On current information to date, the present-day Sicilian gene pool has a small, significant contribution of African (Negroid) genes, from contacts either numerically minor or for a brief time span.
Autosomal studies
Genetically, Sicilians cluster the closest to Southern Italians, and especially to Calabrians.
Was Sicily ever attached to Africa or to mainland Italy? It almost certainly was, but even today Sicily is only 3 kilometers from Calabria at the narrows of the Strait of Messina, and just 160 kilometers from the African coast.
There were three indigenous groups on ancient Sicily: the Elymi in the western part of the island, the Sicani in the centre, and the Sicels in the east - the latter being the root of the island's name.
While both Italy and Sicily have Italian as their official language, Sicilians have their own regional dialect that includes influences from Greek, Arabic, Norman French, and Spanish. This is due to Sicily's unique history and position as a crossroads between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
While individuals having extremely light blonde hair represent only a small part of the Sicilian population, many Sicilians have blue or green eyes and light complexions (and red hair).
Moors in the Black Mediterranean
Arriving from present-day Tunisia, the Arabs conquered Sicily in 827 AD, and remained in power for some two hundred and fifty years. In fact, the new conquerors were not usually addressed as Arabs, but rather as 'Moors' […].
Possibly the most iconic and naturally spectacular motor racing event in the history of Motor racing, both famous and infamous, the Targa Florio race started in the sun-kissed Sicilian mountains in 1906 in the province of Palermo. It was the oldest Sports Racing event in the world.
Sicily began to be colonised by Greeks in the 8th century BC. Initially, this was restricted to the eastern and southern parts of the island. The most important colony was established at Syracuse in 734 BC.
Tens of thousands of African migrants have passed through Sicily on their way to northern Europe - but what is often forgotten is that many Africans stay on the island. Nowadays Palermo has become one of the most multi-ethnic cities in Italy and a multicultural hotspot in Europe.
Sicily eventually fell to French, Spanish and Austrian rule in succession before the Spanish Bourbons united the island with Naples in 1734.
Religious Beliefs.
Almost all Sicilians are Roman Catholic. Devotion to Mary in her maternal role is particularly strong, and she, as well as saints such as Joseph, Agatha, Anthony, Lucy, and Rosalia, are revered as intercessors.
Unlike Italian, which is almost entirely Latin based, Sicilian has elements of Greek, Arabic, French, Catalan, and Spanish. This can be seen in many Sicilian words, like azzizzari [to embellish, adorn] from the Arabic aziz [beautiful], or foddi [angry], which can be traced to the Norman French fol.
Everything from Greek to Romanic, and Byzantine to Arabic, Norman, Gothic and Baroque can be taken in all throughout the region. The Greek heritage that remains in Sicily can be seen in the architecture of a few very important buildings.
Sicilian means belonging or relating to Sicily, or to its people or culture. countable noun. A Sicilian is a Sicilian citizen, or a person of Sicilian origin.
This is the case of Centuripe, in Sicily. Centuripe, in fact, is especially famous for its particular appearance from above: a shape that immediately catches the eye, recalling right away the resemblance to the silhouette of a man.
In 965 the island fell to Arab conquest from North Africa, in 1060 to Normans, who progressively Latinized the island. In the 12th and 13th centuries the island formed a part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (or Naples), and in the 18th century Sicily was ruled by the Bourbons.
Sicily and the Italian Peninsula was the first area in then Catholic Western Europe to be reached by the bubonic plague pandemic known as the Black Death, which reached the region by an Italian ship from the Crimea which landed in Messina in Sicily in October 1347.
Referred to either as Moors (in Iberia) or Saracens (in South Italy and Sicily), their arrival in Europe dates to 711 AD, rapidly subduing most of Iberia and Sicily (831 AD).
Italian–American crooner, Frank Sinatra, has his roots in Sicily, while Domenico Dolce (of Dolce & Gabbana) and footballer Mario Balotelli call the island home. Then, there's a fair share of Hollywood legends that call Sicily home too – like Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Frank Capra.
The colours of the Sicilian flag
The two main colours, red and yellow, represent Palermo and Corleone, the two founding cities of the confederation against the Angevins. Historically, Corleone was one of the island's most important agricultural centres.