Sicily: Jewel of the Mediterranean

A walk through the centre of Palermo will take us to the Church of La Martorana with its fine Byzantine mosaics, and the adjacent Church of San Cataldo. Continuing along Via Vittorio Emanuele, Palermo’s oldest street lined with magnificent palazzi, we will visit the Cathedral, an imposing monument of Arab-Norman origins. We then continue to visit the Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, another symbol of Arab-Norman Palermo with its imposing austere structure and distinctive red domes. After lunch, we will visit the Baroque Oratory of Santa Zita and then continue to explore the Kalsa neighbourhood, the first Arab settlement in Europe, where we will have the opportunity to admire the ‘Annunziata’ by Antonello da Messina in Palazzo Abatellis as well as other Sicilian works of art.

After breakfast, travel by coach to Monreale, situated on the slopes of the mountains above Palermo, overlooking the Conca d’Oro Valley. We will visit the Cathedral, an outstanding example of Norman, Arab and Byzantine art and architecture from the 12th Century. Its interior displays one of the most splendid arrays of mosaics from the Byzantine period. We return to Palermo for a free afternoon before an exclusive private visit in the evening to the Palazzo dei Normanni that will give us the opportunity to admire the magnificent Palatine Chapel.

With its Doric Temple and theatre magnificently situated on Mount Barbaro overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Segesta is one of the most evocative of Greek sites. Founded by the Trojans, Segesta assumed a leading role among the Sicilian cities in the 5th Century BC when it defeated Selinunte. Ancient Selinus, modern Selinunte, must have been on a par with the great cities of mainland Greece itself. Its extensive ruins of temples, acropolis and agora are spectacularly positioned on a plateau overlooking the sea. After its sack by the Carthaginians in 409 BC, Selinunte never regained its former status and was rediscovered only in the 16th century.

In the morning we leave Palermo to travel by coach to Syracuse. We will journey across central Sicily to Piazza Armerina to visit La Villa del Casale, one of the best preserved Roman villas with its majestic floor mosaics of Roman figurative art dating from the 4th Century  A.D. Late-afternoon arrival at hotel Algilà in Ortygia for the first of three nights.

A morning walk through Ortygia encapsulates Sicily’s complexity: reusing a Greek Doric temple dedicated to Athena, the cathedral was essentially built in the 7th century, though roofed by the Normans, and endowed with a colossal façade in the Baroque age. Continue to see the Caravaggio painting in the church of Santa Lucia alla Badia. In the afternoon, a short coach trip will take us to Syracuse’s Parco Archeologico with its Greek theatre and Roman amphitheatre. The nearby archaeological museum contains Sicily’s widest-ranging collection of Antiquities.

Enjoy a morning visit to the Villa del Tellaro with fragments of colourful 4th-century Roman floor mosaics showing heroes of the Trojan War and lively hunting scenes. We then continue to the town of Noto, one of the finest examples of Sicilian Baroque, built after the devastating earthquake of 1693. From the monumental Porta Reale, stroll down the Corso to admire the elegant buildings in honey-coloured stone. A grand staircase precedes the magnificent cathedral which is dedicated to St. Nicholas. Visit the Hall of Mirrors in the Palazzo Ducezio, now the Town Hall, and the splendid 19th-century Teatro Comunale where performances are still staged. Last night in Ortygia.

This morning we will have time to visit La Fonte Aretusa and the Temple of Apollo on the island of Ortygia. After an early lunch break, we travel by coach to Catania airport for a late afternoon flight to London.