Sicily (Tyrrhenian) and Messina-Catania-Syracuse (Ionian). Of the narrow-gauge railways the Ferrovia Circumetnea is the only one that still operates, going round Mount Etna. From the major cities of Sicily, there are services to Naples and Rome; this is achieved by the trains being loaded onto ferries which cross to the mainland. In Catania there is an underground railway service (metropolitana di Catania); in Palermo the national railway operator Trenitalia operates a commuter rail (Palermo metropolitan railway service), the Sicilian Capital is also served by 4 AMAT (Comunal Public Transport Operator) tramlines; Messina is served by a tramline. Mainland Sicily has several
History of Sicily History of Sicily The history of Sicily has been influenced by numerous ethnic groups. It has seen Sicily sometimes controlled by external powers — Roman, Vandal and Ostrogoth, Byzantine and Islamic — but also experiencing important periods of independence, as under the Siceliotes of Greek origin and later as the autonomous Emirate then Kingdom of Sicily. The Kingdom was founded in 1130 by Roger II, belonging to the Siculo-Norman family of Hauteville. During this period, Sicily was prosperous and politically powerful, becoming one of the wealthiest states in all of Europe. As a result of the dynastic succession, then, the