Sicily is a pretty unique place full of fascinating people, landscapes, history, architecture and other unique attractions Sicily. It is also a real world apart from the Italian peninsula, but very uniquely interconnected. Indeed Wolfgang Goethe said of Sicily: "L'Italia Sicilia senza not immagine nello spirito lascia: qui è la chiave di tutto" or in other words - "To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not having seen Italy at all, Sicily is the key to everything. "
Once you've been there you agree, no doubt ... and just to reinforce the point, here are some unusual facts about Sicily that could not yet be familiar with:
- Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, with 600 kilometers of coastline and yet still somewhat undeveloped for tourism. It takes about 3 ½ hours to cross the main island from east to west and 2 ½ from north to south.
- Sicily could be as great but in reality is only three kilometers from the Italian peninsula by the Strait of Messina.
- People are considered in Sicily Sicilian Italian first and second.
- About 70 percent of people in Sicily not really speak Italian from Sicily. Sicilian fact it is so different from Italian that although known as a dialect, it could be a language in its own right.
- Who has not lived in Sicily? The Arabs, Normans, Byzantines, Greeks, Romans and Spaniards - whatever they have all been here.
- One of the world's most famous mathematicians, Archimedes was born in Sicily.
- The republican movement to unite Italy began in Sicily.
- The majority of Italian-American immigrants hailed from the south - Naples and Sicily beyond.
- The term "mafia" originated in Sicily and this is indeed the home of the infamous criminal organization and illegal mafia. But there is another kind of "mafia" in Sicily and that is the culture of the mafia - or a system of bribes and commissions which government and business often work.
- Sicily is home to two of three active volcanoes in Italy: Etna and Stromboli. The other is Vesuvius volcano in Italy, near Naples. Mount Etna is the highest volcano in Europe and about 25 percent of the Sicilian population living on its slopes.
- Italy is considered to have the biggest "black market" in Western Europe, much of this thanks to passing in Sicily. Economically, Sicily is one of the poorest areas of Italy with an average salary of about half of those in the north. The official unemployment is twice the national average is around 20 percent.
- The allies used Sicily during World War II as a basis to begin the Allied invasion in 1943, which eventually led to the end of the reign of Benito Mussolini in the country.
- Syracuse was once the largest in the ancient Greek city in the world.
Once you've been there you agree, no doubt ... and just to reinforce the point, here are some unusual facts about Sicily that could not yet be familiar with:
- Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, with 600 kilometers of coastline and yet still somewhat undeveloped for tourism. It takes about 3 ½ hours to cross the main island from east to west and 2 ½ from north to south.
- Sicily could be as great but in reality is only three kilometers from the Italian peninsula by the Strait of Messina.
- People are considered in Sicily Sicilian Italian first and second.
- About 70 percent of people in Sicily not really speak Italian from Sicily. Sicilian fact it is so different from Italian that although known as a dialect, it could be a language in its own right.
- Who has not lived in Sicily? The Arabs, Normans, Byzantines, Greeks, Romans and Spaniards - whatever they have all been here.
- One of the world's most famous mathematicians, Archimedes was born in Sicily.
- The republican movement to unite Italy began in Sicily.
- The majority of Italian-American immigrants hailed from the south - Naples and Sicily beyond.
- The term "mafia" originated in Sicily and this is indeed the home of the infamous criminal organization and illegal mafia. But there is another kind of "mafia" in Sicily and that is the culture of the mafia - or a system of bribes and commissions which government and business often work.
- Sicily is home to two of three active volcanoes in Italy: Etna and Stromboli. The other is Vesuvius volcano in Italy, near Naples. Mount Etna is the highest volcano in Europe and about 25 percent of the Sicilian population living on its slopes.
- Italy is considered to have the biggest "black market" in Western Europe, much of this thanks to passing in Sicily. Economically, Sicily is one of the poorest areas of Italy with an average salary of about half of those in the north. The official unemployment is twice the national average is around 20 percent.
- The allies used Sicily during World War II as a basis to begin the Allied invasion in 1943, which eventually led to the end of the reign of Benito Mussolini in the country.
- Syracuse was once the largest in the ancient Greek city in the world.
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