Érice

Érice   

We’d had a good look at Érice from a distance when we’d made our way into Trapani’s harbour. The mediaeval town sits on top of the huge hill (750m/2460’ high) just to the east of the city. It’s very easy to imagine why it was built there.

There is a local bus to Érice but our guidebook reckons that the best way to visit is via the cable car from the outskirts of Trapani. The lady in the marina office gave us details of the bus that we should take from Piazza Garibaldi but either we were standing in the wrong place or it never showed up. The nearest tourist information office was closed (though it was advertised as open) but, happily, a couple of ladies who work in the tourist industry in Trapani saw that we had a problem and gave us directions to a bus stop with more frequent bus routes (numbers 21 and 23) to the cable car.

The cable car up to Érice   

The cable car wasn’t busy and very soon after arriving at the base station we were aboard a car and being whisked up and away above Trapani, with the whole of the western Sicilian plain opening up behind us. We had fabulous views down over the city, across the salt pans to the south of Trapani and out to the Egadi Islands as well as across miles and miles of agricultural land, stretching south and southeast as far as the eye could see.

Views the western Sicilian plain from the top (L) to the southeast and (R) the salt pans to the southwest   

Érice couldn’t be more different to Trapani. It was founded by the Elymians (descended from the Trojans, apparently) and was called Eryx by the ancients. At that time, the mountain was topped by a magnificent temple to Aphrodite Erycina, a temple so large that it acted as a landmark to sailors, and legend has it that Daedalus landed here after flying away from Minos. Over the millennia, Érice was taken by the Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Normans and its name was changed several times before being returned to something like the original by Mussolini. Despite the many conquerors of the town, the current buildings and layout essentially date from mediaeval times when Trapani took over as principal town in the region.

The best thing about visiting Érice is wandering around the narrow alleys, getting lost in the maze of ancient, centuries old, grey stone buildings and then suddenly coming upon a piazza or a small grouping of colourful shops.

Dolci di badia and traditional tapestries   

In high summer, the place gets bombarded by tourists, so there are loads of ‘tourist tat’ shops but there are also a fair number of shops selling more traditional wares – ceramics, tapestries and, prettiest of all, dolci di badia (almond-paste sweets, often formed into the shape of fruits).

Torretta Pépoli and Castello di Vénere   

We wandered through the maze of tiny alleys and eventually came out on the southeastern corner. The town is almost triangular and the tourist blurb on the signs says that the streets are laid out in a triangular system. We’re not sure that ‘laid out’ is quite the right term – it suggests organisation – but, either way, after a certain amount of nearly aimless wandering, we reached the southeast corner. Here we found the Giardini del Balio public gardens, a haven of cool shade with a lovely breeze wafting through, so we knew that we’d found the right place to eat our picnic lunch. In the middle of the gardens is the restored 15^th century Torretta Pépoli and on the most southeastern tip is the 12^th century Castello di Vénere.

The castello is built on the site of the ancient temple of Aphrodite, chunks of which have been incorporated into its walls (cheap building materials!). We enjoyed our picnic in the shade, listening to a local accordion player, complete with traditionally decorated horse and trap, playing a host of traditional Sicilian tunes, and some not so traditionally Sicilian [Ed: think ‘The Godfather’ theme tune!], to a host of admiring visitors.

Views to the north of Érice (towards Capo San Vito)   

After lunch we walked around the garden’s ramparts, admiring the views in all directions. It’s so easy to understand why the town was first built here.

Torre di Re Federico II and Chiese Madre   

Back at the entrance to the town, and after an almost compulsory gelato each, we came to the square in which stands the Chiese Madre (Mother Church). The church dates to Norman times (around 1314) although the entrance porch was added a hundred years or so after and much of the structure was rebuilt in the 19^th century. The Torre di Re Federico II (named after Frederick III of Aragon, Frederick II of Sicily) was originally a lookout tower for King Frederick during the Wars of the Vespers. The bells, making it the campanile for the church, were added later.

Great views of the Egadi Islands on the cable car trip down   

And so we returned to the cable car and to Trapani enjoying, on the way down, more exquisite views towards the Egadi Islands.

Sundowners   

With the sun still shining and memories of fabulous views fresh in our minds, we decided on a fitting version of sundowners to celebrate our last evening in Trapani and, perhaps, our last evening in Sicily too.

Érice, Sicily, Italy