Reflecting on the work of earlier writers and poets, thirteenth-century geographer Yākūt al-Rūmī records some of the popular reasons behind Sicily’s enchantment in his work Mu'jam alBuldān (Dictionary of Countries):
Sicily has gushing fountains, rushing rivers, and enticing delicacies … In the very centre of Sicily rises a mountain called qasr yānihi (Castrogiovanni or modern-day Enna), a wonder among the wonders of the world. There at the summit is a grand towered city, and around all of this are farmlands and gardens, which run right to the city’s gate. This city rises majestically toward the sky. From [the island’s] heights and surrounding countryside, rivers surge, and the same may be said of all the island’s mountains. There is also the Mountain of Fire (Mount Etna), so called because it burns always, without end, and always issues forth flames.
Unfortunately, much of the architecture crafted