To help you enjoy your stay to its fullest, we have arranged several daily tours for Participants and Accompanying Persons to places of local interest. Costs and details will be announced during the first day of the Congress. The Tours can be booked at the Tourist Desk directly at Astoria Palace Hotel.  Each tour will start with a guaranteed minimum number of 14 persons.

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Palermo

Palermo is rich in treasures of all kinds, art, folklore and tradition; its origins go far back in time. Its original name was that of a flower, the “ZIZ” like the Phoenicians called it, when they first colonized it. It was a prey to be fought over for long years; after the Phoenicians came the Greeks, who saw the wide bay and called it “Panormus”, (all harbour). Then the Romans, Carthaginians, Arabs, Normans. They brought art, costumes and languages, all very different. Different styles of architecture were fused and the Arabian-Norman Palermo was born. This style characterizes  Palermo even today. A visit to Palermo is like a journey in history.

The city’s traditional cuisine is worldwide appreciated. Among the major specialties are the pasta ‘cche sardi (pasta with sardines), panelle – sort of pancake made with chickpea flour –, seafood, fish and vegetable specialties; the sweet sfince, torrone and ice-creams close this delicious menu.

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Monreale

With a splendid position high above the Conca d’Oro, the Monte Reale in Norman times was a royal hunting lodge and residence. It was not until William II decided to build the famous cathedral with a royal palace and monastery attached, that a town developed in its own right in the area. The city’s heart and soul is still represented by the area radiating from the cathedral. On the north side lies Piazza Vittorio Emanuele with its fine Fontana del Tritone. The main front, however, overlooks the smaller Piazza Guglielmo, that gives access both to the cloister and a small public garden. Beyond a large courtyard is a fine garden with a magnificent view over the Conca d’Oro. The warren of streets around are all lined with charming cafés, restaurants and souvenir shops.

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 Cefalù

Enjoying a splendid position and clearly visible from the road running north from Palermo, Cefalù is a fishing village, now a small town, perched between the sea and a craggy limestone promontory, landmarked by a cathedral and a maze of narrow streets. Of Greek origin, it saw its heyday under Roger II who in 1131 decided to initiate work on the cathedral. Corso Ruggero is Cefalù’s main thoroughfare which bisects the town on a north-south axis. The two resulting halves have quite different character: to the west lies the medieval quarter, a labyrinth of narrow streets dotted with steps, arches and narrow passageways; to the east, a network of perpendicular, regular streets. The difference can probably be attributed to the two different social classes that lived in the two quarters.

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Siracusa

Syracuse has forever depended upon the sea, rallying herself around the island of Ortygia, overlooking a wonderful bay on the east coast; its name is synonymous with an ancient Greek past, a series of valiant tyrants, the rivalry between Athens and Carthage; a past which has left a number of vestiges for the modern day visitor to see and enjoy. Alongside this dramatic historical background, there exists another less obvious past that can be explored among the streets of the island, where time seems to stand still somewhere between the medieval and Baroque eras. Just behind Ortygia stretches a flat area called Akradina –  yet another name inherited from Antiquity.

The district of Neapolis, literally meaning the ‘new town’, is one of the most evocative quarters claiming the theatre, the Ear of Dionysius and the Latomia del Paradiso.

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Taormina

Perched on a rocky spur at about 200m height, Taormina occupies a fabulous position, overlooking the sea and right opposite Etna volcano. It has been a popular destination for travelers since the 18^th century, although only in the last decades it has developed into a well-known tourist resort. Many foreigners, notably British and German, have decided to build villas in the town and many illustrious figures have sojourned there, including Emperor William II and King Edward VII, and such famous families as the Rothschilds and the Krupps. A mild climate, a splendid landscape and serene outlook have made Taormina famous worldwide. The town centre, now reserved for pedestrians, radiates from the main thoroughfare Corso Umberto I, from which it is possible to reach all, or almost all, the main sights.

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Trapani-Erice

Trapani sits directly opposite the Egadi Islands providing them with regular communication links with the main island. Beside the ferry traffic, the well-protected harbour handles large consignments of salt gathered in the saltpans just south of the town and tuna fish processed at the important local canning factory.

The most exciting time to visit Trapani is undoubtedly over Easter when the old town is thronged with multitudes of people participating in the processions and festivities held during Holy Week.

Erice – about 32,000 inhabitants – occupies a memorably beautiful site. Developed as a Phoenician and Hellenistic town, it sits at a height of 751m. Enclosed within defensible bastions and walls, the town is a veritable labyrinth of little cobbled streets and passages wide enough to accommodate one person at a time. The houses, packed one upon another, have each their own charming, carefully-tended, inner courtyard.

Erice, is two faced: there is the bright, sunny face that smiles during the long hot summer days, when light floods its tiny streets and distant views extend over the valley and far out to sea; there is also the mask of winter when, shrouded in mist, the town seems to hark back to its mythical origins, leaving the visitor with a feeling of unease and the impression of a place removed from time and reality. Enveloped by its medieval atmosphere, cool mountain air, beautiful pine woods, pervading silence, combined with its rich local craft traditions, make Erice a highly popular destination for tourists.

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Agrigento

Agrigento is one of Sicily’s most ancient city. Agrigento is one of the city with the highest tourism importance, boasting inestimable historical, naturalistic and archaeological attractions. Notably, it has managed to take advantage of its resources also thanks to promoting and supporting initiatives such as the Mandorlo in Fiore festival (almond blossom festival), a long-awaited event recurring every year in February in the breath-taking Valley of the Temples. The Valley is a series of temples which were all erected in the course of a century (5C BC), as if to testify to the prosperity of the city at that time. Having been set ablaze by the Carthaginians in 406 BC, the buildings were restored by the Romans (1C BC) respecting their original Doric style.

The city is also renowned for being the birth-place of illustrious figures such as the Greek philosopher Empedocles and the writer Luigi Pirandello.