Overview
Sitting in the centre of the Mediterranean, Sicily has always been a strategic prize fought over for millennia. The original settlers, the Sicani, of Semitic origin in the west of the island and the Siculi, a tribe of Latin background in the east, were joined by the Phoenicians from Carthage. A foothold in Sicily formed a vital part of the trading empire built up by the Phoenicians as it provided a staging post for further expansion westwards to France and Spain.Then came the Greeks, who were attracted by the great natural resources of the island. Sicily was rich in wheat, oil and wine, and the Greeks brought to the island their characteristic form of urban life, the polis, or independent city state. Colonies were founded by all the major Greek mainland cities and islands to form part of what in time became known as Magna Graeca or, Greater Greece.

As with the wider Mediterranean world in antiquity, so too in Sicily: the Romans arrived in their hungry expansion for new territories and sources of food and wealth. Making typical use of what they found, the Romans adapted the existing building styles and general cultural models, models based on the firmly rooted language of Greek classicism. However, they also introduced new building types and artistic vocabularies of their own.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west, Sicily continued to prosper, particularly during its short period as part of the eastern Byzantine Empire. Byzantium was not just an eastern Mediterranean power, and Sicily was an important part of its wider territorial and religious ambitions. They were, however, to be challenged by a widely different group of new forces to emerge from both east and west.

Rooted in the deserts of the Middle East, Arabic culture added to this heady mix from the ninth century onwards. The local dialect, the crops grown, the culinary traditions (particularly its love of all things sweet!) and the particular adaptation of familial customs – all point to a deep dependence on Muslim sources and its medieval heritage.

In contrast, from the north came the Normans, of all unlikely invaders, who initiated a period of great wealth and sophistication from the eleventh century. Led by the de Hautville family, this was truly a golden age when the cultural ambitions of the new elite made use of any and every style available, all fused together to create one of the great cultures of the Middle Ages, memorably described by John Julius Norwich in his book “The Kingdom in the Sun”.

Later medieval Sicily was dominated by endless feuds between non-local European dynasties, all striving to control the island. These included the Imperial Hohenstaufen family from Germany, the royal and ducal house of Anjou from France and a branch of the royal house of Aragon in Spain. These dynastic complexities developed against the wider backdrop of a huge struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors, the struggle now characterised as that between Guelph and Ghibelline.

The house of Aragon finally emerged victorious, gaining control of both Sicily and Naples. Early in the sixteenth century, Spain (including Aragon and its Italian possessions) were inherited by Charles of Habsburg, perhaps better known as the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. Governed by a series of Spanish Viceroys, Sicily slowly slid into decline and the island’s culture and economy remained isolated from much of the rest of Italy and Europe.

As we move from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, Sicily passed from Habsburg to Bourbon control, part of the wider rearrangement of Europe’s map after the War of the Spanish Succession. Following a few more marriages, a few more wars and a few more map adjustments, the eventual ruling family was the House of Bourbon-Parma. They ignored Sicily for decades, in favour of Naples and its surroundings. Despite finding shelter in Palermo when thrown out of Naples during the Napoleonic wars, the family’s return to power (and Naples) altered little on the island. Thus, Sicily was ripe for “picking” when Italy began to assert itself as a nation in the mid nineteenth century. Indeed, Garibaldi’s march up Italy began in Sicily in May 1860. With the unification of Italy taking place a year later, hopes of a new dawn with changes in land ownership and material prosperity did not materialise. The island’s particular traditions of dealing with problems quietly and in the ‘local manner’ is a part of the cultural and criminal phenomenon today we call ‘The Mafia’, and this will form the final part of our overview of the island’s history and traditions.

We will spend the first three nights in Palermo at the very centrally located 4* Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa. Recently refurbished, three interlinked classically articulated palazzi surround a covered cloister in an historic location. A further two nights will be spent at the 4* Hotel della Valle in Agrigento, located south of the island. A comfortable 4-star hotel located in a quite area just outside the city centre. For our last 2 nights we will be guests of the 5* Grand Hotel Ortigia in Siracuse southeast Sicily, a charming classic hotel located in the most sought-after area of Siracuse.

The Livery Committee is the Society’s members’ social committee and is separate from the main Society Programme.  It operates outside of the governance of the Society, and uses a money-pooling system for all of its events.  Net receipts collected by the Society on their behalf are passed to the Livery Committee.