There was no shortage of brilliance in Mike White’s supremely popular second season of The White Lotus, from the complex characters, epic outfits and iconic one-liners to the dark chaos that unfolds. But for die-hard Italophiles, it was all the more fabulous for being set in Sicily.

Fiery, mysterious, multi-faceted and largely misunderstood, Sicily is one of the most fascinating spots in the Mediterranean, a place where cultures and histories converge against the dramatic rumble of Mount Etna—and where many, White Lotus characters included, have lost their heads.