Sicily - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana (Sicilian Autonomous Region)

Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts

The arts

The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts – music, theatre, dance and...

, music

Music of Sicily

The Music of Sicily refers to music created by peoples from the isle of Sicily. It was shaped by the island's history, from the island's great presence as part of Magna Grecia 2,500 years ago through various historical incarnations as past of the Roman Empire, then an integral part of the Kingdom...

, literature, cuisine, architecture

Sicilian Baroque

Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture that took hold on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the 17th and 18th centuries...

and language

Sicilian language

Sicilian is a Romance language. Its dialects make up the Extreme-Southern Italian language group, which are spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands; in southern and central Calabria ; in the southern parts of Apulia, the Salento ; and Campania, on the Italian mainland, where it is...

. The Sicilian economy is diversified. The agriculture sector is significant with citrus fruits (mainly oranges and lemons), olives and olive oil, grapes and wine.

Unanswered Questions

Is Constance of Sicily related to someone by the name of Vera?

WHERE IS CICCIA

More

Timeline

535 Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year.

878 Syracuse, Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily.

902 Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army.

1266 Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

1282 The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.

1693 Mt. Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.

1848 The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

1849 Troops of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily

More