Sicily Region.

An island where history stands in the open air: the Greek temples of Agrigento among the olive trees, the Roman mosaics of Piazza Armerina, the Baroque squares and the domes of Palermo. All around, the sea of the Aci Trezza sea stacks and the Stagnone salt pans, the wheat and vine countryside, and Etna looking over everything from above.

Sicilian Region Palermo · Agrigento · Etna

Castello Utveggio.

A pink neo-Gothic castle on top of Monte Pellegrino, with Palermo, its harbour and its gulf at its feet. The film circles the building, steps into the chequered portico and the halls, looks out from the loggia and takes flight again over the city, from the Favorita park to the coast.

03:51 Palermo, Monte Pellegrino no sound

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01The castle from above, on Monte Pellegrino
  2. 02Palermo, the harbour and the gulf
  3. 03The façade, the palms and the chequered portico
  4. 04The interiors: the hall, the rooms, the loggia
  5. 05Palermo in flight, from the Favorita to the coast

History.

The Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, from the air and from the ground: the columns of the Temple of Heracles, the Dioscuri among the cypresses, Concordia with Mitoraj's Fallen Icarus at its feet, Juno on the edge of the hill. In between, the green of the Kolymbethra Garden.

Also to be seen in
Art

01:17 Agrigento, Valley of the Temples

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01The Temple of Heracles, with Agrigento behind
  2. 02The Temple of the Dioscuri and the Kolymbethra Garden
  3. 03The Temple of Concordia, in flight
  4. 04Igor Mitoraj's Fallen Icarus
  5. 05The Temple of Juno and the way back among the olive trees

The sea.

Four coastlines in a single film: the lava sea stacks of Aci Trezza with the Lachea island, the white cliff of the Scala dei Turchi, Cefalù gathered between its Rocca and its Norman cathedral, and, to the west, the Stagnone salt pans with their windmill and the Phoenician basin of Mozia.

Also to be seen in
Landscapes

01:17 Aci Trezza, Scala dei Turchi, Cefalù, Stagnone

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01The Cyclops sea stacks and the harbour of Aci Trezza
  2. 02The Scala dei Turchi
  3. 03Cefalù, the Rocca and the cathedral
  4. 04The Stagnone salt pans and the kothon of Mozia
  5. 05A fishing boat, and Cefalù at sunset

Nature.

The countryside of inland Sicily over the course of a season: the prickly-pear plantations, the young rows of the vineyards, the flocks and herds among the olive trees, the red fields of sulla clover and, at the end, the harvested wheat against the light beneath the mountains.

Also to be seen in
Agriculture

01:17 Inland countryside

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01Harvesting the prickly pears
  2. 02Hillside vineyards, from above
  3. 03Sheep and cattle grazing among the olive trees
  4. 04The sulla clover fields in bloom
  5. 05The wheat, and the combine at sunset

Traditions.

Hands first of all: flour sifted and bread kneaded on a wooden table, Nebrodi provola cheeses hung to age, flat peaches in the basket, bees on the hive frame. Then the table: granita and pistachio ice cream, the pastry shop with its gilded cabinets, marzipan fruit and a glass of white wine among the barrels.

Also to be seen in
Food

01:17 Bread, cheeses, sweets and wine

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01Flour and bread made by hand
  2. 02Nebrodi provola cheese
  3. 03Flat peaches and honey
  4. 04Granita, pistachio ice cream and pastries
  5. 05Marzipan fruit and wine in the cellar

Etna.

The quiet volcano, seen from above: the lateral craters and the cinder cones, the summit with its craters and a group of hikers on the rim, the dark lava flows brushed by the woods, the road climbing in hairpins to the refuge. Below, the lava fields sloping down to the plain and the coast.

Also to be seen in
Landscapes

01:17 Etna

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01The lateral craters
  2. 02The summit and the hikers on the crater rim
  3. 03The lava flows and the woods
  4. 04The cinder cones and the Etna road, from above
  5. 05The lava fields down to the plain, and the refuge

Art.

It begins in Palermo, with the Teatro Massimo seen from above and the Fontana Pretoria in its square, and goes down to Piazza Armerina, among the Roman mosaics of the Villa del Casale. Then the Baroque: staircases, domes and spires with Etna behind them, and a mother church with a majolica bell tower in the middle of the wheat fields.

Also to be seen in
Art

01:17 Palermo, Piazza Armerina and the Baroque

Video Regione Siciliana

What you will see
  1. 01Palermo and the Teatro Massimo, from above
  2. 02The Fontana Pretoria
  3. 03The mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale
  4. 04Baroque staircases, domes and spires, with Etna behind
  5. 05A mother church among the wheat fields

Postcards from Sicily.

Palermo CathedralPalermo · Sicily
The Scala dei TurchiScala dei Turchi · Sicily
The tonnara of ScopelloScopello · Sicily
Rabbit BeachLampedusa · Sicily