the history of trapani

It all started when…

Trapani is the most Western city in Sicily. Its history is quite long, coming from the original Sicilian tribe of the Elimi in 1500 before Christ, the same population that founded Erice and Segesta. During its ancient history, Trapani has been within the dominion of the Carthaginians, a North African civilization who established an empire with capital the old Carthage, which today is Tunisi, in Tunisia. The Carthaginians had occupied the Western part of Sicily and kept their dominion until the III century before Christ, after a series of wars, first against the Greeks, and then against the Romans, who finally won and occupied the whole territory.

Since the city had fought hard against the Romans, after their occupation it was severely punished and lost its importance, until the Arabs, and then the Normans came.

Due to its very strategic position, Trapani has since then played a key role, both from a military and an economical perspective. This very important role has been kept for the entire Spanish period and the beginning of the Italian Republic period. Unfortunately it has been hardly bombed during the Second world war and during the XX has gradually lost its importance.

Historically Trapani has become famous for the production of several artisanal products. First for the fishing and process of the coral, once abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, but almost disappeared today.

During the Spanish period, especially XVIII and XIX century, both the production of salt and the fishing and processing of tuna, in the famous Tonnare, has been the main economic push for the city. While the tuna production is now much more reduced, the production of salt is still alive in the famous salt farms, which are areas protected by the WWF. In fact, in the pools of water created by these farms, many birds stop during their migration, especially it is possible to admire the pink flamingo.

The territory of Trapani is also famous for two types of wine, the Erice Doc and the Marsala Doc, together with the olive oil of the Trapani Valleys.

The two most famous dishes are the fish couscous, imported from north Africa, and the so called Trapanese Pesto, which is a version of the basil pesto typical from Genoa, city with which Trapani had very close relationship, but modified adding tomato and almonds.

From Trapani it is possible to easily reach Erice, thanks to the cable way, and the so called Egadi Islands, a group of beautiful islands West of Sicily.

The city of Trapani offers beautiful baroque architectures like churches and palaces, together with the remains of the old medieval military constructions, but it is typically out of the traditional touristic map, even though much has been done to make the city more tourist friendly, like free wifi in the city center, better infrastructure and the nearby airport.