Monuments in Sicily: The Most Important Sites to Visit

Discover the best Monument experiences in Sicily.

Sicily's most important monuments are the Greek temples of Agrigento, Selinunte and Segesta, the Arab-Norman churches and palaces of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale, and the Baroque towns of the Val di Noto. Seven sites on the island are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Other sites lie off the main routes, such as the megaliths of Argimusco and the Scala dei Turchi.

Which are the most important monuments in Sicily?

The table sorts the best-known sites by place and period. Full descriptions are in the linked guides.

Monument	Place	Period and key feature
Valley of the Temples	Agrigento	Greek temples of the 6th and 5th centuries BC, World Heritage since 1997
Selinunte	Castelvetrano	Greek colony founded around 628 BC; temples on a plateau by the sea
Segesta	Calatafimi-Segesta	Doric temple of the 5th century BC, never completed; ancient theater
Theatre of Tindari	Tindari, province of Messina	Ancient theater (Tyndaris) in an excavation site; nearby the Santuario di Tindari with its Black Madonna
Palermo with Cefalù	North coast	Arab-Norman buildings, World Heritage since 2015 together with Monreale
Val di Noto	Southeast	Late Baroque towns, World Heritage since 2002
Syracuse	East coast	Ancient Greek city, World Heritage since 2005 with the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica

Which UNESCO World Heritage sites are in Sicily?

Sicily has seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, listed here with the year of inscription:

Archaeological Area of Agrigento with the Valley of the Temples (1997)
Villa Romana del Casale near Piazza Armerina (1997)
Aeolian Islands (2000)
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (2002)
Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica (2005)
Mount Etna (2013)
Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale (2015)

More places from this list, natural as well as cultural, are collected under UNESCO World Heritage.

Which periods shaped Sicily's monuments?

Three periods set the picture. From the 8th century BC the Greeks founded colonies that grew into Syracuse, Agrigento and Selinunte; the temples and theaters are theirs. The Arab conquest began in 827 and Palermo fell in 831. The Normans took the island from 1061, and in 1130 Roger II was crowned King of Sicily. The mosaics and churches of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale date from that time. After the earthquake of 1693 the southeast was rebuilt in the Baroque style.

Which monuments lie off the usual routes?

The megaliths of Argimusco stand on a plateau near Montalbano Elicona with a view of Etna and are often called the Sicilian Stonehenge, although experts disagree on whether people placed the rocks. In Custonaci the Grotta Mangiapane works as an open-air museum of earlier ways of life. The Scala dei Turchi near Realmonte is a white cliff in the shape of steps, a natural monument on the south coast.

Which monuments are in which province?

To link several sites, sort them by province. The list follows the position on the island:

Province of Trapani: Segesta, Selinunte and the Grotta Mangiapane in Custonaci, in the far west.
Province of Palermo: Arab-Norman Palermo with Monreale and Cefalù on the north coast.
Province of Messina: Tindari and the megaliths of Argimusco in the northeast.
Province of Agrigento: the Valley of the Temples and the Scala dei Turchi on the south coast.
Province of Syracuse, Province of Ragusa and Province of Catania: Syracuse, Pantalica and the Baroque towns of the Val di Noto in the southeast.

Segesta and Selinunte are both in the west and can be combined in one tour. The Valley of the Temples lies on the south coast and is a stop of its own. Syracuse, Noto and the other Baroque towns make a third route in the southeast. In Palermo the World Heritage buildings are spread across the city, while Monreale and Cefalù lie outside it and each need a separate trip.

When and how can you visit the sites?

Most archaeological sites are in the open and often without shade. The pleasant months are April to May and October; in July the average daytime high on the north coast is 30.2 °C (86 °F; climate table on the travel planning page). Each site sets its own opening hours and ticket prices; current details come from the relevant archaeological park of the Sicilian Region. Anyone linking several sites in one week will find vacation rentals on sicily.vacations.