Trapani (Tràpani in Sicilian) is an Italian town of 66 945
inhabitants, capital of the homonymous free municipal consortium in
Sicily.
Trapani has developed over time a flourishing
economic activity linked to the extraction and trade of salt, taking
advantage of its natural position, projected on the Mediterranean,
and of its port, an ancient commercial outlet for Eryx (today's
Erice), located on the homonymous mountain overlooking Trapani. The
economy today is based on the tertiary sector, on fishing (formerly
that of bluefin tuna, with the slaughter), on the extraction and
export of marble, on activities related to trade and tourism.
The urban agglomeration also includes the populous hamlet of
Casa Santa, which however belongs to the municipality of Erice.
Church of the Jesuit college, a complex comprising the college and
the convent, designed by the Messina architect Natale Masuccio, is an
example of Sicilian Baroque. The Jesuit college from the 19th century it
is the seat of the Liceo Ximenes.
Sanctuary Basilica of Maria
Santissima Annunziata, known as the "Madonna of Trapani".
Church of
Sant'Agostino, built in the fourteenth century, stands out for its rose
window and stands out on the small but delightful little square Saturno,
adorned with a fourteenth-century fountain.
Church of Santa Maria di
Gesù, a remarkable example of Romanesque architecture, houses a
beautiful glazed terracotta, the Madonna degli Angeli, by Andrea della
Robbia.
Chiesa del Purgatorio: it houses the twenty sacred groups of
the Mysteries.
Cathedral of San Lorenzo. The church is distinguished
by the original eighteenth-century Baroque facade made up of arches.
Inside it is possible to admire a painting depicting a Crucifixion
attributed to Van Dyck. It has the dignity of a minor basilica.
Church of Maria SS. of Itria. Another notable example of Sicilian
Baroque, this church is commonly called Santa Rita because the saint of
Cascia and the relics of the venerable Fra Santo di San Domenico are
venerated here.
Collegiate Church of San Pietro Apostolo. This
church, which gives its name to the oldest quarter of the city, stands
on a site where pre-Christian cults in honor of Saturn were probably
officiated. The flagship of the church is its splendid organ, built by
Francesco La Grassa in 1837 and made up of four thousand pipes. It has
the dignity of a minor basilica.
Chiesa della Badìa Nuova, in the
elegant Via Garibaldi, is a small but very precious Baroque church.
Church of Sant'Alberto, in via Garibaldi, baroque and with a single
circular nave, is now closed to worship and hosts exhibitions of
contemporary art.
Protobasilica of San Niccolò, located in via Barone
Sieri Pepoli. It has the dignity of a minor basilica.
Church of San
Domenico, houses a wooden crucifix from the 1300s which is said to be
miraculous.
Specus Corallii, 2016 restoration of the Oratorio Sala
Laurentina commissioned by the Cathedral of San Lorenzo and project by
the architect Antonino Cardillo.
Casina delle Palme, a small Art Nouveau building with adjoining
garden, in the port area, 1922.
Lazzaretto of Trapani, built in the
19th century.
Palazzo Burgio dei Baroni di Xirinda, sixteenth-century
residence in via Garibaldi; headquarters of the Banco di Sicilia since
1908 after a modular restoration by the Palermo architect Francesco
Paolo Palazzotto who created the neo-Gothic facade.
Palazzo Nicolò
Burgio, via Seven Sorrows. It has three valuable ogival mullioned
windows and a mullioned window on the first floor, and traces of a
portal in Chiaramonte style. These are the vestiges of the Trapani home
of the Chiaramonte family.
Palazzo Cavarretta, with its sumptuous
Baroque facade, is the ancient Palazzo Senatorio, today the seat of the
municipal council.
Palazzo D'Alì, built in 1904, seat of the Town
Hall, in Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
Palazzo Annibale Fardella, 18th
century, via Garibaldi, headquarters of the Superintendence of Cultural
Heritage.
Palazzo Fardella Baroni di Mokarta, in Piazza Matteotti,
behind the Cathedral.
Palazzo Alessandro Ferro, in Corso Vittorio
Emanuele, from the eighteenth century, characterized by the clock in the
center of the façade, and by balconies in whose tympanums there are
medallions depicting busts of illustrious characters of the Ferro
family.
Palazzo Berardo Ferro, in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, built in
the 18th century in the late Baroque style.
Palazzo della Giudecca of
the 16th century, in Plateresque style, in the ancient Jewish quarter of
Giudecca (Jurèca).
Palazzo ex Grand Hotel, (later Circolo della
Concordia) built in 1885 in Piazza Garibaldi.
Palazzo Vescovile, made
up of two eighteenth-century palaces, that of the prince of Pandolfina
and that of the Lombardo family.
Palazzo Lucatelli, from 1455 was the
seat of the hospital of the Compagnia di S. Antonio which in 1628
inherited the property of the patrician Lazzaro Lucatelli.
Palazzo
Malato, in neoclassical style, via Torrearsa.
Palazzo Manzo formerly
Pucci, in late Baroque style, was the house that gave birth to the
minister Nunzio Nasi.
Palazzo Epifanio Marini, neoclassical, Corso
Vittorio Emanuele.
Palazzo Milo Baroni della Salina (now Pappalardo),
in via Garibaldi, built at the end of the seventeenth century.
Palazzo Milo, via Argentieri.
Palazzo Nobili, from the 1500s,
Renaissance, Via San Francesco di Paola.
Palazzo Platamone, in viale
Regina Margherita.
Palazzo delle Poste, in full Art Nouveau style,
designed by the architect Francesco La Grassa and completed in 1927.
Palazzo Riccio di Morana, eighteenth-century noble palace in
neoclassical style, seat of the Presidency of the Province of Trapani in
via Garibaldi
Palazzo Riccio di San Gioacchino between via Turretta
and corso Vittorio Emanuele, is characterized by richly decorated
balconies.
Palazzo Sanseverino dei Principi di Brisignano, in via
Libertà, dating back to the seventeenth century, was restored in 1727 by
the architect Giovanni Biagio Amico. The viceroy of Sicily had his
residence in the palace during his visits to Trapani.
Palazzo Saura,
18th century, via Garibaldi.
Palazzo Sieri Pepoli, located between
via Carreca and via Barone Sieri Pepoli. In 1535 the emperor Charles V
stayed there for almost two weeks, returning from the Tunis campaign.
Palazzo Barone Stabile (formerly Baron Domingo Morello), 17th century,
in via Barone Sieri Pepoli.
Palazzo Staiti, Baroni della Chiusa, 18th
century, via Garibaldi.
Palazzo Todaro, Barons of Galia, XVII
century, Via San Francesco di Paola.
Palazzo della Vicaria, Via San
Francesco d'Assisi, built from scratch in 1830 by the Jesuits, was the
seat of the prisons from 1655 until the 19th century, characterized by
the four stuccoed tuff telamons on the façade.
Porta Botteghelle, was
built in the 13th century, and opens onto the Mura di Tramontana beach.
Porta Ossuna or Serisso, which no longer exists, was located on the
opposite side of Porta Botteghelle. The keystone, with relative
inscription, is kept in the Pepoli Museum.
Porta Oscura - clock
tower, the oldest gate of the city, adjacent to Palazzo Cavarretta,
probably already existed at the time of the Carthaginians. Over the
centuries it has undergone several changes. The 13th century tower
supports an astronomical clock built in 1596.
Villino Nasi, is
located in the area of the fishing port in front of which there is the
islet on which the Colombaia Castle is located.
Torre di Ligny (Turrignì), built in 1671 on the orders of the viceroy
don Claudio La Moraldo, prince of Ligny. Inside today there is the
Museum of Prehistory.
Colombaia Castle or Sea Castle ('a Culummàra)
Castello di Terra, a fortification dating back to the Carthaginian era,
has been the defensive stronghold of the city for centuries. Partly
demolished to build the new police station. The remains are clearly
visible from the Dante Alighieri promenade.
Bastion of the
Impossible, dating back to the sixteenth century, located in the
southeastern corner of the ancient city walls, it was so called because
of the muddy ground on which it seemed impossible to build it.
Bastion Sant'Anna or dell'Imperiale, from the sixteenth century, visible
from Viale delle Sirene.
Bastione Conca, from the sixteenth century,
reachable from the walk of the Mura di Tramontana.
Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, built in 1890 by Leonardo Croce.
Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, built in 1882 by the Sienese Giovanni
Duprè.
Fontana del Tritone, built in 1890, is located in Piazza
Vittorio Emanuele. At the center of the fountain is the bronze monument
created in 1951 by the Trapani master Domenico Li Muli.
Fontana di
Saturno, built in 1342 by the Senate of Trapani to celebrate the
inauguration of the aqueduct, is located in the homonymous square.
Statue of the Madonna of Trapani.
Statue of Sant'Alberto degli Abati,
reliquary statue in silver, work of the silversmith Vincenzo Bonaiuto,
kept in the sanctuary basilica of Maria Santissima Annunziata.
Piazza Garibaldi, where there is a statue dedicated to the famous
hero of the Italian Risorgimento.
Statue of Garibaldi, in the
homonymous square
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, which houses the monument
to Vittorio Emanuele II and the Triton fountain.
Piazza Mercato del
Pesce, ('a Chiazza) in the past used for the retail sale of fish; in the
center of the square there is a fountain representing Venus Anadyomene.
Piazza Vittorio Veneto, in front of the Palazzo della Prefettura, houses
the War Memorial created by the sculptor Antonio Ugo.
Piazza Generale
Scio, in the heart of the old part of the city, is in front of the
so-called Casa del Mutilato. It also acts as the terminus for the urban
bus lines that pass through the historic centre.
Princess Jolanda di
Savoia square built in 1873, with the statue of Gaspare D'Urso, placed
in 1910.
Piazza Lucatelli, in the historic centre, overlooked by the
building of the same name (former city hospital), with a characteristic
fountain.
Piazza Martiri D'UNGaria, its recent redevelopment has
involved both the architectural and urban aspects: it is in fact an
important road junction where the streets Fardella, Conte Agostino
Pepoli, Orti and Corso Piersanti Mattarella converge. Once upon a time,
as evidenced by the Sicilian name of the square ('u Daziu), it was the
gateway to the city, where all goods in transit had to stop to pay duty.
Villa Margherita, extending over an entire block of 21,000 m², is the
largest public garden in the city.
Villa Pepoli in front of the
Agostino Pepoli Regional Museum.
Villa Comunale of Viale Marche in
the Sant'Alberto district (ex Rione Palme)
The Trapani salt pans are still active, with precious evidence of
industrial archeology. They produce a PGI sea salt.
The salt
marshes are located in the area of the Saline di Trapani and Paceco
nature reserve managed by the WWF and characterized by a remarkable
flora and fauna. Thanks to the protection guaranteed by the Reserve, the
activity of the salt pans and the production of salt have increased, at
the same time favoring the return and reproduction of dozens of species
of migratory birds, including the pink flamingo.
Walls of Tramontana: the promenade, north of the historic center,
represents one of the most evocative glimpses of the city. The Walls,
which were part of the perimeter fortification of the ancient city,
include several bastions, and were erected during the Spanish
domination, in the sixteenth century. About a kilometer long, it extends
from Piazza Mercato del Pesce to Bastione Conca; it can also be accessed
via the stairways along the way, in via Lombardo and in via Botteghelle.
Beaches: the beach below the Walls of Tramontana has been restored,
accessible from the historic center from Porta Botteghelle and from a
new staircase on the Walls. The system of beaches in the city is
completed with the long sandy shore which from Piazza Mercato del Pesce
reaches the borders of the Erice area, thus continuing with the beach of
San Giuliano. The Ministry of the Environment has funded the
construction of the barriers that will result in greater breadth and
usability.
About 12 km south of the city centre, there is the beach
of Lido Marausa which overlooks the Egadi archipelago.
Roman ship of
Marausa: in the summer of 1999, an almost intact Roman ship of
considerable size, dating back to the 3rd century AD, was discovered in
the depths of Marausa. The wreck, which was located at a depth of about
2 meters, was recovered and restoration is underway for its subsequent
museum display.
Viale delle Sirene: it is located near the Torre di
Ligny and takes on the real conformation of a "terrace overlooking the
sea". The area is limited to traffic.
Every August 16th is the Feast of the Madonna, the anniversary of the
main patron saint of the Diocese of Trapani and co-patron saint of the
City of Trapani. A mass is celebrated by the Bishop in the
Basilica-Sanctuary and with a Pontifical in the Cathedral of Trapani,
followed by a procession through the streets of the historic center,
with a wooden copy of the original statue kept in the sanctuary, and the
traditional fireworks at the port .
The major event, which brings
thousands of visitors to the city, is the Procession of the mysteries of
Trapani, which has been taking place on Good Friday for 400 years. The
origin is Spanish. The procession, made up of 20 sacred groups, begins
at 2 pm on Good Friday and ends twenty-four hours later. The procession
that starts from the Church of the Souls in Purgatory, travels through
the main city streets. The Mysteries are the artistic representation of
the death and passion of Christ. In total there are 20 sacred groups,
including two simulacra of the dead Jesus and of Mary of Sorrows. The
statues are fixed to a wooden base called vara, with a particular
procedure, in order to allow a certain oscillation during transport,
such as to express a scenic representativeness to the group
In
July there are performances of the "July of Trapani music", an open-air
opera season, in the evocative setting of Villa Margherita. Event that
has over 100 years of life.
"Circumnavigare" on foot the walls of Torre di Ligny on a morning
with rough seas.
In the evening the walk on the tramontana walls,
from piazza Mercato del pesce to Torre di Ligny.
You cannot miss the
mulberry granita from Colicchia in via delle Arti.
And also Calvino's
particular Trapani pizza in via Nunzio Nasi, in small rooms of a former
meeting house from the early twentieth century, now renovated.
The
so-called "tour of the seven churches" (Cathedral, Jesuits, Purgatory,
Itria, Badia nuova, Santa Rita, ending at the Sanctuary of the Madonna).
Worth visiting is the crypt of the ancient statue of the Madonna of
Trapani, in the sanctuary of the same name, which you can touch as a
sign of devotion.
Those who love nature can take a walk to the salt
pans, they will not be disappointed, or even "birdwatching" (contact the
local Wwf).
A dip in the sea of San Giuliano beach.
In summer,
open-air opera performances at Villa Margherita.
By plane
Trapani-Birgi Airport, contrada Birgi, Trapani (16 km), ☎
+390923610111, info@airgest.it. National and European flights, scheduled
and low cost.
The reference airport is that of Trapani-Birgi
which is located 13 kilometers south of the city centre. It is
experiencing a phase of strong revival by offering, among others,
connections to Pantelleria, Rome, Bergamo, Pisa, Treviso, Bari, Verona,
Parma, Bologna, Turin, Dublin, Frankfurt, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Gerona,
Stockholm, London, Paris , Oslo, Malta and Madrid. Following Ryanair's
new market strategies, a further thirteen routes will be operational
from Trapani (34 in total) to various national and European
destinations. The two new Boeing 737-800s have enabled the launch of new
routes to Ancona, Billund, Bratislava, Cagliari, Eindhoven, Genoa,
Gothenburg, Perugia, Karlsruhe, Krakow, Maastricht, Memmingen, Trieste,
Valencia.
By car
It is possible to reach Trapani by car from
Palermo via the A29 motorway: there are about 97 kilometers that
separate the two capitals. The motorway, a natural continuation of the
Trapani ring road, branches off to the east allowing you to reach the
cities of the provincial hinterland and also the Palermo-Punta Raisi
airport, about 80 km away. The SP. 21 connects the capital to the
Trapani-Birgi airport.
On boat
The port of Trapani, which is
tourist and commercial, through Siremar and Ustica Lines is connected
with the Egadi Islands and Pantelleria and can also be reached from
Cagliari, Tunis and Susa in Tunisia, Livorno.
On the train
As
far as rail transport is concerned, Trapani is connected to Palermo with
trains that have an average journey time of two hours. The railway
station is located in the center of the city, allowing you to easily
reach the historic center and the port.
By bus
The Sicilian
Transport Company connects the city with the Trapani Birgi airport,
while the Segesta srl company makes connections between the port of
Trapani, almost every hour with Palermo (with arrival at the central
station), with a journey time of one hour and 45 minutes.
The
Azienda Trasporti e Mobilità (municipalized company) manages the bus
service within the municipal area with 12 urban and 3 extra-urban lines.
By public transport
The historic centre, from via Garibaldi to
Torre Ligny, can be visited entirely on foot. For mobility within the
historic centre, some electric buses (thumbs) are also used which can
pass through the Limited Traffic Zones. To reach the sanctuary of the
Madonna di Trapani and the adjacent Pepoli Museum, you can take the bus
of the municipal urban services.
By taxi
A taxi service is
available in front of the railway station and the sea station. You will
also find taxis outside the arrivals area at Trapani Birgi Airport.
By car
To visit the salt marshes reserve and its windmills it is
preferable to use a private car or a rental car.
From Trapani
Airport to Trapani port there are several collective taxi services.
Trapani is located in the westernmost part of
Sicily, on the promontory of the ancient Drepanum in Latin, from the
Greek Drepanon (Δρέπανον, sickle), given the shape of the peninsula
on which the city stands. It is also called "city between two seas"
as it extends over a narrow strip of land, surrounded by the sea,
which tapers towards the extreme point of Torre di Ligny. The
municipal territory is 271 square kilometers wide, the largest in
the province, with a density of about 260 inhabitants per square
kilometer. The city has an average altitude of three meters above
sea level.
Its municipal territory is crossed by the Chinisia
River. The Colombaia Island, the Palumbo Rock, the Asinelli Island
and the Porcelli rocks are also part of the territory of Trapani.
The city of Trapani is characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate, consisting of warm winters and hot summers but generally not hot and breezy; only during heat waves and in the presence of sirocco winds coming from the Sahara the maximum temperatures can be around 40 ° C, but with relative humidity that literally collapses. Winds are frequent, and rainfall is around 450 mm per year, with a marked minimum in summer and a very low autumn peak.
Mythology has it that a sickle
fallen from the hands of Ceres or of Saturn, the latter the
traditional patron god of the city, changed into an arched tongue of
land on which the city then rose, for this form called Drepanon
("sickle" in ancient Greek).
In the Aeneid, Virgil recounts
that Aeneas's father, Anchises died in Drepanum and, after his
escape from Dido, the Trojan hero returned there to celebrate games,
the novendiali games.
The foundation
The founders of the first settlement in Trapani
were probably the Elimi, a people who settled in western Sicily in
protohistoric times and of which Eryx (Erice) was one of the main
centres. The date of the foundation is almost certainly prior to the
fall of Troy (1184 BC). The small village of Trapani must have arisen on
an island divided from the marshy hinterland by a navigable canal and
played the role of Erice's commercial port. Trapani soon became a
city-emporium thanks to its favorable geographical position.
Carthaginian influence
Between the 9th and 8th centuries BC Punic
influence asserted itself in Trapani. During the wars against the Greeks
and Syracuse in the following centuries, Trapani fortified itself and
remained firmly allied to the city of Carthage. In 260 BC. Hamilcare
arrived in Sicily, strengthened the walls, built the Castello di Terra,
the Torre Pali and the Torre Peliade or Colombaia and transferred part
of the inhabitants of Erice there. General Adherbal, who had established
the general command of the Carthaginian forces there, defeated the
Romans in the battle of Trapani. Drepano (Trapani), together with
Lilibeo, was one of the last Carthaginian strongholds in Sicily.
From the Romans to the Spanish domination
The important strategic
position was used during the First Punic War when the Carthaginians
defeated the Roman fleet in the Battle of Trapani in 249 BC. But a few
years later, in 241 BC, Gaius Lutatius Catulus routed the Carthaginian
fleet in the Battle of the Egadi Islands which ended the war. The Romans
thus conquered the city, latinizing its name into Drepanum.
The
Romans treated the Sicilian cities according to their conduct during the
Punic War. Drepanum was one of the 26 censorship cities (civitates
censoriae) or among the most stubborn in the resistance against the
Romans. Opposed by the Romans, who did not forgive its loyalty to
Carthage, Trapani entered a period of decline and was depopulated.
After the Romans, the Vandals dominated the city, then the
Byzantines, but it was in the 9th century AD. with the Arabs (who called
it Itràbinis, Taràbanis, Tràpanesch) and with the Normans (who conquered
it in 1077 led by Roger I) that the city reached a fervent development,
flourishing in commerce and cultural activities, so the port had great
ferment also thanks to the crusades. The port of Trapani, during the
Middle Ages, was one of the most important in the Mediterranean: all the
most powerful maritime cities (Genoa, Pisa, Venice, Amalfi) had a
consulate in the Trapani port and, especially with the first two,
Trapani had the agreement to serve as a stopover to their possessions in
North Africa.
In 1266 the Venetian and Genoese fleets clashed in
front of the port of Trapani during the war of San Saba. The Venetians
captured the entire Genoese fleet.
After a short period under the
Angevins, Trapani actively participated in the uprising of the Sicilian
Vespers led by Palmiero Abate, passing in 1282 to the Aragonese. During
the 14th and 15th centuries the city expanded and became the most
important economically and politically in western Sicily. In 1478,
Ferdinand the Catholic granted the city the title of Invittissima in
this regard «of the glorious resistance always made to the enemies of
the kingdom».
On 20 August 1535 Charles V arrived in Trapani
after having conquered Tunis. The city had by now established itself so
much in the geopolitical chessboard of the time that it deserved the
nickname of "Key to the Kingdom" by Charles V himself. During his stay
in Trapani, Charles V swore to maintain the privileges of the city,
including the one by which the city Senate could confer degrees in
medicine, physics, theology, mathematics, fine arts and jurisprudence.
In 1589, Trapani from simple land became Civitas.
In the 17th
century Trapani experienced a period of decline mainly due to
insurrections due to famines, such as in 1647 and 1670-1673, and the
plague in 1624. The 18th century saw a significant increase in the
population of Trapani which went from about 16,000 to 25,000 inhabitants
.
From the Bourbons to fascism
After the brief Savoy (1713)
and Austrian (1720) parentheses, the Bourbon Kingdom began in the second
half of the eighteenth century and continued until 1860.
In 1756
stonemasons from Trapani were assigned the task of working the
staircases of the royal staircase of the Royal Palace of Caserta.
The Bourbons proceeded with the reclamation of some areas of the
city and with its urban development. In this period the inhabitants of
Trapani dedicated themselves to the trade and industry of salt and tuna
traps. Trapani actively participated in the revolts of 1848-1849, which
were bloodily repressed. In 1861 Trapani pronounced itself with the
plebiscite for the Kingdom of Italy.
After the First World War
(during which Trapani had about 700 fallen), the city experienced a
period of development: the industries linked to the salt pans, tuna
traps, wine and oil made Trapani a particularly dynamic city not only
from the economically but also culturally. In 1924 Mussolini, after a
visit to the city, decided to send the prefect Cesare Mori to Trapani
who, after just over a year, was transferred to Palermo with
extraordinary powers for the repression of the mafia phenomenon. The
Second World War saw Trapani engaged as a port and submarine base of
primary importance and, with the local airports of Milo and Chinisia, it
became a supply connection point for the Axis troops in North Africa. It
suffered heavy bombings: it was bombed by the French on 22 June 1940, by
the RAF on 10 November 1941 and on 31 May 1942, then underwent 27
bombings by the Anglo-Americans from January to July 1943, with the
consequent destruction of the entire historic district of San Pietro.
The air raids that devastated the city placed it in ninth place among
the Italian provincial capitals bombed. On July 22, 1943, Patton's
allied troops arrived in the square of Trapani, finding an exhausted
city.
In the 1946 referendum, the Province of Trapani sided, the only one
in Sicily, with the majority for the Republic. The capital, on the
contrary, expressed a royalist vote. Between 1950 and 1965 there was a
slow recovery of industrial and commercial activities, but the city
never fully recovered from the crisis of the immediate post-war period,
anonymously falling back into the tertiary sector and into the
activities connected to its political and administrative role as
provincial capital . The earthquake in the Belice Valley in January 1968
also caused death and pain in the city of Trapani. Other deaths with the
flood of 1965 and with that of November 5, 1976 which caused 16 deaths.
In the 1990s, the city proposed itself with more conviction than in
the past as a destination of tourist, historical, cultural and sporting
interest through redevelopment plans in the historic centre, the
construction of new urban infrastructures, the increase in
accommodation, catering and entertainment, with greater attention to the
valorisation of its huge historical, architectural and naturalistic
heritage.
In recent years the city has also taken on
international importance with events of undoubted cultural importance,
such as the exhibitions on Caravaggio, Leonardo Da Vinci and
Michelangelo's Crucifix Found, as well as sporting with some of the
stages of the Vuitton Cup.