Location description from manager

The Sicily region

'Sicily (Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia, [siˈt?i?lja]; [s?ˈ?ilja]) is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana (Sicilian Autonomous Region).

Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean. It extends from the tip of the Apennine peninsula from which it is separated only by narrow Strait of Messina, towards the North African coast. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, which is at 3,320 m (10,890 ft) the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate.

Earliest archeological evidence of human dwelling on the island dates from 8000 BC. Around 750 BC, Sicily became a Greek colony and for the next 600 years it was the site of the Greek–Punic and Roman–Punic wars, which ended with the Roman destruction of Carthage. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Sicily often changed hands, and during the early Middle Ages it was ruled in turn by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans. Later on, the Kingdom of Sicily lasted between 1130 and 1816, subordinated to the crowns of Aragon, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and finally the Bourbons, as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It was united with the rest of Italy in 1860. After the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region.

Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, architecture and language. Sicily also holds importance for archeological and ancient sites such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples and Selinunte.

The Sicilian economy is diversified. The agriculture sector is significant with citrus fruits, olives and olive oil, grapes and Tourism and real estate are economically important for the island.';

Cefalu

Situated on the northern coast of Sicily, about 70 km from Palermo, Cefalù is a town of about 15,000 inhabitants and one of the greatest seaside resorts in the province of Palermo. The town, which is part of the Madonie Park (Regional Nature Park, which includes fifteen municipalities in the province) is included in the club of the most beautiful villages of Italy, which means a unique combination of small Italian towns which are distinguished by artistic, cultural and historical interest and by the harmony of the urban livability and services to citizens. Built, probably at the end of the 5th century B.C., on a promontory dominated by an imposing rock, Cefalù took its name from the Greek Kefaloidion, whose meaning is bound with the characteristic shape of the rock that rises above it, like a head. Over the centuries the town was dominated by Greeks, Syracusians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans. Traces of a pre-Hellenic settlement are the megalithic walls, which surrounds the current historical center, and the Temple of Diana, situated high on the rock, La Rocca. The Roman domination influenced the geometric and regulated urban layout, while traces of the Byzantine age (crenellated walls, barracks, storage tanks, churches and furnaces) are located on the rock where at that time inhabitants lived. The town however, is most famous for its medieval feel and monuments at the base of La Rocca.