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The Valley of the Temples was the heart of one of the most important cities in the ancient world and is a prime example of the magnificence of Magna Graecia (see Agrigento and the Valle dei Templi).

The Abbey of the Holy Spirit was founded around 1090 by Count Roger and his wife, Adelasia, and consecrated in 1153. It is one of the few Romanesque Norman buildings to remain intact. The exterior is unadorned except for the portals and the small, triple apse articulated with tall, narrow arcading. The interior contains 14th- and 15th-century frescoes and an dedicatory inscription dating from 1153 in the apse.

This tiny village, 950 m (3,100 ft) above sea level, has a lovely medieval centre. In 1090, the already fortified village was taken from the Arabs by the Norman king Count Roger, who built the Chiesa Madre and fortified the now ruined castle. It was in this castle in 1194 that William III, heir to the Norman throne, and his mother were imprisoned and probably murdered by Emperor Henry VI; it was also the site of the signing of the 1302 peace treaty between Frederick II of Aragón and Charles of Valois, putting an end to the Sicilian Vespers (see The Sicilian Vespers).

Because of its easily defendable position on the top of a tall hill, Enna was almost the only town in the interior for centuries. The Greeks called it the “umbilicus of Sicily”, and it was a key position for any group that wanted to take the island. Enna was so well defended that the Arabs, having tried to capture it for 20 years, resorted to crawling in through the sewer system. In the historic centre see the Gothic Duomo with Baroque renovations; the church of San Giovanni with an Arab dome; the Museo Alessi’s comprehensive ancient coin collection and objects from the Duomo’s treasury; and the museum of Sicily in Miniature, documenting local traditions, such as costumes from Holy Week festivals.

Morgantina was settled first by the Italic Morganti people, then by the Greeks in the 6th century BC, then the Romans, but it was only excavated in 1955. The extensive, well preserved site comprises a split-level agora (forum) connected by a 14-step staircase that served as the site of town meetings, the macellum (covered market), a gymnasium, a public fountain with a double basin, large black lava millstones, residences with mosaic flooring, a 1,000-seat theatre, an enormous public granary and kilns for firing terracotta. The larger of the two kilns was also used for firing construction materials.

The three flat islands that form this group are romantically isolated in the middle of the Mediterranean. Lampione is uninhabited, while Linosa is known for its fertile, volcanic soil and crystal clear waters. Lampedusa, the largest of the three at 20 sq km (7.5 sq miles), responded to a tourism boom with modern buildings, but is still good for swimming, diving and watching sea turtles, dolphins and whales (they migrate in March). The coast of Lampedusa was the object of the 1987 Libyan missile strike that fell short, dumping missiles into the sea.

Dominated by Monte San Calogero and built on a terrace over the sea, this was the thermal spa town for Selinunte and still has a spa offering restorative sulphur and mud baths. The small port town has an interesting harbour choked with little blue-and-white boats, a thriving ceramics tradition and a good mix of old and new. See the Porta San Salvatore (1581) carved by local artisans with carpet-like decorative reliefs, and the Catalan-Gothic Palazzo Steripinto with its diamond-shaped rustication. Then walk the Corso Vittorio Emanuele to the Piazza A Scandaliato for views down to the port, then on to the Duomo for its Baroque façade with Gagini sculptures.

The finest surviving Roman mosaics in the world cover the floors of this official’s luxurious hunting villa (see Villa Romana del Casale).