Walk 4 Francavilla and the River
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
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
Walk 25 Marvellous Medieval Erice
Walk 26 Riserva Naturale di Monte Cofano
Walk 27 Riserva Naturale dello Zingaro
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
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
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.