Sources and recommended reading
Especially recommended
Maria Giuffre: The Baroque Architecture of Sicily
Donald Garstang: Giacomo Serpotta and the Stuccatori of Palermo 1560-1790 (hard to find)
Sicily Unpacked (DVD)
The Blue Guide Sicily
The Greek World (ed. G.P. Carratelli)
Sicily and the Sea (Allard Pierson Museum, 2015)
Louis Mendola and Jacqueline Alio: The Peoples of Sicily. A Multicultural Legacy (New York/Palermo, 2013)
Rodo Santoro: The Palatine Chapel and Royal Palace (Palermo, 2010)
Rodo Santoro: Palermo and Monreale (Palermo, 2000)
Sicilian History and Culture
Joseph F. Privitera: Sicily: An Illustrated History
Sandra Benjamin: Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History
Andrew Edwards and Suzanne Edwards: Sicily: A Literary Guide for Travellers (Literary Guides for Travellers)
Maria Giuffre and Melo Minnella: The Baroque Architecture of Sicily
Jeremy Dummett: Syracuse, City of Legends: A Glory of Sicily
Jeremy Dummett: Palermo, City of Kings: The Heart of Sicily
Irene Tedesco: Villa Palagonia (in Italian)
Jacqueline Alio: Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens and Rebels
The Greek World (ed. G.P. Carratelli)
J.W. Goethe: Italian Journey [1786–1788]. Translated by W.H. Auden and Elizabeth Mayer. Penguin Books
Rodo Santoro: The Palatine Chapel and Royal Palace (Palermo, 2010)
Rodo Santoro: Palermo and Monreale (Palermo, 2000)
Guide Books on Sicily
Blue Guide Sicily (Ellen Grady) - definitely the best companion for art and history lovers
DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Sicily
Lonely Planet Sicily (Travel Guide)
Rough Guide to Sicily (a good choice for those interested in art and history)
The Sicilian Baroque
Anthony Blunt: Sicilian Baroque
Maria Giuffre: The Baroque Architecture of Sicily
Donald Garstang: Giacomo Serpotta and the Stuccatori of Palermo 1560-1790
Monreale
Rodo Santoro: Palermo and Monreale (Palermo, 2000)
Lisa Sciortino: The Cathedral of Monreale (2012)
Paradoxplace.com (link dead)
Life and food in Sicily / Italy
Giorgio Locatelli: Made in Sicily
Giorgio Locatelli: Made in Italy
The Normans and the Norman Conquest of Sicily etc.
John Julius Norwich: Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History
John Julius Norwich: The Normans in Sicily: The Normans in the South 1016-1130 and the Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194
Gordon S. Brown: The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily
Isabelle Dolezalek: Arabic Script on Christian Kings : Textile Inscriptions on Royal Garments from Norman Sicily
Rodo Santoro: The Palatine Chapel and Royal Palace (Palermo, 2010)
Rodo Santoro: Palermo and Monreale (Palermo, 2000)
Muslim Sicily
Alex Metcalfe: The Muslims of Medieval Italy (2009)
See also: Conquest and Conversion in Medieval Muslim Sicily September 28, 2017 A talk by Alex Metcalfe, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, Lancaster University, UK.
Recommended DVDs / Blurays
- Sicily Unpacked (DVD)
Art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon and Michelin starred chef Giorgio Locatelli take us on a delightful journey around Sicily. Sharing a passion for all things Sicilian they make the perfect travel partners. They reveal how the layers of history have created a unique blend of art and architecture. As well as the pleasures of an intense and vibrant culture, they experience the sadness the island has come through and the strength of the Sicilian people as they rose up and challenged the Mafia. Together they document how the various conquering forces and the rich variety of different heritages have helped to shape both the food and the culture of Sicily. - The Star Maker (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1995)
- Baarìa (Giuseppe Tornatore, 2009)
- L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
The Star Maker
L'Avventura
Most of Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura takes place in Sicily. Here a scene from Villa Palagonia, Bagheria.
Syracuse
Jeremy Dummett: Syracuse, City of Legends
Palermo
Jeremy Dummett: Palermo, City of Kings: The Heart of Sicily
Rodo Santoro: The Palatine Chapel and Royal Palace (Palermo, 2010)
Rodo Santoro: Palermo and Monreale (Palermo, 2000)
Taormina
Francesco Muscolino: Le monete di Biagio De Spuches duca di Santo Stefano. Collezionismo, tutela e dispersione del patrimonio numismatico nella Sicilia del XVIII secolo, in «Notiziario del Portale Numismatico dello Stato», 9, 2016, pp. 48-79 (PDF)
Richard Wagner in Sicily
The famous composer Richard Wagner finished his last music drama, Parsifal, in Palermo, Sicily.
The Romans
- Enzo Cammarata: The Roman Villa of Casale: Historical Facts and Curiosities (Edition 2013)
- Giuseppe di Giovanni: Piazza Armerina: The Roman Villa of Casale (Edition 2014)
Caravaggio
- Jonathan Jones: The masterpiece that may never be seen again Jonathan Jones travels to Palermo in search of Caravaggio's lost nativity (The Guardian)
Interesting articles, blogs etc.
- Jeremy Johns: Cultural engineering in Norman Sicily (Apollo Magazine)
- Sicily and the missed opportunity of UNESCO heritage (ItalyEurope24)
- Ancient Mass Graves of Soldiers, Babies Found in near Himera in Sicily: More than 10,000 graves containing ancient amphorae, "baby bottles," and the bodies of soldiers who fought the Carthaginians were found near the ancient Greek colony of Himera (National Geographic News)
- A list of places you can see Giacomo Serpotta's work on Na sta Sicilia, a cultural blog (in Italian)
- Sicilia 2013
- Julia Speaks: Sicily trip 2016: part 1
- Tommaso Fazello's Sicilian history: De Rebus Siculis Decades Duae (1558)
The Mafia
- Jonathan Jones: The masterpiece that may never be seen again Jonathan Jones travels to Palermo in search of Caravaggio's lost nativity (The Guardian)
Important cities (Wikipedia)
Sicily: A Literary Guide for Travellers
Sicily: A Literary Guide for Travellers from Andy & Suzanne Edwards.
"Without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything." Goethe, Italian Journey
Rising up from the heart of the Mediterranean, Sicily has a rich and ancient history spanning over 2,000 years. A bounty prized by invaders from the Greeks, Romans and Vandals to the Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Sicily's violently beautiful landscapes are haunted by a vibrant mix of cultures and her soil has always been fertile ground for the literary and artistic imagination. This compelling guide uncovers the island's multi-faceted personality through those literary figures who have managed to get under her skin - from Pindar, Cicero and Aeschylus to Shakespeare and Cervantes; DH Lawrence, Coleridge and Oscar Wilde to Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Ezra Pound and Lawrence Durrell; as well as local writers who have defined the modern Italian novel - Giuseppe di Lampedusa and Leonardo Sciascia. Through their words and lives we witness the beauty, pain and power of the Sicilian cultural landscape and discover how the potent mix of influences on the island's society has been preserved forever in literature.
