Where to Stay
Discover Sicily through its Hotels
The DNA of Sicily
Where Ancient Civilisations Meet Mediterranean Drama
| Sicily is less an island with a single identity than a collection of cultures layered over one another. Greek temples, Roman villas, Arab gardens, Norman cathedrals and exuberant Sicilian Baroque towns tell the story of centuries spent at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. Palermo’s faded palazzi and markets feel worlds away from the honey-coloured Baroque architecture of Noto and Modica, while Mount Etna creates an altogether different landscape of black lava, vineyards and villages. Contemporary architects and designers increasingly work within this extraordinary inheritance, restoring masserie, monasteries and aristocratic houses without polishing away the patina that makes them interesting.
Food and drink may be the island’s most immediate expression of that cultural complexity. Arab, Spanish, Greek and Italian influences remain visible in a cuisine built around citrus, pistachios, almonds, tomatoes, aubergines, seafood and extraordinary street food. Palermo and Catania have completely different culinary personalities, while dishes and ingredients can change from one village to the next. Sicily’s wine culture is equally diverse, from mineral Etna Rosso grown on volcanic slopes to Nero d’Avola, Frappato and the historic sweet wines of Marsala and the islands. Traditional trattorie now coexist with ambitious restaurants and a new generation of winemakers rediscovering old vineyards and indigenous grapes. Sicily’s most interesting hotels make full use of this abundance of architecture and landscape. Baroque palazzi, former monasteries, aristocratic villas, rural estates and volcanic hideaways are being transformed into deeply individual places to stay, often combining contemporary Italian design with ceramics, antiques and local craftsmanship. At DNA Hotels, we curate the places where architecture, food, wine and Sicily’s many cultural layers come together—hotels that capture an island too complex, contradictory and wonderfully imperfect ever to be reduced to another Mediterranean escape. |