero Natura

       I Nebrodi (Nebrodi Mountains)

       Walk 39 Biviere di Cesarò

       Walk 40 Floresta to Randazzo

       Le Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands)

       Walk 41 Vulcano’s Gran Cratere

       Walk 42 Lipari’s Castello and Southern Headlands

       Walk 43 Lipari’s San Calogero Spa

       Walk 44 Salina’s Monte Fossa delle Felci

       Walk 45 Stromboli – Ascent to the Volcano

       Walk 46 Stromboli Loop

       Appendix A Italian–English Glossary

       Appendix B Further Reading

      

      Sorrel brightens the lava fields up to surprising altitudes on Mount Etna

      INTRODUCTION

      Italy without Sicily forms no image at all in the soul; only here is the key to everything.

      J.W. von Goethe, Italian Journey (1786–1788)

Background

      The early history of Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is enveloped in misty legends, with credit for first settling the island going to a motley band of giants. Invincible offspring attributed to Zeus, they enjoyed but a short-lived sojourn as they were punished for challenging the ruling gods. The handful of survivors were bound in chains and banished to underworld forges beneath the island’s volcanoes to fashion arms for the gods, such as thunderbolts for Zeus. To this day they struggle and moan, attempting to break free and shake off the weight of the immense mountains. Ancient sources, in fact, refer to the discovery of huge skeletons in caves, though they were assumed to be marine animal remains washed up by the Flood! The mythical one-eyed Cyclops followed, bloodthirsty cannibals who played havoc with passing sailors, including Ulysses on his epic voyage.

      Archaeological evidence places prehistoric inhabitants around 13,000 years BC. Sicily’s strategic crossroads location in the Mediterranean ensured the arrival of settlers, plunderers, conquerors and visitors from all directions, resulting in a fascinating melting pot of cultures. Major colonisers in the 13th–11th century BC were the immigrant Elymian, Sicel and Sican populations, who lent their name to the island. Subsequently there were Phoenician settlements, prior to a landmark Greek take-over (8th–6th centuries BC) and widespread Hellenisation of language and civilisation, not to mention a name change to Trinacria, for the island’s three-pointed shape. Impressive extant temple and city ruins illustrate this period. In the 3rd century BC Sicily became the first province of Rome – the island’s fertile land later earning it the denomination ‘granary’ of the empire.