TaorminaTaormina (UKˌtɑːɔːrˈmiːnə , US-nɑː , also taʊrˈ-, ta.orˈmiːna; Taurmina) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian sea, including that of Isola Bella, are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992, and via highways from Messina in the north and Catania in the south. On 26–27 May 2017 Taormina hosted the 43rd G7 summit.
AdranoAdrano (aˈdraːno; Adernò until 1929; Ddirnò), ancient Adranon, is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Catania on the east coast of Sicily. It is situated around northwest of Catania, which was also the capital of the province to which Adrano belonged, now a metropolitan city. It lies near the foot of Mount Etna, at the confluence of the Simeto and Salso rivers. It is the commercial center for a region where olives and citrus fruit are grown. Neighbouring towns include: Biancavilla, Bronte, Paternò, Randazzo, Santa Maria di Licodia and Centuripe.
GelaGela (Sicilian and ˈdʒɛːla; Γέλα) is a city and comune (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of Caltanissetta and is one of the few comune in Italy with a population and area that exceed those of the provincial capital. Gela was founded in 698 BC by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete; it was an influential polis of Magna Graecia in the 7th and 6th centuries BC and became one of the most powerful cities until the 5th c.
VeliaVelia was the Roman name of an ancient city of Magna Graecia on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele (Ὑέλη) around 538–535 BC. The name later changed to Ele and then Elea (ˈɛliə; Ἐλέα) before it became known by its current Latin and Italian name during the Roman era. Its ruins are located in the Cilento region near the modern village Velia, which was named after the ancient city. The village is a frazione of the comune Ascea in the Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy.
GaisericGaiseric (389 – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric (Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: *Gaisarīx) was king of the Vandals and Alans from 428 to 477. He ruled over a kingdom he established and played a key role in the decline of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century. Through his nearly fifty years of rule, Gaiseric raised a relatively insignificant Germanic tribe to the status of a major Mediterranean power. The illegitimate son of King Godigisel, Gaiseric became king of the Vandals upon the death of his half-brother, Gunderic.
BariBari (ˈbɑːri , ˈbaːri; Bare ˈbæːrə; Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples. It is a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of 315,284 inhabitants, over , while the urban area has 750,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area has 1.3 million inhabitants. Bari is made up of four different urban sections.
Sicilian cuisineSicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food also has Greek, Spanish, French, Jewish, and Arab influences. The Sicilian cook Mithaecus, born during 5th century BC, is credited with having brought knowledge of Sicilian gastronomy to Greece: his cookbook was the first in Greek, therefore he was the earliest cookbook author in any language whose name is known.
ComuneA comune (koˈmuːne; plural: comuni koˈmuːni) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions (regioni) and provinces (province). The comune can also have the title of città ('city'). Formed praeter legem according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities, the comune is provided for by art. 114 of the Constitution of Italy. It can be divided into frazioni, which in turn may have limited power due to special elective assemblies.
Agatha of SicilyAgatha of Sicily (231 – 251 AD) is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred 251. She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. Agatha is the patron saint of Catania, Molise, Malta, San Marino, Gallipoli in Apulia, and Zamarramala, a municipality of the Province of Segovia in Spain. She is also the patron saint of breast cancer patients, rape victims, martyrs, wet nurses, bell-founders, and bakers, and is invoked against fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.
AghlabidsThe Aghlabids (الأغالبة) were an Arab dynasty from the tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, Sicily, and possibly Sardinia, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a century, until they were overthrown by the new power of the Fatimids. In 800, the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid appointed Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab, son of a Khurasanian Arab commander from the Banu Tamim tribe, as hereditary Emir of Ifriqiya, in response to the anarchy that had reigned in that province following the fall of the Muhallabids.
