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The first Greek colony founded at Naxos in 734 BC displaced Sicel inhabitants.

A Grand Tour author reported that Sicilians had been using hand gestures since the Greek invasion as a way of furthering resistance against foreign rule. Some of the common gestures you see mean: “She’s pretty”, “This tastes great”, “Let’s go”, “I couldn’t care less”, “Do you want to stop for a coffee?”, “Be careful”, “That’s not such a good idea” and “His wife is cheating on him”.

The god of fire lived on Mount Etna forging his father Zeus’s lightning bolts with the flames of the volcano.

The feast of All Souls on 2 November is celebrated to the hilt. Families visit the cemetery where tombs have been rigorously tidied up and adorned with fresh flowers for the glory of the dead and for approval of family members and anyone else casting a judgmental eye. Relatives from the other world leave gifts for children, such as toys, frutta martorana (fake fruits crafted of almond paste) and pupi di cena , garishly coloured sugar dolls.

Luchino Visconti’s 1968 film version of Lampedusa’s novel stars Burt Lancaster.

The life of a Sicilian fisherman-cum-postman is turned around through his friendship with the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda (1994).

Garibaldi and his Red Shirts invaded at Marsala in 1860 starting the campaign that ended with the Unification of Italy.

A 1984 film adaptation of four Pirandello stories.

This craggy old woman who declined an invitation to join the Three Kings bringing gifts to Christ in the manger regretted her decision, set out on her own, and has been travelling the earth with a sackful of gifts ever since. At Epiphany (6 January) she fills children’s socks with presents if they’ve been good or with coal if they’ve been bad.

The only original part of the exterior of this 1143 Norman masterpiece is its splendid bell tower, now minus its red dome. The original façade prompted an Arab traveller of 1184 to proclaim it the most magnificent building ever seen, so much so he hoped it would become a mosque. It never did (see La Martorana and San Cataldo).