UNDER SIEGE The Castello Maniace, a 13th-century citadel in Syracuse’s old town, is just one vestige of Sicily’s long history of occupation and conquest. Photo: Alamy Stock PhotoEven before HBO’s “The White Lotus,” Sicily was a hotspot for travelers looking beyond the Italian mainland—and for good reason. The island has its own cuisine, drawn in equal measure from the sea and the fertile slopes of Mount Etna; its own varieties of wine; even its own language. Its history, as a crossroads of trade and conquest in the Mediterranean, stretches back thousands of years.

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Persons: HBO’s “ Locations: Castello, Syracuse’s, Sicily, Mount Etna