Trapani

 

The Greek temple at Segesta

17^th July We have come to Trapani to do a bit of travelling inland before Chris and his girlfriend arrive. It’s an interesting town which was a wealthy trading centre in the medieval times and now is better known for the salt pans nearby. The old town is full of beautiful ‘palazzos’ from the 16^th century which are now literally crumbling as the town can’t afford to renovate them.

Our marina is in the fishing harbour and backs on to the fish market where we can hear the fishermen bartering in the early morning. We joined the locals and bought some Dorada there yesterday - it was some the best fish we have had on this trip.

 

Faded grandeur of Trapani's palazzos

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The fish market
 

Today we took the (very long and slightly scary) cable car up the mountain from Trapani to the medieval, fortified town of Erice.  It's a maze of cobbled streets, some so narrow that only one person can pass through, and, unlike Trapani, the buildings here have been well preserved. After exploring the town we walked out to the Castle of Venus which stands on a rocky bluff at one end of the town. This was built on the site of a temple going back to Phoenician times, which is mentioned in the Greek Myths.



 

The castle of Venus


 



View from Erice out over the islands

 

At the castle we sat in the shade among the holm oaks and pine trees admiring the view down over Trapani and out to sea to the Egadi islands. Apparently on a clear day you can see Tunisia, but it was too hazy today. Later we had lunch on the terrace of Maria’s café, owned by Maria Grammatico, one of Sicily’s top pastry chefs. The savoury courses were pretty ordinary, but the pastries were amazing, especially the buccellati, which is a sweet pastry stuffed with dried figs, almonds, walnuts and sultanas.



The Roman amphitheatre at Segesta

  

Close up of the Doric temple at Segesta

 

19^th July We visited the  site of Segesta today, which was built on a  hillside with views down to the Golf of Castellammare. We had been warned there was no shade there, and with the temperature in the high 30s we decided to catch an early morning bus so that we could be there when the site opened at 9am.

It’s a 2 km uphill walk from the entrance to the Roman agora and amphitheatre and there is a shuttle bus that will take you up there, but there were some smaller sites on the way, so we decided to walk.  A big mistake - it was very hot, hard work and we were exhausted by the time we got to the top! The amphitheatre and agora were interesting, but the jewel of the site is an unfinished, Doric temple which was built much earlier on the opposite hill, and is amazingly well preserved. Up close the sheer size and might of the place is, in every sense of the word,  awesome.