Civilisations of Sicily - Mediterranean crossroads: three thousand years of creativity

In March, September and October: fly at c. 2.45pm from London Heathrow to Palermo (British Airways). In April: fly at c. 7.30am from London Heathrow to Palermo (British Airways). The largest and by far the most interesting city on the island, Palermo has been capital of Sicily since the period of Saracenic occupation in the ninth century. It reached a peak under the Normans and again during the Age of Baroque. First of six nights in Palermo.

A morning walk through the old centre includes visits to the Palazzo Abatellis and outstanding Norman buildings including La Martorana with fine mosaics. Lunch is at a private palace, by special arrangement. In the afternoon see the remarkable Greek sculpture in the Archaeological Museum. In the evening there is an out-of-hours visit to the Palatine Chapel in the palace of the Norman kings. Entirely encrusted with Byzantine mosaics, this is perhaps the finest assembly of Byzantine art to survive anywhere.

The small town of Monreale dominates a verdant valley southwest of Palermo. Its cathedral is one of the finest Norman churches on the island and possesses the largest scheme of Byzantine mosaic decoration in existence. Cefalù, a charming coastal town, has another massive Norman cathedral, also with outstanding mosaics, and an art gallery with a painting by the 15th-century artist Antonello da Messina.

The remains of the Greek colony of Akragas at modern-day Agrigento constitute one of the greatest sites bequeathed by the ancient world. A relatively late foundation (580 bc), it rose rapidly to riches and constructed eight peripteral temples, the most numerous group in the Greek world. That dedicated to Olympian Zeus was the largest of all Doric temples before being felled by Carthaginians and earthquakes, while the Temple ‘of Concord’ is the best preserved.

Day 5: Segesta, Selinunte. Set in an unspoilt hilly landscape, the almost complete but fascinatingly unfinished fifth-century temple at Segesta was built by indigenous, if thoroughly Hellenised, Sicilians. On an adjacent hill is a spectacularly sited theatre with views to the sea. Selinunte, founded by Greeks from the Attic city of Megara c. 650 bc, is a vast archaeological site, renowned for its many temples and acropolis.

Start with the cathedral, a building of many periods (though largely medieval), with grand royal and imperial tombs, then to San Giovanni degli Eremiti, a Norman church with tall cupolas and a charming garden. See also Il Gesù, grandest of Palermo’s Baroque interiors. Optional visit to three tiny stuccoed oratories in the afternoon, or free time.

Visit Castello della Zisa, an Arab-Norman Palace. Then leave Palermo and drive through the hilly interior of Sicily. At Piazza Armerina are the remains of one of the finest villas of the late-Roman Empire, whose floor mosaics comprise the most vital and colourful manifestation of Roman figurative art in Europe. Continue to the east coast for the first of three nights in Taormina.

Free day in this extremely pretty town. The Teatro Greco (actually largely Roman) is incomparably sited with far-reaching views encompassing smouldering Mount Etna, the Ionian sea and the Calabrian coast of mainland Italy. The town itself, clinging to a hillside with beaches far below, has buildings from five centuries as well as further Roman structures. A smart resort since the 19th century, our hotel has shaded gardens which spill down a series of terraces. (Also a swimming pool which is usually open between March and October).

Drive along the coast to Messina. The city was one of Caravaggio’s Sicilian refuges, and in the art gallery there are two paintings by him and the best-surviving work by the 15th-century painter Antonello da Messina. Cross the Straits of Messina by hydrofoil to Reggio di Calabria on mainland Italy to see the Riace Bronzes, over-life-size male nudes associated with Phidias and Polyclitus, among the finest Greek sculpture to survive.

Sicily’s second city, Catania was largely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 with long straight streets lined with Baroque palaces. Special arrangements to see a magnificent private palazzo and a Byzantine chapel, and visits to the Roman theatre and Normano-Baroque Cathedral. Continue to Syracuse for the first of three nights. 

Morning visit to the mainland to Santa Lucia al Sepolcro, the church for which Caravaggio painted the Burial of Saint Lucy. Continue to the Archaeological Museum, organised thematically to bring together material from much of Magna Graecia. The afternoon is free.

Rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake, the hill town of Noto is one of the loveliest and most homogenous Baroque towns in Italy. All of honey-coloured stone, vistas are enlivened with carved stone balconies with elaborate ironwork. Visit the convent of Santa Chiara, the cathedral and San Carlo. Return to Syracuse in the afternoon via the Archaeological Park and its famous Greek theatre, the largest of its type to survive.

Situated at the southernmost tip of the island of Ortygia, guarding the entrance to the ‘Great Harbour’, the Castello Maniace is one of the great architectura statements of 13th-century Europe. See the Antonello da Messina’s bewitching Annunciation in the nearby Palazzo Bellomo. In March: Fly from Catania, arriving London Gatwick at c. 4.00pm (Easyjet). In April, September and October: Fly from Catania, via Frankfurt, arriving London Heathrow at c. 3.45pm (Lufthansa).