The cozy island of Sicily has a rich history and no less rich culture, very interesting from a variety of points of view. The customs and traditions are still very strong here, and despite the penetration of modern values from other countries and from Italy itself, the Sicilians are still very conservative for the most part.
Facts about the island of Sicily
- Cicero, the famous ancient orator, lived here for a long time.
- Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean.
- Locals speak Sicilian, although most also know Italian.
- Because the continental plates are constantly moving, Sicily is slowly, very slowly moving towards Italy itself.
- The Sicilian Museum in the city of Palermo houses the oldest surviving European document. It was written in 1109 (interesting facts about the museums of the world).
- Medusa Gorgon, a mythological monster from an ancient legend, lived here. And other legendary monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, according to legend, lived in the strait between Sicily and the neighboring island of Calabria.
- The opera house in the Sicilian city of Palermo is the largest in the whole country.
- Sicilian poet Giacomo Lentini invented the sonnet, which later became one of the most widespread poetic forms in the world.
- For a long time, Sicily was an independent state.
- Around the 10th-11th centuries, Sicily, which then had about 2,000,000 people, was the most densely populated place on Earth.
- Etna volcano, the highest active volcano in all of Europe is located here. It arose due to the fact that there is a junction of lithospheric plates under Sicily (interesting facts about volcanoes).
- Giuseppe Balsamo, an adventurer who went down in history, who introduced himself as Count Cagliostro, actually existed. And he was born in Sicily, in Palermo.
- The mafia as a concept and as a criminal organization originates here, although since then it has spread widely throughout the world.
- The customs of blood feud are still strong in Sicily.
- Here are ruins of many ancient cities. Once Sicily was one of the centers of ancient Greek civilization.
- The famous inventor and scientist Archimedes was also a native of this island.
- For 15 years, Sicily belonged to Austria (interesting facts about Austria).
- The oldest wooden crucifix in the world, created at the time of the birth of the Christian religion, is kept in the Sicilian commune of Casteltermini. It is already more than two millennia old.
- In terms of area, the island of Sicily surpasses such countries as El Salvador, Israel and Slovenia. It is approximately equal to another country – North Macedonia.
- Despite such a rich history, Sicily cannot be called an economically prosperous region. The standard of living here is almost half the Italian average.