The island of Sicily is surrounded by myths and legends that go back to the earliest days of classical history. For centuries before the birth of Christ it was the most westerly outpost of Greek culture, having been settled by travelers from the Peleponnesian peninsula. Probably the most famous Sicilian Greek was Archimedes - the great scientist who developed the science of flotation, famously jumping naked out his bath shouting "Eureka" when he finally worked it out. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm for his subject finally got the better of Archimedes: when Sicily was being conquered by the Romans he testily told a soldier to leave him alone while he finished the maths problem he was working on. The soldier, annoyed at this slight, chopped off Archimedes' head.
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Sicily enjoyed a quiet few centuries as a Roman province, supplying grain and soldiers to the empire. Things got exciting again the Middle Ages. Several hundred Normans (vikings who had settled in northern France) got annoyed at being left out of the invasion of England under William the Conqueror, and headed south in search of their own island to conquer. They found Sicily, and under legendary adventurers such as Robert Guiscard set up the dazzling but short-lived Norman Kingdom of Sicily.
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If you're an Italian American, there's a very strong chance that your forebears are from Sicily, as it was one of the centers of European emigration to the States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of the distinctive names of famous and notorious Italian Americans (Sinatra, Corleone) are actually Sicilian names. It is in Sicily, of course, that the Mafia has its traditional home - although these days most organised crime activity that could be described as Mafia-led takes place in northern Italy (where the money is) and in the USA.
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Sicily is still a deeply rural place. In some areas you can still see ploughs being pulled by teams of oxen, in a practise that hasn't changed much for thousands of years. The island's cuisine is very distinctively Italian, infused with the rich tomatoes for which the island is famous. It is also a deeply Catholic place: the church interiors of Sicily are dim, reflective places frequented by worshippers at the most unlikely times of day. This, truly, is a very spiritual place - and a place with a distinctive character that even a brief visit will imprint on you forever.