Sicily is an Italian island, the seventh largest island in Europe by size. It is the biggest main Italian island and the biggest in the Mediterranean sea. The capital is Palermo and the island has a population of over five million people. It is the most densely populated island in the Mediterranean, after Malta, and the only Italian region, which is home to two of the ten most populated cities in the whole country: Palermo, the fifth, and Catania, the tenth. Sicily is considered an important tourist destination in Europe., Its origins can be traced to the 13th century, when the popularization of Goethe's Italian Journey made it an essential stop on the Grand Tour, the educational and recreational journey that young European aristocrats, mainly British, would make to mark the end of their studies and the beginning of adult life.