Marsala

Approaching Marsala   

We left Mazara del Vallo at 1020 on 2 June. There was no wind and so we continued our motoring holiday around the coast of Sicily arriving at Marsala at around 1300. There are 2 marinas here and we picked one based upon some comments made by fellow Cruising Association members; it seemed pretty basic but it would do for what we needed. Once we had sorted ourselves out on our mooring we then went ashore to explore, including a quick check on mooring fees at the Polaris marina (the other marina). They wanted double the mooring fees we’d pay at Club Nautico so we decided we’d made the right choice of marina and slated the differential down to cover half of our annual membership of the Cruising Association.

One of the old city gates   

They take their siesta very seriously in Marsala and so mid-afternoon the place was very dead. The Centro Storico (the Historic Centre) is at the western part of the town, a twenty-minute walk past some fairly uninspiring concrete buildings and semi-derelict harbour warehouses.

As we approached one of the old city gates we started to hear signs of life with a live jazz band playing at the bar beside the gateway.

Walking through the gate was like stepping into another world. The streets had small cafés and bars and there were people, not many, but there were people! We wandered about the narrow streets enjoying looking at the old buildings but noted that the shops were all closed. We found a tourist information office but that too was closed.

The Chiesa Madre - Mother Church   

Palazzo VII Aprile  - April 7^th Palace

We stepped into a large piazza in front of the Chiesa Madre (Mother Church). According to the sign outside it, the church had been badly damaged during an air raid in 1943 and so had been rebuilt 1947-1954 which is why it currently looks in such good condition.

Also off this piazza is the Palazzo VII Aprile (April 7^th Palace). It was built in the 16^th century for the then town administrators and is still used by the Town Council. It was renamed the Palazzo VII Aprile in 1860 to commemorate a popular insurrection that took place in Marsala on that date.

Shops signs suggested that things might start to open at 1700 and so we decided to head toward the Roman archaeological site, at the western side of the town, to fill time until then. Sadly, the Archaeological Park was also closed and, from the length of the grass over the ruins, had not yet been opened for the tourist season. Instead, a trip to a gelateria for a fab ice cream helped to use up some of the time until 1700.

The ex-Church of the Purgatory (today, the Auditorium of St Cecily)   

We were intrigued by signs to the Church of the Purgatory and so after our ice creams we followed them. Expecting to see paintings of souls stuck between heaven and hell, it was a little strange to walk in and find that it is now a cinema/theatre. The fabric of the building was completed in a baroque style in 1710 paid for by the Congregation of the Purgatory souls, hence the name. Despite the ground layout of cinema chairs and the small stage built in front of the altar, the richly decorated walls and ceilings still stand out as the main feature of the building.

Roman ruins outside the Church of the Purgatory   

Outside the ex-Church of the Purgatory a small area has been excavated down to Roman era ruins. It still amazes us how far they have to dig down to expose these sorts of ruins or, put another way, how much ground level has come up over the intervening few thousand years.

We passed some more richly decorated buildings walking back into the ‘Historic Centre’, towards the tourist information office. It was just before 1700 and suddenly it felt as though someone had pulled the pin on a ‘human hand grenade’; the quiet streets were almost instantly full of local people. Dressed up smartly this was definitely Italian promenading in action. Despite the number of people in the town, many of the shops didn’t re-open, including the tourist information office and the supermarkets, the 2 places we wanted to visit - damn! We discovered later that 2 June is a public holiday, Republic Day, and so buying our Marsala wine and groceries would have to wait until early the following morning.

Marsala, Sicily, Italy