Tourism has been my passion and my profession since 1990. I began in La Plata, Argentina, at Euromar Turismo, the agency owned by my beloved father, Orazio Filippo Greco, before continuing in Italy with Andina Viaggi. Merlintravel grows from that experience and the desire to keep exploring and sharing the world. The journey continues…
Let’s see where it takes us.
Tourism has been my passion and my profession since 1990. I began in La Plata, Argentina, at Euromar Turismo, the agency owned by my beloved father, Orazio Filippo Greco, before continuing in Italy with Andina Viaggi. Merlintravel grows from that experience and the desire to keep exploring and sharing the world. The journey continues…
Let’s see where it takes us.
Italy · Second regional chapter
Civilisations, volcanoes and the sea: an island read through family journeys, ancient cities, living cultures and landscapes shaped by fire and water.
Begin the journeyA personal beginning
After Umbria, the region that became home, the journey continues towards Sicily: the land of my father and my grandfather, and therefore the land of my roots.
For me Sicily has never been a single place on a map. Relatives lived in different parts of the island and, from childhood, travelling there meant setting out with my father to meet them, before returning to Taormina for the time of the family holiday.
This is why Sicily must be crossed slowly: not as one destination, but as a world accumulated over millennia.
Sicily in bloom
The visual language of this chapter grows from the island itself: blossom and cultivated gardens, flowers against lava and limestone, saturated ceramics, coastal blue and the bright interruptions of spring.
White blossom, green leaves and yellow carried through gardens and cultivated landscapes.
Red interruptions beside ruins, terraces and fields in the clear light of spring.
Living green and intense flowering colour set against dark volcanic ground.
Ionian brightness, island channels, deep harbour water and marine horizons.
Bougainvillea, painted carts and glazed ceramics carrying colour into towns and courtyards.
One island, many histories
Sicily is not a simple procession of rulers. Communities, languages, faiths, economies and artistic techniques overlapped, collided and changed one another. The journey begins before the Greek cities and continues beyond the monumental past.
Sicani, Sicels, Elymi, rock-cut necropolises and early Mediterranean exchange.
Ports, commercial routes and Carthaginian power in western Sicily.
Independent poleis, sanctuaries, theatres, alliances and long conflicts.
Province, agriculture, cities, roads, transformed theatres and great estates.
Eastern Roman rule, Christianity and enduring Greek cultural continuities.
Political centres, Mediterranean networks, agriculture, language and urban change.
A kingdom that reworked Western, Islamic and Byzantine forms.
Dynasties, ports, fortifications and transformations of the early modern island.
The catastrophe of 1693 and the different urban responses of the south-east.
Unification, migration, autonomy, social struggles, reconstruction and contemporary art.
The complete journey
The map will not reduce Sicily to a coastal circuit. It will connect archaeological landscapes, Baroque towns, mountain parks, marine protected areas and the smaller islands that extend Sicily far into the Mediterranean.
Six ways into the island
Each chapter follows both geography and history. Together they prevent the island from being reduced to a handful of famous monuments or beaches.
Taormina, Naxos, Etna, Catania, Alcantara and the Riviera of the Cyclops.
02Pantalica, Ortygia, Greek power, the 1693 earthquake and the Baroque towns.
03Piazza Armerina, Morgantina, Enna, Caltagirone and landscapes far from the coast.
04Agrigento, Gela, Selinunte and the relationship between ancient cities and cultivated land.
05Palermo, Monreale, Cefalù, Segesta, Erice, Mozia, Marsala and the Belìce valley.
06Eolie, Egadi, Pantelleria, Ustica, Pelagie, Zingaro, Madonie and Nebrodi.
Quick guide index
The six chapter pages above are the main route. This compact index keeps direct access to every complete guide without repeating the full card catalogue.
How to read Sicily
Cities, necropolises, sanctuaries, theatres, villas, ports and quarries.
Doric temples, Roman mosaics, Arab-Norman spaces, Baroque cities and contemporary memory.
Puppet theatre, craftsmanship, agriculture, festivals, languages and community knowledge.
Etna, Stromboli, Vulcano and Pantelleria as physical landscapes and cultural presences.
Ports, islands, protected areas, fishing traditions and routes between Europe and Africa.
Mountains, plateaus, mining landscapes and towns beyond the coastal image of Sicily.
The historical framework is checked against UNESCO, the Sicilian Region’s archaeological and natural-heritage systems, institutional site managers and authoritative historical references. Personal memories are identified as such and kept distinct from documentary claims.
Planning note. Opening hours, tickets, paths, volcanic access and marine conditions change. Every practical detail will be checked again immediately before publication and before travel.
