Syracuse, Sicily Sicily until it fell to the Aghlabids after another siege on 20/21 May 878. During the two centuries of Muslim rule, the capital of the Emirate of Sicily was moved from Syracuse to Palermo. The Cathedral was converted into a mosque and the quarter on the Ortygia island was gradually rebuilt along Islamic styles. The city, nevertheless, maintained important trade relationships, and housed a relatively flourishing cultural and artistic life: several Arab poets, including Ibn Hamdis, the most important Sicilian Arab poet of the 12th century, flourished in the city. In 1038, the Byzantine general George Maniakes reconquered the city,
Gallo-Italic of Sicily Gallo-Italic of Sicily Gallo-Italic of Sicily () is a group of Gallo-Italic languages found in about 15 isolated communities of central eastern Sicily. Forming a language island in the otherwise Sicilian language area, it dates back to migrations from northern Italy during the reign of Norman Roger I of Sicily and his successors. Towns inhabited by the new immigrants became known as the "Lombard communities" (, ). The settlers, known as the Lombards of Sicily, actually came principally from the Aleramici fiefdoms of Piedmont and Liguria, "Lombardy" being the name for the whole northern Italy during the Middle Ages. In