Sights Listed
Many visitors enjoy seeing places based on a particular theme, such as ancient archeology, medieval architecture, the Baroque, Art Nouveau, opera houses, nature or wineries. (Even activities such as hiking, sailing or golf.) Here we focus (by category) on important sights and sites easily reached and usually open to the public. (The museum page gives additional information.)

Ancient Archeology: Best Punic (Phoenician and Carthaginian) sites are in Palermo, Erice, Mozia and Solunto. Note that Punic and 'native' (Elymian, Sicanian) traces are sometimes seen alongside Greek and Roman ones. Segesta was originally Elymian. The best preserved Greek temple is that of Segesta, though Agrigento's are also worth seeing. Selinunte and Siracusa (Greek Sicily's most important city) are the other important Greek sites. Taormina has a Greek amphitheatre, and Himera (outside Termini Imerese) the ruins of a Greek temple. The most interesting Sicilian attraction that is specifically Roman is the Villa del Casale outside Piazza Armerina, famous for its Roman mosaics. Catania, Tindari and Solunto are fine examples of secondary Roman sites. Places like San Giuseppe Jato have Roman sites but they're rarely open. Many finds (such as the Venus shown here) have been removed from their sites to be displayed at museums. The regional archeological museums at Palermo (the Salinas) and Siracusa (the Orsi) have exceptional collections, while those at Agrigento, Catania and Mozia, though smaller, are also very good.
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Medieval Architecture: Major medieval cathedrals and churches are in Cefalù, Agrigento, Erice, Siracusa and Palermo. Monreale Abbey is just outside Palermo (shown is a mosaic from its cathedral). The medieval cathedrals in Messina and Catania are largely reconstructed. Some of the best preserved castles are those in Catania (Ursino), Siracusa, Caccamo, and Mussomeli. Many of the others, such as those of Enna or Sperlinga, are partly destroyed. Taormina and Palermo have a number of fortified aristocratic dwellings similar to castles. The pure Gothic never supplanted the Romanesque, though some later Romanesque churches, such as Cefalù's cathedral, have certain Gothic elements.
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Baroque: Ragusa is famous for this but most of the larger cities have more than their share of Baroque or quasi-Baroque churches and palaces. In Palermo and Catania entire districts were built in this style.
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Art Nouveau: In Sicily this architectural style is called 'Liberty' and Palermo is most famous for it.
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Opera Houses: Those of Catania and Palermo are the largest and best known, offering the best opera, concert and ballet seasons year after year. Palermo has two, the Massimo and Politeama. The opera page gives contact info.
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Nature: For hiking and biking, Mount Etna is supreme, but some parts of the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains are also interesting.
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Wine Country: The area between Salemi and Marsala is Italy's largest single grape growing region, and most of Sicily's better wineries are in the vast area west of Agrigento. The Etna region also has a number of vineyards and wineries.
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Golf: Sicily has two 18-hole golf courses.
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