Sicily Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sicily - Research Paper Example While being a highly-developed cultural nation, Sicily represents an agricultural type of economy. It specializes mainly on exporting orange and lemon. Moreover, the beautiful orchards of Sicily attract many tourists mainly to the rural regions. There are also places of great historical interest such as Necropolis of Pantalica and Valley of the Temples. Excavations keep going on the island bringing out new evidence from history. The Sicilian people are honored to be citizens of the islands, though they identify themselves as Italians but not Sicilians. â€Å"Despite the existence of major cities such as Palermo, Catania, Messina and Syracuse, popular stereotypes of Sicilians commonly allude to ruralism, for example the coppola is one of the main symbols of Sicilian identity; it is derived from the flat cap of rural Northern England, which arrived in 1800, when Bourbon king Ferdinant I had fled to Sicily and was protected by the British Navy†. (Spadi 2001) The majority of Sicilians have two native languages Italian and Sicilian. Despite the relative balance between these two languages, Italian has the dominant position - it is even taught at Universities and in schools as the language of mass media. Sicilian is mainly used by youth in every-day life. Speaking about religion it is necessary to point out that Roman Catholicism is widely spread on Sicily. The church weddings are even more popular than civil ceremonies and people usually visit church at least once a week. Jewish people, who appeared on Sicily 1,400 years ago, possess the second place in religion. The third place belongs to Islamic faith since many Arabs came to Sicily in the 19th century. And the minorities are represented by Eastern Orthodoxy, Evangelist Church and Sikhism. When it comes to national cuisine it should be mentioned that this island is called ‘God’s kitchen’. The reason for this is the abundant amount of wines, pizzas and other meals that originated on Sicily and have