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Views over the Kalura from the Rocca (Walk 33)

A brief period of Byzantine rule was followed by the productive Arab epoch, which witnessed the introduction of irrigation techniques, fish preservation and silk farming, as well as some memorable architecture and a wealth of place names: kalat for castle is fairly common and has survived in Caltanisetta, marsa for port explains Marsala (port of Allah), gebel or ‘mount’ can be seen in Mongibello, another name for Etna. The subsequent Norman period (11th–12th century) added to this precious legacy with religious tolerance, rich art works, feudalism and a Latinising influence. Noteworthy rulers were Roger II, who employed the celebrated Arab geographer al-Idrisi, and William ‘the Good’.

Temple at Selinunte (Walk 19)

Sicily was later joined with Naples to form the ‘Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’, stretching from the mid-15th to the mid-19th century. It was not until 1860, with the advent of the revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, that the island was freed from Bourbon rule and the Sicilians joined the fledgling united Italy.