235 Best Sights in Sicily, Italy

On the town's Piazza Duomo, you'll find the parish church of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. The church's dominating structure is in the Catalonian Gothic style, with 12 elaborate columns representing the apostles and two bell towers, one Norman and one from the 18th century. The interior is relatively simple, with notable works including an intricately carved, life-size wooden crucifix by local monk Frate Umile da Petralia (1600--1639) and and the Madonie's largest organ, which dates from 1780. Petralia Soprana's most venerated pious objects, the multicolored wooden statues of the apostles Pietro and Paolo (1767) are paraded through the streets on the saint's feast day, June 29.

Castelbuono's main cathedral, located on the central square of Piazza Margherita, was originally established in 1362; the current church is an elegant Romanesque structure dating to the 16th century that is filled with religious art and paintings. The Gothic Catalan bell tower reflects a similar Andalusian style to Palermo's Duomo and is a prominent feature of the town's landscape. A painted altarpiece, with intricate wooden carved details and portraits of various saints, dominates the church interior. The images on the polyptych are from the 1500s, created by Antonio di Saliba, the nephew of the famous early Renaissance Sicilian master Antonello da Messina.

This fascinating museum consists of three sections, one dedicated to geology and another to archaeology, and one to documentary photography. It's a testament to Petralia Sottana's long and fascinating human and geological history. The rocks and fossils in the locally gathered collection date back to 200 million years ago and showcase the geographical evolution of the area. The museum's archaeological collection shows a vast array of prehistoric vases, numerous ancient Greek ceramics, and items from the Bronze Age. A moving collection of photographs documents Madonie life and landscape, beginning with the work of the Palermitano Enzo Sellerio, whose 1973 show began a series of exhibitions, culminating in a 2021 group show. 

The lovely Benedictine cloister of the abbey adjacent to the Duomo was built at the same time as the church but enlarged in the 14th century. The enclosure is surrounded by 216 intricately carved double columns, every other one decorated in a unique glass mosaic pattern. Afterward, don't forget to walk behind the cloister to the belvedere, with stunning panoramic views over the Conca d'Oro (Golden Conch) plain toward Palermo. If you wish to visit, reserve a tour online at least a week in advance.

Opposite the Museo del Satiro Danzante, the exuberant Baroque Jesuit College, with its portal framed by hefty male caryatids, was once the center of the Catholic Inquisition in town during the 18th century, charged with rooting out and punishing anything they deemed to be heresy. In 1824, the Jesuits clashed with Sicily’s Bourbon rulers and were kicked out (probably missed by a few). Now, the space is undergoing renovations, and visitors can explore small exhibitions of artworks from the municipal archives. The damaged church of Sant’Ignazio next door is sometimes open; it's an evocative elliptical space, framed by red-gold sandstone and marble columns, and open to the sky. It is occasionally used for open-air concerts and exhibitions.

This lively street that runs the length of Lipari Town from the port blends the tourist and local worlds. You'll find the requisite souvenir shops selling trinkets and postcards, but it's also where residents go to visit their butcher, to pick up daily bread, and to buy fishing tackle. During summer evenings, it's closed to cars and becomes the primary stretch for making the evening passeggiata (evening stroll) past cafés that reverberate with energy late into the evenings.

Located in the rolling hills just below Tindari, this local winery offers the chance to sample the best locally produced wines. You can also go on a tour of the historic winepress and enjoy a light meal. Wine tastings require a minimum of four people per booking.

With its cupola and twin turrets, Acireale's cathedral is an extravagant Baroque construction dating from the 17th century. Look out for the 19th-century, horizontal sundial on the floor of the transept which incorporates the signs of the zodiac, and in the chapel to the right of the altar, the 17th-century silver statue of Santa Venera (patron saint of Acireale) by Mario D'Angelo. Climb up to the belvedere for stunning views.

Designed by Rosario Gagliardi in 1738 (and completed in 1791), Ragusa's main cathedral, a fine example of the Sicilian Baroque, was further modified in the 19th century with the addition of a Neoclassical cupola. The flamboyant convex facade with bell tower rises 203 feet, looking like a wedding cake from the sloping piazza below to provide sightlines for the 141-foot dome. Although visitors enter via side entrances, the ornate portal frames wooden doors that are decorated with six episodes in the martyrdom of San Giorgio, all carved by Fiorello (1793). The three-nave interior is more subdued in comparison and contains numerous paintings and statuary by mostly 18th-century Sicilian artists, as well as an impressive 3,383-pipe Organum Maximum made in Bergamo in 1881; that alone is well worth hearing and a reason to visit. But you may wish to linger to take in the artworks and sunlight-bathed atmosphere from 20 vibrant, stained-glass windows, each detailing more saintly scenes and allegories.

The main Norman cathedral of Caccamo, the original church was built in the 1400s by the Chiaramonte family and filled with artwork from many Sicilian Renaissance masters. The building was expanded and rebuilt in the 1600s in the elaborate Sicilian Baroque style and still houses all the paintings from the previous structure and other artwork from abandoned or destroyed churches in the area.

Termini's main cathedral is dedicated to St. Nicholas and, like most Sicilian churches, is filled with precious artwork. The interior chapel and altar are from the 17th century and are decorated with precious inlaid colored marble, while the facade was remodeled in the early 20th century with the addition of four saintly statues and three colonnaded doors. The Duomo also has an on-site museum of sacred art, filled with silverwork, vestments, religious relics, and liturgical objects of great value.

Statues of the apostles line the staircase of Modica's honey-colored stone cathedral, which was originally constructed in the 14th century, then rebuilt in an impressive Baroque style following its destruction in the 1693 earthquake. Look down to marvel at the ornate intarsia stone tiling and above at the vaulted ceiling frescoes (1760-80) depicting Biblical scenes by local artist Gian Battista Ragazzi and his son Stefano. Flanked by an impressive wooden choir the main altar has a vibrant marble statue Madonna del Soccorso (also called Madonna della Mazza), which dates from 1507. This curious image of Mary, who is wielding a club to smash a Satanic figure while cradling the baby Jesus, has its origins in the legend of 14th-century Nicola La Bruna from Palermo, whose vision of Mary is said to have cured a grave illnes. On a political note, there was a long and bitter dispute with lofty rival San Giorgio (Modica's other cathedral) regarding which church was rightfully Modica's "Chiesa Madre" (Mother Church); thankfully, they now share that status more amicably. If you're a glutton for churches, consult www.laviadellecollegiate.it for information and itineraries that cover Modica's plethora of places of worship.

The entrepreneur Ignazio Florio played a leading part in the regeneration of Favignana's tuna fisheries in the 19th century, a tale told in his company's former fishery, a huge complex located on the outskirts of Favignana town, now converted into a museum. Hour-long guided tours take you through the fascinating history and gruesome methods of bluefin tuna fishing, including the ritualistic and bloody culmination of the fishing process, La Mattanza, or "The Killing." These traditional methods died out with the growth of modern industrial practices and overfishing. Tours must be booked a least a day in advance. There's also a separate section focusing on the Battle of Egadi (241 BC), which saw the defeat of the Carthaginians by a Roman fleet and their subsequent expulsion from Sicily.

Park in the car park just off the main inland road from Tracino to Rekale. From here, a lovely path leads up to lush upland meadows (carpeted with wildflowers in spring) where favare, natural emissions of sulfurous steam, billow through crevices in the rock. If you want a longer walk, a path continues from here to the Grotta del Bagno Asciutto. Alternatively, you could climb one of Pantelleria’s two main peaks, Montagne Grande (1 hour, 40 minutes) or Monte Gibele (50 minutes).

This outdoor sculpture park is filled with contemporary art and is especially gorgeous against the stunning Tyrrhenian coastline. One of the park's most spectacular permanent installations is the Monument for a Dead Poet by Tano Festa, a giant, blue-framed window that looks out towards the sea and can be seen from miles away. Other fascinating pieces include a bronze pyramid placed precisely on the 38th parallel of latitude and the labyrinth of Arianna, which recalls the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur.

Central Sicily is peppered with sulfur mines, most abandoned since the 1980s, and testaments to one of the most horrific aspects of Sicily’s history. Many children ended up working in the mines, most of them orphans, and if they died at work, no time was wasted in burying them. Conditions for men were hardly better—they worked naked underground in 98°F temperatures, and thousands died of respiratory diseases. The Floristella Mine near the town of Valguarnera Caropepe is overlooked by a splendid villa, built, with chilling insensitivity, as a summer residence by the mine’s noble owners, and later used as offices. A path leads down to the minehead where a winching mechanism lowered the lift to nine different levels, giving access to tunnels that stretched for over 5 km (3 miles). The small ovens where the extracted rock was heated for a week until liquid sulfur emerged are still evident, as are the tracks along which small trains hauled the rock to the surface.

The best way to explore the haunting history of Valguarnera is with local guide Paolo Bellone, who has interviewed many of the miners and their families. He will meet you at the mine, then take you to see the town’s powerful and moving private museum collections, which include documentary footage of the sulfur miners at work in the 1960s and rooms furnished to demonstrate everyday living conditions for the poor and the better-off in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Tours culminate with a visit to the Casa Museo, where one woman lived for her entire life, from her birth in 1911 until her death at the age of 89 in 2000, rarely throwing anything away, including her father’s Fascist party membership card and a 1922 water bill. The house has been kept as it was found, down to the garlic, herbs, and sugar in the ancient kitchen, cigarette butts in an ashtray, and a packet of American Black Jack chewing gum.

The underground Amenano River flows beneath much of Catania. You can glimpse it at the Fontana dell'Amenano, a Carrara marble fountain on the Piazza del Duomo that was built in 1867. It's a popular meeting point and tourist attraction. However, one of the best places to experience the river is at the bar-restaurant A Putia dell'Ostello ( Piazza Currò 6  095/7233010  www.agorahostel.com). Here you can sit at a lantern-lit underground table as the water swirls through. If you're not planning to stay for a drink, someone from the bar will sell you a €1 ticket to walk into the cavelike seating area. Aside from the underground river, the bar area aboveground is a lively, fun spot to hang out on a Monday evening when many other places are closed.

A freshwater spring, the Fountain of Arethusa sits next to the sea, studded with Egyptian papyrus that's reportedly natural. This anomaly is explained by a Greek legend that tells how the nymph Arethusa was changed into a fountain by the goddess Artemis (Diana) when she tried to escape the advances of the river god Alpheus. She fled from Greece, into the sea, with Alpheus in close pursuit, and emerged in Sicily at this spring. It's said if you throw a cup into the Alpheus River in Greece, it will emerge here at this fountain, which is home to a few tired ducks and some faded carp—but no cups. If you want to stand right by the fountain, you need to gain admission through the aquarium; otherwise look down on it from Largo Aretusa.

Housed in this late-15th-century Catalan Gothic palace with Renaissance elements is the Galleria Regionale, holding Palermo's foremost collection of medieval and Renaissance art. Among its treasures are the Annunciation (1474), a painting by Sicily's prominent Renaissance master Antonello da Messina (1430–79), and an arresting fresco spanning two floors (and visible from both the ground floor and a first-floor gallery) by an unknown 15th-century painter, titled The Triumph of Death, a macabre depiction of the plague years.

Palazzo Bellomo looks unlike any other palace in Ortigia, a formidable 13th-century building, whose austere minimalist facade (with scarcely a window) could almost seem contemporary but dates from a time when Sicily was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Conflicts between Emperor Frederick II and the Pope were rife—the Pope was encouraging the mercantile cities Venice and Genoa to make war on Sicily, promising Siracusa as prize. That defense was paramount is not surprising. The Gothic upper floor was added, along with the courtyard—a perfect Shakespearean film set—in the 15th century. Highlight of the collection is an Annunciation by Antonello da Messina, painted for a church in Palazzolo Acreide, with the Hyblaean mountains visible through the windows behind the angel and the Madonna. Early Christian sculpture and a fine collection of altarpieces and icons are fascinating evidence of the enduring Byzantine and Gothic influence in Sicily. While the rest of Italy was swept by the Renaissance, Siracusa’s artists were still painting heavily stylized Byzantine or Gothic works.

Easy to miss behind the Temple dei Dioscuri, the sunken garden was created within what was once a vast "tank" excavated in the stone on the orders of the Tyrant Theron in 480 BC. In time, it was transformed into a lush garden, irrigated by a series of little channels, a technique brought to Sicily by the Arabs, who had learned this craft in the deserts of North Africa. Now planted with citrus, olive, almond, pistachio, pomegranate, and even banana trees, it forms a true oasis, where often the only sound is that of running water. Check their website for seasonal events such as guided tours of the garden and citrus tastings.  In order to visit the garden, you must first purchase an access ticket to the Valley of the Temples.

On the edge of the old town, this tranquil public garden is lined with palm trees and dotted with fountains and churches along stone paths with numerous benches for contemplation and picnicking. The ambling walkways skirt the cliffside and offer dramatic views of the valley below. Among the three churches here, the Chiesa dei Cappuccini is notable for the beautiful wooden altar featuring a triptych by Pietro Novelli (1635) depicting the Assumption, flanked by Saints Agata and Catherina.

The name translates literally as "the custodians of the vineyards of Etna," and Mario Paoluzi and his team take their roles as guardians quite seriously. From the low-intervention management of one of the oldest producing vineyards on Etna to the use of the alberello trellis system, this winery specializes in producing elegant expressions of Etna wines that pay homage to the history and culture of the area.

Salvo Foti, the patriarch of this family-run winery, has been called the most important Sicilian agronomist and winemaker. In fact, his work cultivating native grapes is part of the reason Americans have even heard of Nerello Mascalese or Carricante. His conscientious methods, which honor both the land and cultural traditions of Etna, have been passed on to his two sons (Simone and Andrea) who now manage the winery and lead tastings in the historic Palmento Caselle (c. 1840). In the fall, they still use the palmento to stomp grapes and press wine the way it was done centuries ago on Etna.

Located on Levanzo's rugged northwestern coast, Italy's most important example of cave art, the Grotta del Genovese, displays a stunning set of paintings and incised drawings dating from the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. The guide explains in fascinating detail how the small red and black figures of animals, fish, and insectlike humans were created here between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, and how they were discovered by a holidaymaker in 1949.

Transport to the grotto, which is privately owned, may be included in the price of the ticket. Arriving by sea, a 20-minute ride, allows you to experience Levanzo's beautiful coast, but is not possible when the sea is at all rough as the boat must negotiate a narrow inlet in order to disembark passengers. The alternative is overland via Jeep, though this involves a downhill walk along a track for the last half mile. The whole excursion by boat or Jeep takes around 90 minutes. You can also make your own way here on foot along inland paths from Levanzo town, a walk of around one hour each way.

Visits to the site must be booked online, by email, or by phone at least 48 hours in advance, but ideally several days ahead during the busy summer months. Note that neither touching the engravings nor photographing them is allowed, and sturdy shoes are advised.

There's no doubt that the highlight of Castel di Tusa is its beaches, which stretch out from the beginning of the Tusa Cape in the east and end on the other side of the town at the Lungomare di Tusa. The beaches here vary from rocky, pebbly ones to golden sandy ones. Generally, Sicilian beaches are rustic with minimal facilities. Sicilians like to find a secluded spot to swim and sunbathe and might bring something for a picnic along with a simple beach umbrella. The same can be said for Tusa beaches: very basic but with crystal clear waters. Amenities: none. Best for: swimming; walking.

This late-Roman villa was accidentally unearthed during construction work for the nearby autostrada in the early 1980s, and the archaeological area has since recovered a complete Roman aristocratic home. The villa is filled with fascinating details, including mosaic tiled floors, walls, and doors.

A little bigger than a square mile, this lake, along with the nearby Lake Faro, is fed by groundwater mixed with seawater that flows in from a pair of canals built by the British around 1830. As a result, the waters are particularly great for growing mussels, one of the most iconic foods of the area. You'll see little sticks poking up from the water to indicate various aquaculture plots. And on sunny days, it's common to see people rowing crew in the lake.

Near the southern tip of Filicudi, you'll find a small crescent beach of large rounded pebbles with a perfect view of nearby Alicudi. During the summer, there's a lido service that rents beach chairs and umbrellas and even offers basic concessions, such as drinks and cold salads.

At the base of the pylon at Capo Peloro, where the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas meet, this little beach club stays open year-round. From the white-sand beaches you can see the Calabrian town of Scilla just across the strait. Because of the convergence of the seas, the waters are known for strong currents and whirlpools, which the ancient Greeks referred to as the sea monster Charybdis who would swallow ships whole. But the clear waters immediately hugging the coast are shallow and perfect for a dip. At the lido, you can rent chairs and umbrellas for the day or just pop in for a quick bite of lunch, a coffee, or a sunset aperitivo.