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Something to
see around San Vito Lo Capo |
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| The surroundings of San Vito Lo Capo are
filled with wonderful archaeological sites and nature
reserves. You can choose from countless gastronomic,
enological, historical-archaeological and nature itineraries
as well as enjoy the wonderful white beach which blends into
the ultra clear blue sea. We have listed some of the major
sights below which can be visited with a daytrip.
Download the sightseeing |
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| Of significant interest to
visitors, Erice sits at
a height of 700 metres on a mountain bearing the same name.
The ancient city of Elima, it greets visitors as a splendid
medieval town, with its narrow cobbled streets and houses
sitting on top of each other. In ancient times it was famous
for its temple where the Phoenicians worshiped Astarte, the
Greeks Aphrodite and the Romans Venus. The mountain was a
point of reference for navigators, since the temple housed a
sacred fire which could never be put out, on the risk of
being sentenced to death. Erice underwent the same
succession of dominations as the rest of Sicily. It changed
names under the Arabs, who called it Gebel-Hamed in 1831.
Erice has three access gates: Porta Trapani, Porta Spada and
Porta Carmine. The town, characterised by its perfectly
triangular shape, is crowned on two slopes by the Norman
Castle (Castello di Venere, to the southeast) and the Chiesa
Matrice (to the southwest). In the exact centre of the
triangle stands the church of San Pietro with a monastery
which today houses the E. Majorana scientific cultural
centre, famous throughout the world for its director,
Antonio Zichichi, of international fame. |
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| The intricate labyrinth of
streets, all characterised by pretty square pavement, offer
unexpected glimpses of the more than sixty churches and
monasteries. Various caverns are located on Erice’s mountain
including the cave of Martogna and that of Emiliana, towards
Pizzolungo, which have revealed late Palaeolithic
activities. |
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The
Chiesa Matrice near Porta di Trapani, dates back
to the fourteenth century and was built with material from
the Temple to Venus. Its massive shapes and the crenellated
top characterise it as a church-fortress. The imposing
façade is preceded by a rectangular pronaos with
vaulting-rib and lightened by a pretty rose window. The
interior, in neo-gothic style, houses the altar and a
wonderful Renaissance marble retable. Immediately to the
left of the Chiesa Matrice stands the bell tower, originally
a watchtower, its levels are marked by openings (on the
first floor) and pretty double lancet windows in
chiaramontano style. The top is crowned by Ghibelline
crenellation. |
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Castello di Venere – sitting at the top of
the mountain, overlooking the sea and plains below,
dates back in its current version to the Norma period (twelfth
century, but the spot has a much older history). This is
where a temple dedicated to Erice’s Venus stood, a
goddess with a large cult in ancient times. During the
Norma epoch, the temple had already been dismantled and
in its place they decided to build a fortress surrounded
by powerful walls and protected by its position and by
the Torri del Balio in front, once connected to the
castle by drawbridge. Its defensive nature can still be
seen in the trap door above the entrance door bearing
the coat of arms of Charles V of Spain and a pretty
double lancet window. |
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| The grooved
columns and fragments of Dorian order cornice remain
from the temple to Venus as well as a mosaic floor and
the ruins of a sacred well. |
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The ancient walls of the city
– massive and monumental in the northeast
side of the town are well preserved: they are equipped
with quadrangular tower curtains and three gates (Porta
Spada, Porta Carmine and Porta Trapani). The lower part,
made of huge megalithic blocks, dates back to the eighth
century BC, as seen by the engravings of Phoenician
letters on a block of the third tower coming from Porta
Spada; the walls were later rebuilt by the Romans, the
upper part and the gates are from the Norman epoch. |
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The Ettore Majorana Scientific
Cultural Centre – inspired by the famous
Italian physicist who died in 1938 and was famous for
his contributions to the development of theoretical
nuclear physics. The centre is composed of one hundred
schools whose activities include sciences, technology,
medicine, environment, logics, mathematics, historical
analysis and interdisciplinary studies. Inside of the
San Domenico institute is the hall called “P.A.M. Dirac”
while the secretarial office and another two halls are
housed inside the San Rocco institute; the age-old
Palazzo Ventimiglia contains yet another hall. |
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| The archaeological site of Segesta
was first found by the Dominican Tommaso Fazello who,
using only ancient literary sources and an
unequalled spirit of reflection, knew how to
identify most of Sicily’s archaeological sites with
certainty. |
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Segesta was one of the main cities
of the Elymian people, who according to Tucidide,
were the result of a mix of local people, the
Sicani, and the inhabitants of Troy who escaped from
the Greeks after the destruction of their city. |
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| According
to Dionysius of Halicarnassus the Elymians were part
of an expedition of Italics in the third generation
before the battle of Troy. Even today historians and
anthropologists enter into heated debates over the
origin of this mysterious ancient people. The city
with its highly Hellenised appearance and culture,
obtained a leading role among Sicilian towns and in
the Mediterranean basin, so much so that it was able
to involve Athens and Carthage in its centuries long
battles with Selinunte. Once its eternal rival was
destroyed, thanks to intervention by the
Carthaginians in 408 BC, Segesta witnessed a period
of peace, until it was conquered and destroyed by
Agatocle of Syracuse (in 307 BC), who gave it the
name of Diceòpolis, city of justice. It later
regained it name, spent the first Punic War on the
side of the Romans, who based on their common
legendary Troy origins, exempted it from taxes, gave
it a vast territory allowing it a new phase of
prosperity and giving it a lot of freedom. Segesta
was totalled rebuilt based on the model of great
microasiatic cities taking on a very spectacular
appearance. It was long believed that Segesta was
abandoned after vandal raids, but recent
investigations have revealed a late antiquity phase,
a Christian church (photo on upper right), an
extensive village from the Muslim era, followed by a
Norman-Swabian settlement, dominated by a castle at
the top of Monte Barbaro. The presence of a mosque
is significant, the first finding of this type in
Sicily, identified with certainty due to a mihrab
niche, an element present in all ancient and modern
mosques. Already famous for its two main monuments,
the Doric type temple, more precisely a peristyle
and the theatre, Segusta is now undergoing a new
season of discovery, due to excavations financed by
the European Community with the European Regional
Development Fund, in collaboration with the main
Italian Universities. The archaeological excavations
which begun in 1989 have made it possible to
precisely reconstruct the evolution of the city’s
town planning. Segesta occupied the summit of Monte
Barbaro (two acropolis separated by a saddle),
naturally defended by steep rock walls on the
eastern and southern sides, while the less protected
slope was equipped during antiquity with walls and
monumental gates, later replaced (during the
beginning of the Imperial age) with a second line of
higher walls. Outside the walls, along the ancient
access roads to the city, were located two important
places of worship: the Doric type temple (430-420 BC)
and the sanctuary of Contrada Mango (6th – 5th
centuries BC). A Hellenistic necropolis has also
been found outside the walls. The urban planning of
Segesta is still being studied: some probable traces
of roads, the area of the agora and some dwellings
have been indicated. In the northern acropolis,
where the theatre is located, the most recent
remains of Segesta can be seen: the castle, the
mosque and the church founded in 1442 on
multi-layered land. |
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| Founded by people from Megara
Hyblaea during the 7th century BC, Selinunte was the
westernmost Greek colony of Sicily; its name comes
from selinon, a wild parsley which was very
widespread, so much so that it was engraved on their
coins. Selinunte witnessed around two hundred years
of splendour, brief yet intense, probably in part
thanks to the action of a government wary of the
tyrants who would come after them. The prosperity of
the city is seen in the large sacred and public
area. Long allied with Carthage, from which it hoped
to gain support to fight its rival Segesta, it was
finally destroyed by the Carthaginian Hannibal in
409 BC, who used extremely fierce means and measures:
sixteen thousand of Selinunte’s population died and
five thousand were taken prisoner. The survivors
begged Hannibal to free them and save the temples,
agreeing to pay a large sum. Hannibal accepted, but
once he received the money he plundered the temples
and destroyed the walls. After this episode
Selinunte was rebuilt and managed to hold on until
the second Punic War when it was completely razed.
It seems that during the Late Middle Ages, it was
home to some hermits; a violent earthquake, probably
in the Byzantine era, totally destroyed the city and
all traces of it vanished. It was Fazello, the
astute Dominican monk, who found the site with
extreme precision, based on classical historical
sources. The archaeological park was created in
1993. Scattered over a semi-deserted area, given
that the place is no longer inhabited, the ruined
temples still lift their impressive columns to the
sky, and the buildings are reduced to a pile of
rubble, probably due to an earthquake. The beautiful
metopes are in the Museo Archeologico in Palermo.
The ruins are in three areas: the first, on the
eastern hill, contains the three large temples, one
of which was rebuilt in 1957. The second on the
western hill and surrounded by walls is the
Acropolis, the actual city was located to the north.
The third, to the west of the Acropolis, beyond the
Modione River is another sacred area with temples
and sanctuaries. The temples are named with letters
of the alphabet because the god each one is
dedicated to is uncertain. To complete the excursion
a visit to the Cave di Cusa is of interest. This is
where the blocks came from to build the temples and
where it is still possible to see the traces left by
the workers to excavate the columns. |
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Marsala –
The city revolves around Piazza della
Repubblica, bordered by the Cathedral and
Palazzo Senatorio, called La Loggia and
completed in 1700. Via Rapisardi is flanked with
pretty buildings and the church of Collegio from
the eighteenth century. The Cathedral, built in
the Norman period, but also rebuilt in the
1700’s has an impressive tufa façade decorated
with statues. It houses many works by the Gagini
brothers in its interior, including a lovely
icon by Antonello Gagini and del Berrettaro
(left apse) and a delicate Madonna del Popolo by
Domenico Gagini (1490) in the right transept. |
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Marsala wine –
Marsala is best known throughout the world for
the wine which bears its name. The story began
in 1770 when an English merchant named Woodhouse
was in Sicily and tasted Marsala wine, and was
enchanted with its flavour and bouquet. In a few
short years he monopolised all the cultivations
of grapes in the province of Trapani and
initially sold it in Spain as Port or Madeira,
to improve its market. In 1796 he converted a
tonnara into a winery; in the meantime another
Englishman, Ingham, planted his vineyards in
Sicily; together with his skilful nephew
Whitaker they launched Marsala on an
international scale, meeting with extraordinary
success. |
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| In 1883 an Italian
named Vincenzo Florio introduced an accurate
method for producing the grape and vinification,
so much so that it made Marsala one of the most
important economic items of the island. In 1969
Marsala Florio was proclaimed a D.O.C. wine. |
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Museo Archeologico di
Baglio Anselmi – Housed inside an old
winery building designed by Basile, the museum
contains the ruins of a Punic ship (third
century BC) salvaged in 1969 near Mozia. It is
probably a “liburna” a fast warship 35 meters in
length, which is believed to have sunk at the
end of the First Punic War during the battle of
the Egadi (241 BC). An analysis of the structure
has made it possible to establish the building
technique of the Phoenicians, who used
prefabricated parts marked with letters. The
alloy used to make the nails which held the
boards together is incredible: after more than
two thousand years in the sea they do not have a
trace of rust. The museum also houses
significant remains which tell of the history of
Marsala and the surrounding areas from
prehistoric times to the Middle Ages. The cases
dedicated to Mozia and some finely worked
Hellenistic age jewellery found off Capo Boeo
are of particular interest.
Museo degli Arazzi
- It is located in the rooms behind the
cathedral. The entrance is on Via Garraffa. The
collection includes eight large Flemish
tapestries from the sixteenth century depicting
Titus’ war against the Jews. The liveliness of
the colours and richness of the composition
extends beyond the central subject to the high
edges decorated with flowers, fruit and
allegorical figures. The sixth tapestry is
particularly lively which reproduces a moment of
the battle, communicating an intense feeling of
movement. |
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Motya – A
small island in the middle of a lagoon, and yet
on San Pantaleo, its current name, the
Phoenicians gave life to a prosperous colony.
Its strategic position, surrounded by the
shallow water of the Stagnone lagoon and
naturally protected from nearby Isola Longa,
made it a coveted aim of the Carthaginians and
Syracusans. And it was precisely due to the
latter that Motya was completely destroyed and
forgotten, only to be rediscovered at the end of
last century. Motya is an ancient Phoenician
colony founded during the 8th century BC on one
of the four islands of the Stagnone lagoon, San
Pantaleo island (name given to its in the late
Middle Ages by Brazilian monks who had moved to
the island). The name Motya, probably bestowed
by the Phoenicians, means spinning mill, and is
connected to the presence of mills which were
located here for processing wool. The island,
like most of the other Phoenician colonies, was
a trading station and acted as a dock for the
Phoenician ships sailing in the Mediterranean.
Greek colonisation also started in the 8th
century, which was primarily concentrated in the
eastern part of Sicily, the Phoenicians
retreated to the western part and Motya grew in
importance becoming a city. In the 4th century
the rivalry between the Greeks and Carthaginians
over Sicily increased and Motya became involved;
walls were built around it to provide a better
defence. |
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| In 397
Dionysus the Old, the tyrant of Syracuse,
attacked the city and ended its existence. The
inhabitants took shelter on the mainland in the
colony of Lilybaeum, the present day Marsala.
The rediscovery of Motya is tied to the name of
Giuseppe Whitaker, a English nobleman from the
end of the 1800’s whose family moved to Sicily
and started successfully exporting Marsala wine.
The Whitakers’ home sits on the island, now
transformed into a museum. Today the island is
like an outdoor museum: by walking around it you
can see the ruins of all the parts that made up
a Phoenician city, unlike in any other part of
the world. The Giovane di Motya is of notable
interest, an impressive marble statue found
during the 1979 excavation campaign: it is a
white marble statue, depicting a life-size
virile figure; the statue is dressed in a long
tunic with folds that create incredible
chiaroscuro effects, in addition to revealing a
knee and the pressure of his left hand on his
hip. The style of the statue with curly hair and
rounded structure point to a clear influence of
the severe style of the first half of the 5th
century BC; since the Phoenicians and Greeks
were enemies, the finding is considered rare; it
is believed that an inhabitant of Motya,
fascinated by Greek art, commissioned this
wonderful work of art. |
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Trapani, province capital located at the
western tip of Sicily, is a fairly important
port and trading city and possesses a
protected harbour. Maritime traffic has
increased due to the shipping of salt mined
from the salt beds immediately to the south
of the city. The city contains an important
plant for canning tuna. Trapani, the ancient
Drepanum, sits on a spit of hook-shaped land
which ends in two points occupied by Torre
di Lingy and a lazaretto, respectively.
Legend has it that this is the scythe
dropped by the goddess of agriculture
Demeter, while desperately seeking her
daughter Persephone, abducted by Hades. The
inside of the scythe (to the north)
sheltered by the Tramontana rocks serves as
a dock for fishing boats. |
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A colourful fish market is held on the shore
each morning. The best time for visiting
Trapani is without doubt Easter week, when
the historical centre fills with people in
the streets following the events that take
place during the week. The highlight is the
fascinating procession on Good Friday, when
twenty statues are paraded around for the
entire day and night along the streets of
the historical centre. The statues, housed
in the Chiesa del Purgatorio, were made of
wood, fabric and glue by local artists
between 1650 and 1720. The historical centre
– along the spit of land that stretches out
in the sea is where the medieval quarters
are located. The quarter settled by the
Spaniards in the fourteenth century
(quartiere Palazzo) sits on the point,
rebuilt in the Baroque period. The oldest
part, which today has the typical appearance
of an Arab city with small streets in a
gridlock, extends behind it and was
originally surrounded by walls. |
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The Cathedral
– dedicated to San Lorenzo, was built
in 1635, on a previous fourteenth century
building. The façade, from a later period
(1740) is pretty example of Baroque art. The
interior houses Flemish paintings,
attributed to Van Dyck, including the
Nativity (third chapel on the right),
followed by the Crucifixion and the
Deposition (fourth chapel on the left). |
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Rua Grande
– The other pretty street opened in the 14th
century is the present-day Corso Vittorio
Emanuele. The street is flanked by lovely
Baroque buildings including Palazzo Berardo
Ferro (at number 86) and the seat of the
Archbishopric. Trapani’s residents call the
street “La Loggia”: it is the preferred
meeting place of young people who like to
stroll here. |
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Palazzo Senatorio
(or Cavarretta) – This pretty
building provides a spectacular end to Corso
Vittorio Emanuele. The rich façade is on two
orders decorated with columns and statues
and crowned by two large clocks. Next to it
is the clock tower from the thirteenth
century, one of the five towers that form
the city’s coat of arms. |
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| Holy Week – Many towns
around the Mediterranean basin have special
customs for celebrating the Holy Week;
Trapani is one of these places where this
ceremony is deeply felt. The ritual begins
on Holy Tuesday, when the painting of Nostra
Signora delle Grazie leaves the Chiesa del
Purgatorio. This icon also known as Madre
Pietà dei Massari, officially opens Holy
Week. The procession was started around the
middle of the 1800’s by the predecessors of
the current Massari. The Madonna is paraded
along the streets of the historical centre
until reaching Piazza Lucadelli, where the
Massari offer up their goods. During the
afternoon of Holy Wednesday another Madonna,
called Madre Pietà del Popolo, is carried in
a procession; there is an exchange of
candles in the late afternoon, a significant
ceremony recalling the peace established
between the Massari and the Sant’Anna
confraternity: the brothers had asked the
Bishop to forbid the procession and showing
of the Madre Pietà dei Massari. For a few
minutes the two icons are placed opposite
each other and the representatives of the
two groups exchange candles. |
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| Holy Thursday
is dedicated to religious ceremonies
including the visit to the tombs, a
Christian version of the Gardens of Adonis
and lastly, the arrival of Good Friday. I
Misteri leave the Chiesa del Purgatorio when
the Deposition of the cross takes place.
They are eighteen statues made of wood,
fabric and glue followed by an urn with the
dead Christ and the statue of Nostra Signora
Addolorata. The statues create a lovely and
fascinating procession, which moves along
the streets of the old and new city.
Initially, in the late 1600’s, the
procession had a theatrical form, performed
by the Preziosissimo Sangue di Gesù company,
as a sign of disdain towards the Spaniards.
The procession obtained its current form in
the 17th century, when the brotherhood of
San Michele asked the population and the
various artists to support them economically
and socially. This is the reason that each
group bears the name of an activity. The
name “misteri” is believed to come from a
dialect distortion of the word “mestiere” (trade).
The statues were sculpted by successful
schools of the period and local artists like
Ciotta, Milanti, Tartaglia, Pisciotta, the
Nolfo brothers and Lombardo. I Misteri
follow each other with their characteristic
swaying gait called “annacata” for twenty
hours without stopping. Each statue has a
band to make the parade more harmonious, to
the sound of a famous march. The following
day the picture of Nostra Signora Addolorata
returns to the Chiesa del Purgatorio,
marking an end to the most spectacular
procession of the province of Trapani. |
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Museo Pepoli
– Next to Santuario dell'Annunziata,
the former convent of the Carmelites is a
wonderful setting for this museum with rich
historic and artistic collections covering a
period from prehistoric times to the 19th
century. Opened in 1908, the museum owes its
name to Count Agostino Sieri Pepoli, who
donated his collections of archaeological
artefacts and various works of art to the
city. The ground floor is dedicated to
sculpture. The Gagini family is well
represented with four statues of saints with
flowing lines. Of particular interest is the
San Giacomo Maggiore by Antonello Gagini. An
impressive staircase in multi-coloured
marble, leads to the first floor where
visitors can see the Pinacoteca of Generale
Giovan Battista Fardella. The polyptych of
Trapani (15th century), a Pietà by the
Neapolitan Roberto di Oderisio (14th century)
and a beautiful Madonna col Bambino e Angeli
di Pastura (1478-1509) warrant special
attention. A splendid San Bartolomeo by
Ribera is a highlight of the Neapolitan
school paintings. The work of local artisans
is seen primarily in coral carving, as
witnessed by the liturgical pieces and some
jewellery (in particular those of Matteo
Bavera, 17th century). The series of sixteen
small groups of wood and fabric statues
depicting the Strage degli Innocenti (17th
century) is also of interest. Local ceramic
production features the lovely majolica
panels representing the Mattanza and a view
of Trapani (17th century). |
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| The three islands,
Favignana, Levanzo and
Marittimo, which make up this small
archipelago situated off Trapani, are enchanting
due to the beauty of their coasts and
transparency of their sea. Inhabited since
prehistoric times (it is believed that Levanzo
and Favignana were still connected to the
mainland in the Palaeolithic era), they were the
theatre of an important event in ancient times,
for it was here that the treaty ending the first
Punic War (241 BC) was signed which led to
Carthage leaving Sicily to Rome. The “Isole
Egadi” protected marine area is the largest in
Italy and its foundation dates back to 1991,
aimed at protecting the extraordinary biological
richness of the natural environment. |
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Favignana –
main centre of the island and capital of the
archipelago, the small harbour which bears the
same name as the island, is situated in a large
bay dominated by Forte di S. Caterina (now a
military station), at the top of the homonymous
mountain. An old Saracen watch station, the city
is characterised by two buildings which recall
the Florios, an important Marsala family:
Palazzo Florio located behind the harbour, was
built in 1876; at the end of the bay on the
right, the large Tonnara, no longer in use. The
town is built around two main squares: Piazza
Europa and Piazza Madrice, connected by the main
street, used for the evening stroll. There are
two main beaches: Cala Azzurra, a small sandy
bay to the south of the town, and the large Lido
Burrone beach. They can be reached by car or
bus. The rocky coves, in particular Cala Rossa
and a little farther on Cala del Bue Marino are
more charming. On the other half of the island
the prettiest beaches are Cala Rotonda, Cala
Grande and Punta Ferro, the starting spot for
scuba diving fans. La Farfalla (butterfly), as
the island is often called due to its shape,
owes it current name to the wind Favonio, while
in ancient times it was called Aegusa. Its
recent history is connected with the Florio
family who opened a tonnara near the port which
still dominates the scenery. And it is precisely
tuna fishing, with the mattanza (traditional but
cruel method for killing tuna ensnared in the
death chamber), that was once the primary
activity of the island’s inhabitants. Favignana
extends for around 20 sq.km. with the Montagna
Grossa running along the western side. The
eastern part is home to the town. The mattanza –
The complicated and ritual system of tuna
fishing followed precise rules, established
exclusively by the Rais, head of the tuna
fishing fleet and once also the head of the
village. The systematic fishing of tuna has
ancient origins and seems as if it was practiced
by the Phoenicians, but it was not until the
Arab period that the system of mattanza
practiced in our time was known. |
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| The
mattanza is
like a rite, complete with chants for good luck
and to ward off bad luck (the cialome); it
culminates with a cruel fight between the tuna
and fishermen. In late spring the tuna reach the
western coast of Sicily, where they find the
ideal conditions for breeding. The boats take to
the sea to position the nets forming a long
corridor which the tuna is forced to pass
through. The final nets are divided by bars
which form antechambers to prevent a mob of fish.
Beyond, there is a denser and thicker net which
is closed at the bottom in the death chamber.
When enough tuna are trapped, the Rais orders
the beginning of the mattanza, the killing of
the fish which, exhausted and wounded, are
hooked and hoisted on board. The term comes from
the Spanish matar, to kill, based on the Latin
mactare, to glorify, sacrifice. |
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Levanzo -
Called Phorbantia in ancient times, it is
covered with hills which culminate in Pizzo del
Monaco that drops into the sea forming a very
beautiful rocky coastline. Crossed by one road
running from south to north, this island is made
for nature lovers. The northern part is filled
with rocky coves. The isles of Maraone and
Formica are situated between Levanzo and the
Sicilian coast, where the remains of an old
tonnara can be seen. The most important
archaeological finds include the rostra of the
Egadi battle found in the water off Levanzo in
June 2004; amphora, three anchor stocks and a
Roman bronze helmet were found along with the
rostra. Cala Dogana
– The only town located on the south of the
island overlooks a cove of crystal clear water.
From here a well-kept trail leads to the coves
of the southwest coast with enchanting pebble
beaches. The trail goes as far as the
Faraglione, the pride of the inhabitants. |
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Grotta del Genovese
– This can be reached on foot in an hour, or by
jeep or boat. Discovered in 1949, this cave dug
into the side of a high cliff preserves traces
of prehistoric human presence. Engravings and
painting have been discovered which date back to
the upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic,
respectively. The drawings, created when the
island was still connected to the mainland,
depict buffalos and a beautiful deer due to its
harmonious proportions, elegance and the
perspective. The paintings made with charcoal
and animal fat document the introduction of
fishing as a tuna and dolphins can be seen,
livestock breeding with the picture of a woman
holding a cow on a lead and other ritual images,
such as men dancing and women with wide hips.
These paintings are similar to the
French-Cantabric style characteristic of the
Palaeolithic paintings in the caves at Lascaut
in France and Altamira in Spain. . |
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Marettimo – The
island is formed by a mountain with steep rugged
limestone walls. The most reserved of the Egadi,
which opens its doors only to the most curious
tourists, possesses a small harbour. At the foot
of the mountain lies the small harbour town,
also called Marettimo, characterised by small
white cubic houses with terraces. Behind Scalo
Nuovo is the current docking spot, Scalo
Vecchio, used by fishermen. From here you can
glimpse Punta Troia crowned by the ruins of a
Spanish period castle (17th century) and used as
a prison until 1844. A series of trails leads to
the higher spots in the interior of the island,
improving contact with uncontaminated nature and
offering enchanting views. The numerous grottos
which characterise the coast and open in rugged
walls can be discovered by taking a boat around
the island. They include Grotta del Cammello,
with a gravel beach at the bottom, Grotta del
Tuono, Grotta Berciata and particularly Grotta
del Presepio, called crèche due to its rocky
formations which due to the action of the water
and wind have taken on the shape of statues. |
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Costa dello Zingaro
is one of a handful of places in Sicily
where cars are prohibited. In 1976 a street was
planned to connect Scopello to San Vito Lo Capo.
Work began in the 1980’s but was stopped by the
thousands of people, who organised a protest
march on 18 May 1980 by forming a human chain
along the entire section of coast of the Reserve.
Joining the movement against opening of the
coastal road, the Region of Sicily’s Forestry
Service expropriated the Zingaro area in 1980
declaring it of great environmental interest. |
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| Later, with Regional
Law 98/81 the “Riserva Naturale Orientata dello
Zingaro” was officially founded, the first
reserve in Sicily given to the Forestry Service
to manage. The Reserve covers the western part
of the Gulf of Castellammare on the peninsula of
San Vito lo Capo which overlooks the Tyrrhenian
between Castellammare and Trapani. Most of the
area is located in the municipality of San Vito
lo Capo and to a lesser extent in the
municipality of Castellammare. The area,
inhabited starting in the Palaeolithic period as
seen from the excavations made in the
prehistoric cave of Uzzo, still preserves traces
of the alliance between humans and the earth.
The ash groves, almond groves, remains of
vineyards and fruit trees, once sources of life
for the local population, are now part of the
agricultural landscape. |
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Monte Cofano,
659 m high, is a dolomitic promontory which
separates the gulf of Cofano from that of
Bonagia (photo on the lower left). At the
bottom of the mountain there are two trails
which offer a start for a walk. The
excursion to the top is very difficult, but
once on the summit there is an enchanting
view of the two gulfs below, the interior
ridges and Monte Erice. The typically
Mediterranean vegetation is composed of
garrigue with palms and large bunches of
ampelodesma and many other native species
including Erica sicula, wild cabbage and
forking larkspur. The environments of the
reserve are home to many different species
of bird such as peregrine, kestrel and
buzzard. Among the rocky species typical of
this area, visitors are likely to see ravens,
ring-doves and swifts; the sea gull is
common among the marine species. |
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| The
nature reserve of Monte Cofano is located at
the north-western tip of Trapani.
Established by a decree on 25/7/1997 by the
Regional “Territory and Environment” Council
Office it has been given to the Region of
Sicily Forest Service to run. The territory
is in the Municipality of Custonaci and
covers 537.5 hectares. The reserve was
created to preserve the flora and
geomorphology, which is of significant
interest. Inside the reserve it is possible
to see towers which were part of the
fortification system for protection against
Turkish pirates. The towers had no external
decoration, they were normally square or
round and spanned three levels: the base,
the operating floor and the terrace. A
cistern collected rain water and was located
at the base which did not have an entrance.
Access to the tower was through a window on
the first floor by using a wooden ladder or
rope which was pulled up after use. The
masonry stairs and entrances on the ground
floor that are seen today in some towers
were added in later periods. The terrace was
partly covered by wooden eaves. The caves of
the reserve are of the same period as the
more famous Grotta dell’Addaura and Grotta
del Genovese on the island of Levanzo
(Egadi). The most famous cave is certainly
the Grotta Mangiapane; the cave obtained its
name from a family with the same name who
lived here for a long time. It is also known
as Grotta di Scurati; inside it is a complex
of houses which during the Christmas season
act as a natural setting for a famous living
Crèche; the Crèche was started by the local
inhabitants, who each year represent age-old
trades which have disappeared. |
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