Egadi Islands (Part 4) Favignana and Santa Caterina Castle

More cave di tufo   

Cala Rossa was lovely but it was not the place to be with a northerly wind. We also wanted to take a look at the main town of Favignana. So, at 0930 on 6 June we left Cala Rossa and headed the short 2½ miles distance north west to the main port on the island. Along the way we saw some more tufa quarries….

Levanzo    

… and got a great view of Levanzo 3 miles north of us.

Favignana Port. Looking in (above) and from the shore   

Cala Principale, with the port for Favignana, was an interesting one for us. Despite its size, it is a busy place with a selection of slow and fast ferries constantly arriving and departing throughout the day. Our pilot book warns that the fees to moor on the quay can be quite pricey and this was backed up by our researches on the Cruising Association website. It is possible to anchor in the cala and we had decided to take a look but, seeing it in the flesh (so to speak) it was clear that the area close to the beach was just too shallow for us and the only place deep enough for us was too close to the ferry turning area. We didn’t want on spend a small fortune on mooring at the quay with the wash and noise from the ferries and so we decided to move to the south side of the island.

Anchored off the small fishing harbour east of Punta Longa 

That might sound a bit odd but, in the middle, the island is only about ½ mile wide and so anchored on the sheltered southern side of island we could be back in Favignana town after just a 15 minute walk. So, at midday we dropped our anchor in a sandy patch on the eastern side of Punta Longa, just outside a small fishing harbour. This worked out perfectly for us both in terms of shelter from the now northerly wind, and also because the small fishing harbour gave us an easy place to get ashore and leave the dinghy.

After lunch on board, despite it being in the middle of the siesta period, we took the dinghy ashore and walked across to Favignana port.  There were a couple of things we specifically wanted to do and we wanted to check on opening times.

The port, statue of Signor Florio and the Florio mansion   

As soon as you are in the town you realise how significant the Florio influence was here. Signor Ignazio Florio, from Palermo, bough the Egadi Islands 120 years ago and made Favignana the centre for tuna canning. We wanted to visit the tuna canning factory and so needed to check when that was open and along the way we saw lots of statues of Signor Florio and the large Florio Mansion, the highest building in the town. Amongst other things, the mansion now houses the tourist information office which was to a degree helpful but, because so few foreign tourists visit here, everything was in Italian. ‘International sign language’ helped to make up for our inadequacies in speaking the language.

The little town centres around two piazzas: Piazza Europa and Piazza Madrice, which are linked by the main street. We spotted a small supermarket, fruit and veg shops and a bakery (useful for later in our stay) and because it was getting towards the end of the siesta, the streets were becoming quite busy. It’s very much a holiday town with lots of boat and fishing trips on offer, hundreds of pushbikes to hire, and cafés and restaurants everywhere. Judging from the number of pushbikes and dining capacity it must be absolutely heaving in July and August. We also spotted a nice looking gelateria and so treated ourselves to a granita. I was told off by the ice cream man for wanting it in a cone; granita is served in a small tub and comes with a little bun (the bread tasted like brioche). So, bread goes with fruit sorbet – now I know!

Tuna canning factory and anchors for the tuna nets   

Aside from getting an ice cream and some bread, one of our main tasks was to check on the opening times of the tuna canning factory. We walked around to the other side of the harbour and discovered that whilst the factory was open, there wasn’t enough time left that day to do it justice. With visiting the canning factory postponed until the morning Nicky looked about quickly and spotted the Santa Caterina castle high up on the hill behind the factory.

View down over eastern side of island   

The castle dominates the whole area. Visible from all of the anchorages we’d used, it was inevitable that we’d climb up and take look [Ed: the only way is up!]. A winding road and then a footpath zigzagged up the hillside and we set about making our way up to the summit.

View down to BV’s anchorage (RH side)   

From sea level to 1,115ft (340 metres) took us 34 minutes and the rewards for our endeavour were some spectacular views down over the island.

Castello Santa Caterina began life as a Saracen warning station, was rebuilt by the Roger II in Norman times and was subsequently enlarged before serving as a prison under Bourbon rule (1794-1860). The castle is now under military control and has clearly been used for some purpose in the last 40 or so years, though it is now falling into ruin.

Castello Santa Caterina and its views (to the southeast – top right; and northwest – bottom left)   

The gates on the entrances to the castle were open but there were also numerous signs saying not to enter and warning of impending death if we did. So, we put our heads in around the corner, saw that the whole place looked hugely rickety and had been much mucked about with mid-20^th century and contented ourselves with the views from outside.

The route back down   

In comparison to the route up, the stroll down was much faster and, mostly, easier going. We popped back into the town to do a quick shop and then headed back to BV for, we felt, a well-deserved sundowners.