History of Sicily
3,000 years of civilization, conquest, and the story of a people who endured.
OVERVIEW
The island of Sicily has had a very long and troubled history. A succession of conquests over two thousand years by a series of either repressive or neglectful foreign rulers has left its imprint on the psyche of the Sicilian people and their identity, which survives today. In recent history Sicilians have consistently been portrayed as being extremely passionate, violent, immoral, dangerous, backwards, superstitious, and lazy. These vulgar and bigoted stereotypes ignore the root cause of the historical Sicilian condition, the island’s long, continuous cycle of neglect, abuse and corruption at the hands of foreign rulers, governments, and by the Mafia.
The ability to endure great suffering through the millennia has been the universal trait of the Sicilian people, which most defines them. This ability sets them apart from all other peoples and cultures in Europe. With the exception of the Jewish peoples, no other ethnic group within Europe has endured such a sustained, unbroken cycle of brutality and repression as the Sicilian people. It is the keystone of our collective soul, the force that binds all Sicilians to our ancestors throughout time, and a unique identity which supersedes our nominal nationality as Italians.
Ten Historical Eras. One Island. One People.
Sicilian history unfolds across ten distinct eras, each leaving its mark on the island, its architecture, its language, its cuisine, and above all its people. Click any era below to explore it in depth.
Before the Greeks ever set foot on Sicily, three distinct peoples already called this island home. Their story is the first story of Sicily — and it is the foundation of everything that came after.
For nearly five centuries, Sicily was the jewel of the Greek world. Syracuse rivaled Athens. Akragas rivaled everything.
Rome’s first overseas province. Its granary. Its training ground for empire — and its first great injustice against the Sicilian people.
Constantinople’s distant hand ruled Sicily for nearly four centuries. Greek-speaking. Eastern-facing. And gradually forgotten by its rulers.
Palermo became one of the most magnificent cities on earth. Agriculture was revolutionized. Science and learning flourished. Religious tolerance was enacted. And for two centuries, Sicily was one of the brightest lights of the medieval world.
The richest, most culturally advanced, and most enlightened kingdom in medieval Europe. Built by the descendants of Vikings on the foundations of the Greeks and Arabs.
Emperor Frederick II dazzled the world from Palermo. Then came the French. And then came the Vespers.
Four centuries under Spain. Centuries of neglect, exploitation, and inquisition — followed by its Baroque rebirth after the great Sicilian earthquake of 1693.
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Revolutions of 1848. A people pushed past breaking — and finally, past fear.
Garibaldi landed at Marsala. Millions emigrated. Falcone and Borsellino gave their lives. Sicily rises.
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Archeological evidence dates the earliest settlements within Sicily back to the Paleolithic
This chapter sets the stage to gain greater understanding of Sicilian historical
Sicilian Greek history is dominated by a succession of powerful rulers called
Christianity came early to Sicily. Tradition holds that Saint Paul himself visited
The Byzantine reconquest of Sicily was led by Belisarius, Emperor Justinian’s greatest
To understand the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, one must first understand how
The Norman invasion of Sicily was a 30-year campaign of conquest, from
The chapter traces the regency period following the death of Emperor Henry
The chapter begins with the establishment of a brutal and rapacious French
This chapter begins with the consolidation of the kingdoms of Castille and
From 1735 until the Italian unification of 1860, Sicily was ruled by
On May 11, 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi landed at the port of Marsala
The fall of the Bourbons in 1860 completed one of the longest
Far from romanticizing this early period of Italian unification, the chapter examines
This chapter describes the daily life for the great masses of ordinary
This chapter covers the period from roughly 1890 to 1940 — the
On July10, 1943, the Allied forces launched Operation Husky, the invasion of
Post-war Sicily faced enormous challenges: rebuilding shattered cities, multiple humanitarian crises from
By the late 1970s the despair of the Sicilian people had reached
The final chapter of Sicilian Odyssey is an epilogue on modern day
