Sicily - Italy - page 543

APPRECIATING WORLD-CLASS BYZANTINE-ARAB MOSAICS No
one combined Arab artistry with Byzantine decadence better than the ancient
Sicilians. Enjoy these on a morning visit to Monreale (p. 556), just outside
Palermo.
GOING GREEK Some of the best preserved Greek ruins in the world are in
Sicily. Don't miss the Doric temples in the archaeological park near Agrigento, on
the island's southern flank, or the ruins of the Greek Theater of Taormina
(p. 570), high above the island's eastern shore. You can also visit stunning cities
like Siracusa and Gela to see Greek ruins.
ATTENDING A PUPPET SHOW First performed in the 18th century to give
commoners a chance to enjoy theater without paying for live performers, Sicilian
puppet theater has enjoyed a long tradition. Today the best theaters are in Palermo,
Siracusa, and Cefalù. Performing Pupi are still hand carved, following traditional
methods, and each of the theaters has an adjacent museum where you can see the
puppets up close. Handmade puppets also make a perfect Sicilian souvenir.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SICILY
Sicily's tenuous position—strung between North Africa and the European main-
land, just 160km (100 miles) from Cap Bon in Tunisia on one side and 3km (2
miles) from Calabria in Italy on the other—has made it a natural stepping stone
for settlers and invaders throughout its long history. Rock carvings on the island
date the first humans on Sicily to 12,000 B . C .
Sicily's Hellenistic cities—Siracusa and Catánia and what is now Messina—
were founded in the 6th through 8th centuries B . C . by the Greeks, who later built
vast temples, which still stand near Agrigento. Throughout the 4th and 5th cen-
turies B . C ., the Carthaginians of North Africa fought the Greeks—and later the
Romans—for control and turned the island into a bloody battlefield. After the fall
of Rome, Sicily labored under many occupations before returning to the Arabs in
the 9th century, when Islam became the official religion. The Arab rulers toler-
ated Christianity and Judaism on Sicily.
When the Normans regained control of the island in the 11th century, Sicily
began its Golden Age, still clinging to its ancient rituals but relying more and
more on Greek, Arab, and Byzantine influences. Sicily fell to the French in the
13th century and was repeatedly sacked and oppressed for the next several hun-
dred years. The Sicilians eventually reacted to this oppression by forming their
own secret society, which they called “Mafia,” a term derived from the Arabic
word for “refuge.” In the 1700s, this secret society, by then also known as the Cosa
Nostra, began distributing a picture of a black hand, which was a formal request
for protection money. Those who didn't pay faced misfortune--or worse. The
Cosa Nostra is still a force in Sicily today, though it's unlikely that you'll be aware
of its presence. They do not target tourists.
One delight in visiting Sicily is viewing its many pasts, one layer upon the
other. Phoenician ruins on the western coast (now anchored by modern-day
Palermo) lie below Norman-Arab castles and churches. Fine examples of
Byzantine architecture are within walking distance of early Gothic churches.