“Sicily is in my blood. I was born in Tunisia, but my father’s family originally came from Sicily’s Isola delle Femmine, a little town on the west coast near Palermo. Part of my love for the island is wrapped up in its cultural heritage; its films, art, architecture, music and literature. I love how the playwright Luigi Pirandello and author Leonardo Sciascia both capture the harsh beauty of the island. The most famous novel about the island is Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s masterpiece, The Leopard, for its portrayal of the decadence and decline of the Sicilian aristocracy. This book will always be close to my heart, as I landed the part of Lampedusa’s heroine, Angelica, starring alongside Alain Delon in Luchino Visconti’s screen adaptation of the book in 1962.

The backdrop for much of Visconti’s adaptation of The Leopard was at the opulent Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi in Palermo, where we shot the iconic ballroom scenes. Whenever I go back, I always stay at the city’s Grand Hotel Villa Igiea; it remains completely unchanged with its Boldini paintings and Art Nouveau interiors. I also love to escape to the nearby beaches in Mondello, where Alain and I would hang out off-set and enjoy water-skiing and boat trips.

The best way to experience Sicily is from the water. Explore the island by boat and discover deserted coves and wonderful beachside trattorias, or take the time to sail onwards and lose yourself in the Aeolian Islands. It’s incredible to see how astonishingly beautiful and varied the seven islands that make up this archipelago are. My favorite is Stromboli, with its black sandy beaches and smoking volcano, which I discovered while filming Il Bell’Antonio with Marcello Mastroianni in the summer of 1960.

All of history seems to have passed through Sicily at some point. For me, its enduring appeal lies in the diversity of the island, with its Arab, Byzantine and Norman influences. On the east coast, I love the picturesque town of Taormina. I stay at the beachside Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea, right by the tiny Isola Bella and the Bay of Mazzaro. For the most atmospheric and evocative ruins, head to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. And to really soak up the island’s romantic beauty and crumbling grandeur, visit the wildly Baroque city of Catania, where every cornice and balcony appears to be upheld by mermaids, griffins or galloping horses carved from stone.”

…in one of the heavenly frescoed suites at Villa Tasca, an 18th-century palazzo in the middle of Palermo, still owned by the aristocratic Tasca d’Almerita dynasty – best known for their prized Regaleali wine.

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