Erice, Sicily
Sat at the top of Monte San Giuliani, in the Sicilian province of Trapani, the ancient town of Erice has amazing views over the north-west coast of the island. We’re around 750 metres above sea level here, and the vista takes in Trapani town, Marsala, the Punta del Saraceno, the Capo san Vito and the Aegadian Islands on Sicily’s. This strategically powerful position explains Erice’s historic importance.
Unlike many of the towns on Sicily it wasn’t a Greek colony, but is in fact older, and there are traces of the ancient Phoenician and Elymian town walls in the city. The Greeks eventually took ‘Eryx’ as it then was, and the town was razed in the First Punic War by Carthage. The city has two surviving castles - Pepoli, from Saracen days, and Castello di Venere (Venus) from Norman times. The latter gets its name from its construction on the older Temple of Venus. Myth and history intertwine in this part of the old, and the story has it that the temple was originally built by Aeneas (of the Dido and Aeneas/Trojan wars myth).
The pulse quickens merely at the thought of scaling Mount Erice to the town - thankfully there is a gondola lift, though it closes down in January-March. Very hot in summer and often shrouded in mists during the winter, it is a spectacular arrival. You can drive up to the town too of course, along the via Vito Carvini. The gate to the city is the Porta Trapani, and you quickly come to the Duomo (Cathedral of Matrice), with its campanile (bell tower). The town is a medieval maze of winding little streets, with some 60 churches. Check out the Cordici Civic Museum, in Piazza Umberto I. There is a second Temple of Venus, ruined though still impressive, and pleasant public gardens at Giardini del Ballo.
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