GEEO Sicily Google Earth Presentation

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USA

Today, I’d like to share a great experience I had traveling to Italy through a non-profit organization called GEEO, which helps educators travel abroad to learn more about different cultures to share with their students. I was joined on my trip by teachers from all around the United States.

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Europe

We traveled across the Atlantic Ocean from North America to Europe. Europe and Asia share a long land border to the east, but Europe is conventionally understood as a separate continent—one of seven on Earth. The ancient Greeks are the ones who created the concept of continents as we think of them today.

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Italy

Italy is a country in Southern Europe that is often referred to as the “Boot” due to its distinctive shape. Around 60 million people live in Italy, making it one of the largest countries in Europe. Italy is famous for its rich history, art, culture, and cuisine. How many of you like Italian food? How many of you have heard of the Mona Lisa—it was painted in Italy! How many of you have heard of the Roman Empire? Italy has had a profound impact on world history and is a top destination for travelers from around the globe.

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Sicily

I traveled to Sicily, the largest island in Italy and the Mediterranean. Due to its location in the middle of the Mediterranean, Sicily has a unique blend of Greek, Roman, and North African influences on its history, traditions, cuisine, and architecture.

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Strait of Messina

Sicily is separated from mainland Italy by the Strait of Messina—a narrow channel connecting the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Ionian Sea. At its narrowest point, it’s only 2 miles wide. Despite this, no bridge has ever been built to connect Sicily with the mainland because the water is hundreds of feet deep and has incredibly strong currents.

In ancient Greek mythology, the strait was guarded by two sea monsters: Scylla and Charybdis. Charybdis would swallow huge amounts of water three times each day, then spit it back out, creating massive whirlpools that dragged ships underwater. Scylla lived on a rock on the opposite side. Sailors feared passing through because they risked being devoured by one monster or the other.

In Homer’s Odyssey, the hero Odysseus had to sail between them, forced to choose which monster to risk. This is where we get the phrase “caught between a rock and a hard place”—choosing between two bad options. The myth was based on reality: real whirlpools form in the strait where powerful currents collide.

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Palermo

Our trip started in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. Palermo has been a thriving city for over 2,700 years and is a cultural melting pot, reflecting the island’s diverse history and influences. The city has a population of about 700,000 and is the largest city on the island. One of the first things we did as a group was head out for an orientation walk of the historic city center with our local guide.

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Norman Palace

One of Palermo’s most iconic landmarks is the Norman Palace, known in Italian as the Palazzo dei Normanni. The palace was first built in the 9th century during the Arab rule of Sicily, and it was later expanded by the European kings who conquered the island. It served as the seat of Sicilian power for centuries and is now home to the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The building is considered the oldest royal residence in Europe.

Who were the Normans? They were descendants of Vikings who had settled in northern France (the region called Normandy). In the 11th century, Norman adventurers conquered Sicily from its Arab rulers. What makes Norman Sicily remarkable is that the new rulers did not erase the cultures they found. Instead, Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived and worked side by side, and Greek, Arabic, and Latin were all used at court. You can see that blend inside the palace’s Palatine Chapel, which combines beautiful gold Christian mosaics with a carved wooden ceiling made in the Islamic style, and marble columns—all in one room.

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Cattedrale di Palermo

Near the palace is the Cattedrale di Palermo, the city’s main Roman Catholic church. The church was first built in the 12th century but has been added to and altered many times over the centuries, blending different architectural styles into the fascinating building you can see now. The cathedral was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Do you know what a UNESCO World Heritage Site is? It is a landmark or area designated by the United Nations for having cultural or historical significance. The program is intended to conserve sites for future generations. You will hear this term many times on our trip—Sicily has seven of them!

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Teatro Massimo

This is the Teatro Massimo, or Massimo Theater, one of the largest opera houses in Europe. It was built in the late 19th century and named in honor of King Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy. (Italy no longer has a king. The monarchy ended after World War II, when Italy became a republic in 1946. The last king, Umberto II, reigned for only about a month.)

The theater is still officially known as the Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele. It hosts a wide range of performances, from opera and ballet to symphony concerts and theatrical productions. Have any of you ever been to a live play, concert, or musical? What was it like to watch performers in person instead of on a screen?

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Cefalù

Our next stop in Sicily was Cefalù, a lovely little town on the coast just east of Palermo. The town is known for its medieval cobblestone streets, picturesque cove, and breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea. Its history dates back to ancient times, when it was founded by the Greeks and later flourished under Roman and Byzantine rule.

One of the highlights of Cefalù is its historic center, with narrow streets and winding alleys, colorful buildings, and medieval architecture. The town’s cathedral is known as the Duomo di Cefalù and was constructed in the 12th century at the base of a hill known as La Rocca. Outdoor enthusiasts can hike to the top of La Rocca for a panoramic view of Cefalù and the surrounding coastline. At the top are the remnants of ancient fortifications and defensive walls dating back over a thousand years.

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Aeolian Islands

Next, we left the big island of Sicily and traveled to the Aeolian Islands, a small archipelago located just off the coast. An archipelago is a cluster or chain of islands. Some are huge, like Indonesia or northern Canada, but the Aeolian Islands—also known as the Lipari Islands—are much smaller. They are named after Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds. They were listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2000 because they are an outstanding example of volcanic islands and ongoing volcanic activity.

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Lipari

We took a ferry to Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands. Lipari Town, the main settlement on the island’s harbor, is a maze of narrow streets and historic landmarks, including the impressive Lipari Castle.

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Lipari Castle

Here is the castle, perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea. The medieval fortification dates back to the 11th century and contains a museum housing artifacts related to the island’s history and heritage.

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Vulcano

During our free time at Lipari, we had the option to take a ferry to the island of Vulcano. The word “volcano” comes from the name of this island, which is itself named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. Vulcano is one of several active volcanoes in Italy. It is quiet right now—its last eruption was in 1888–1890—but it is still considered active, and you can smell sulfur gases rising from its crater and mud.

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Basiluzzo

During our time at the Aeolian Islands, we traveled by boat to some of the other islands, including the tiny island of Basiluzzo. It is the smallest of the eight islands, and no one lives there.

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Panarea

We stopped at Panarea, the smallest of the inhabited islands. We visited Cala Junco, a rocky beach and bay that you can see on the left. It is enclosed by rocks that form an amphitheater shape and is a beautiful place to swim.

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Cala Junco

The beach and seabed are mostly made of small stones, so the water is transparent, with shades of emerald green to turquoise blue. It is a popular place for swimmers and sailboats.

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Stromboli

As sunset approached, we cruised over to the island of Stromboli and arrived just as it started to get dark, at a place called the Sciara del Fuoco—the side of the island you see here. It is considered the best spot for viewing Mount Stromboli’s eruptions. Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth and has been erupting almost continuously for thousands of years, sending small bursts of glowing lava into the sky roughly every twenty minutes. Sailors once nicknamed it the “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean.”

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Taormina

The next morning, we traveled back to the big island of Sicily by ferry and drove to the town of Taormina, a beautiful little hilltop town on the island’s eastern coast, along the Ionian Sea. The charming, colorful town has long been a favorite destination for artists, writers, and travelers seeking inspiration and relaxation. At the very top of the highest point in the old town are the ruins of an old castle, probably built over an even older citadel that was described as “inaccessible” by ancient writers.

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Ancient Theater of Taormina

The town is best known for its Ancient Theater, built by the Greeks over 2,300 years ago! The theater could hold around 10,000 spectators, and it is still used today, including for an annual arts festival. Imagine watching a play or a concert on a stage that has been in use for more than two thousand years—with a live volcano in the background.

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Mount Etna

If you are sitting in the Ancient Theater, you can see a huge mountain off in the distance behind the stage. It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe: Mount Etna. Etna is still very active. Over a six-month period in 2021, Etna erupted so much volcanic material that its height increased by around 100 feet!

The Greeks created many legends about the volcano. They said that it was where the workshop of Hephaestus was located—he was the god of fire, craftsmen, and metalworking. Another legend involved the creature Typhon, who attempted to overthrow Zeus for the supremacy of the cosmos. The two fought a cataclysmic battle, which Zeus finally won with the aid of his thunderbolts. Typhon was buried underneath Mount Etna, and he was said to be the cause of the mountain’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

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Catania

Our next destination was Catania, located right at the foot of Mount Etna. Despite having faced numerous devastating eruptions and earthquakes throughout its history, Catania has risen from the ashes each time, and today it is the second-largest city in Sicily, with a rich history and culture. Much of the city was rebuilt after a massive earthquake in 1693 that killed nearly two-thirds of the people living there. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s filled with beautiful palaces, churches, and squares.

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Piazza del Duomo

This is Piazza del Duomo, the main city square in Catania. In the streets to the right of the main plaza, there is a raucous fish market (called La Pescheria) every weekday morning, where fishermen sell their catches of tuna, swordfish, mackerel, and other local fish. In the middle of the square is the Fontana dell’Elefante (Elephant Fountain), a black lava sculpture that is a symbol of the city.

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Cattedrale di Sant’Agata

This building is the Cattedrale di Sant’Agata, dedicated to the city’s patron saint, Saint Agatha. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times because of earthquakes and eruptions of Mount Etna. It was originally constructed over 1,000 years ago on the ruins of the city’s ancient Roman Achillean Baths, which you can visit by climbing down beneath the cathedral.

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Castello Ursino

Nearby is Castello Ursino, a medieval fortress that was built from dark volcanic stone in the 13th century. It was built to be a royal castle of the Kingdom of Sicily. Today, it is open to the public as a museum, where visitors can explore exhibitions on Sicilian history, art, and culture.

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Monastery of San Nicolò l’Arena

This beautiful building is a former monastery, called the Monastery of San Nicolò l’Arena. A monastery is a place where monks live, work, and worship together. This was one of the largest monasteries in Europe, and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1977, the monastery was donated to the University of Catania, and today it houses the university’s Department of Humanities.

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Teatro Romano di Catania

Finally, in the middle of the city is a remarkable ancient Roman theater dating back to the 2nd century. It is one of the oldest and most well-preserved Roman theaters in Italy. Next to it is a smaller theater called an Odeon, that was used for singing and poetry competitions. Today, the theater hosts concerts, theatrical performances, and cultural events, keeping alive the legacy of ancient Rome in the heart of Catania.

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Syracuse

Next, we traveled to Syracuse, an ancient city that was once a major center of the Greek and Roman worlds. The city was founded by Greek settlers from Corinth in 733 BC and quickly grew into a powerful colony because of its strategic location for trade. (BC means “before Christ,” a way of counting years backward from the traditional date of Jesus’s birth. You may also see BCE, “before the common era,” which counts the same way. So 733 BC was over 2,700 years ago!)

Syracuse’s most notable ruler was Dionysius the Elder, who transformed the city into a military powerhouse. He fortified Syracuse with massive walls and built a powerful navy to dominate the region and fend off invasions. Syracuse is also famously associated with the mathematician and inventor Archimedes. During the Roman siege of 214–212 BC, Archimedes devised war machines—including the “Claw of Archimedes” and possibly a giant array of mirrors to focus sunlight—to defend the city from Roman ships. Despite his efforts, Syracuse fell to the Romans and was absorbed into the Roman Republic.

Archimedes is remembered as one of the greatest mathematicians and inventors who ever lived. One famous story says he discovered how to measure the volume of an irregular object while sitting in his bath—and was so excited that he supposedly ran through the streets shouting “Eureka!” (Greek for “I’ve found it!”).

At the bottom left of the map is the island of Ortygia, the historical heart of Syracuse, filled with narrow streets, ancient ruins, and beautiful buildings.

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Cathedral of Syracuse

One of those buildings is the Cathedral of Syracuse. The structure was originally a Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, built in the 6th century BC. The temple was later converted into a Christian basilica in the 7th century AD. If you look closely at the walls, you can still see the massive original Greek columns built right into the church—a perfect example of how Sicily’s layers of history are stacked on top of one another.

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Parco Archeologico della Neapolis

One of the most significant historical sites in Syracuse is the Parco Archeologico della Neapolis, an archaeological park with some of the most important Greek and Roman ruins in Sicily. An archaeological site is a place where experts called archaeologists carefully uncover and study the remains of ancient buildings and cities.

On the left is the Greek Theater, one of the largest and most well-preserved of the ancient world. It was carved into the hillside in the 5th century BC and could originally accommodate up to 15,000 spectators. One of the most famous Greek playwrights was Aeschylus, known as the “father of tragedy,” and some of his plays were first performed in Sicily. A tragedy is a serious play, usually based on a myth, in which the main character meets a sorrowful end—the ancestor of a lot of the drama we still watch in movies and on stage today.

Next to the Greek Theater is a cave called the Ear of Dionysius. The cave has an unusual shape that has been compared to a human ear. It is famous for its exceptional acoustics, and it is said that Dionysius the Elder used it as a prison, eavesdropping on his captives’ conversations from above.

On the right is the Roman Amphitheater, constructed in the 3rd century AD (about 800 years after the Greek Theater). The arena was used for gladiatorial contests and other public spectacles.

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Ragusa

After visiting Syracuse, we drove to Ragusa, a hilltop city divided into two main areas: Ragusa Ibla, the lower and older part, which kept its medieval layout, and Ragusa Superiore, the newer part, built in a more modern grid pattern. Can you tell from this view which is the older part and which is newer? (Ragusa Ibla is toward the top, and Ragusa Superiore is on the plateau next to the deep valley.)

— Stop 32 —

Villa Romana del Casale

Our next stop was the remarkable Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located near the town of Piazza Armerina. This ancient Roman villa has some exceptionally well-preserved and intricate mosaics dating back to the 4th century, which provide a fascinating glimpse into the life and art of the Roman Empire. A mosaic is a picture or pattern made from thousands of tiny colored tiles or stones. The mosaics here depict ancient scenes of hunting, fishing, and athletics, and many feature animals, including lions, tigers, elephants, ostriches, and antelopes. The level of detail is incredible.

The villa is believed to have been the luxurious residence of a wealthy Roman noble, possibly a senator or even a member of the imperial family. It was buried by a landslide in the 12th century and remained hidden for centuries, until it was rediscovered in the late 19th century. Excavations eventually revealed the mosaics, which cover nearly 40,000 square feet of floor space.

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Agrigento

Afterward, we continued to the ancient city of Agrigento. It was originally known as Akragas when it was founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists. It was one of the most important cities during the golden age of ancient Greece, and it continued to thrive when it later came under Roman control. The city declined after the fall of the Roman Empire, and it is fairly small today, but it has some incredible Greek and Roman ruins.

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Valley of the Temples

Just outside the city is the Valley of the Temples, one of the most important archaeological sites in the world and another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to an extraordinary collection of well-preserved ancient Greek temples. This is the Temple of Concordia, one of the best-preserved ancient Greek temples anywhere in the world. It was built in the 5th century BC and converted into a Christian church in the 6th century AD, which helped protect it from destruction.

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Temple of Hera

This ruined temple is known as the Temple of Hera. It sits on a high ridge, offering magnificent views of the surrounding area.

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Marsala

We made a quick stop in the town of Marsala to visit some of Europe’s oldest traditional salt marshes. The process of harvesting sea salt in Marsala has remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years.

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Salines

The sea salt production takes place along the coast in shallow ponds called “salt pans,” or saline (pronunciation) in Italian, where seawater is allowed to evaporate, leaving behind layers of salt crystals.

It begins in the spring, when seawater is channeled into the salt pans. Throughout the summer, the sun and warm winds cause the water to evaporate, gradually forming salt crystals. By late summer, the salt is ready to be harvested. Workers use traditional tools to rake and collect the salt by hand. The harvested salt is then piled into mounds and left to dry before being processed and packaged.

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Trapani

We continued on to the beautiful city of Trapani. As you can see, similar to Marsala, Trapani is surrounded by salt pans where sea salt has been harvested for centuries. Trapani was badly damaged by bombs during World War II, but it has grown quite a bit since the end of the war, sprawling out around the area.

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Erice

Trapani was originally founded by the native inhabitants of Sicily, called the Elymians, to serve as the port of the nearby city of Eryx (present-day Erice), which overlooks it from Monte Erice. You can take a cable car from Trapani’s city center up to Erice, perched high above the sea.

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Egadi Islands

Just off the coast of Trapani lie the Egadi Islands, a small archipelago known for their crystal-clear waters, beautiful beaches, and rich marine life. The three main islands—Favignana, Levanzo, and Marettimo—are popular destinations for day trips from Trapani, with opportunities for swimming and snorkeling.

— Stop 41 —

Monreale

On the last full day of our trip, we drove to Monreale, a fairly “young” city by Sicily’s standards. It was established in the 12th century under a ruler known as King William II, or William the Good. He had an impressive cathedral built in the city as a symbol of power and religious devotion.

— Stop 42 —

Cattedrale di Monreale

The cathedral’s exterior is impressive, with massive bronze doors and tall bell towers. The whole interior surface of the cathedral is covered in 70,000 square feet of stunning glass mosaics that depict biblical scenes and saints. These golden mosaics are one of the greatest examples of the Arab-Norman art style we first saw back in Palermo—Christian pictures, made with techniques and craftsmen from the Islamic and Byzantine worlds, all glittering together.

— Stop 43 —

Overview

Our trip ended back in Palermo, and we flew all the way back to the United States. Here, you can see all the places I was able to visit—from erupting volcanoes and Greek temples to golden mosaics and ancient salt pans.

A few themes emerged from our journey:

• A crossroads of the Mediterranean: Because Sicily sits between Europe and Africa, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Normans all ruled here in turn. Instead of erasing one another, their cultures layered together—you can see it in a single building, like a Greek temple turned into a church, or a Christian cathedral covered in Islamic-style art.
• Living with volcanoes: Etna, Stromboli, and Vulcano are all still active. Sicilians have built cities in their shadow, rebuilt after their eruptions, and even explained them through myth. The land here is literally still being shaped before our eyes.
• Ideas that changed the world: Archimedes did mathematics and invented machines in Syracuse that we still study today, and Greek playwrights helped invent the theater and drama we still enjoy.
• History you can stand inside: In Sicily, a 2,300-year-old theater still hosts concerts, and people still harvest salt the way their ancestors did. The past isn’t behind glass here—it’s all around you.