Sicily is the largest island in the west of the southern end of the Italian peninsula, in the Mediterranean Sea. Bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west and south, by the Ionian Sea on the east, and by the Tyrrhenian Sea on the north, the island of Sicily is the region of Italy, separated by the Strait of Messina from the mainland.

The island of Sicily was colonized by the Greeks in the 8th – 6th centuries BC; became the first Roman province in the 3rd century BC; came under Byzantine rule in the 6th century AD; came under the control of the Arabs from North Africa in 965 AD; and was acquired by the Normans in 1060 AD. Sicily was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Read the rest of this entry »