Trapani - 27 September 2021

As we had been greatly impressed with Trapani, we decided to stay another day and explore further. We also needed more food supplies as we get through the contents of the fridge much faster when there are 4 people on board. The greatest issue was a perceived shortage of tonic water, although the stocks of gin were ample. In the morning we ventured out to the supermarket, bakery and fruit and veg stall (twice), to ensure that we were adequately supplied for the next few days.



Towering over the town is Mount Erice, 750 metres above sea level. From Favagnana we had seen the lights of the cable car that takes visitors to the top, where there is an ancient village, and we were keen to go there. As the cable car only starts operation at 1:00 pm, it fitted very well with getting the chores done in the morning.  Once the hottest of the day was past, we set off to walk to the base, which was about 5 km away. We left the old part of Trapani and moved through modern developments to the town of Erice. This is split, with half at the bottom of the mountain and the remainder at the top.

It was founded by the Phoenicians, but then taken over by the Greeks. It was destroyed in the First Punic War by the Carthaginians, and from then on declined in importance. It was conquered by the Aghlabids in 831 and was renamed. It was ruled by the Arabs until the Norman conquest. In 1167 the Normans renamed it Monte San Giuliano, a name maintained until 1934. In parts of the city there are the remains of ancient Elymian and Phoenician walls showing the different stages of settlement and occupation in antiquity.

There are two castles that remain in the city: Pepoli Castle, which dates from Saracen times, and the Castello di Venere ("Venus Castle"), dating from the Norman period, built on top of the ancient Temple of Venus, where Venus Ericina was worshipped. According to legend, the temple was founded by Aeneas. It was well known throughout the Mediterranean area in the ancient age. 

I think we were unprepared for the size and splendour of this hilltop town. Clearly it has gone through countless periods of building and rebuilding, but it was clearly a substantial town, with even today hundreds of people living there.






The view from the top - disappointing


Narrow alleys running between the levels

The main entrance

While we had been ascending in the cable car, the cloud had closed in and robbed us of the spectacular views of the coast and islands that we had hoped to see. Given the lack of visibility, we decided not to go into the castle, as we could barely see the outline of the castle.

Eventually we returned back down in the cable car.

We decided to try to take the bus back, rather than walking again, so we found a bus stop and read the timetable to find that the next bus was due in about 20 minutes. There were already people at the bus stop, so we thought that the previous bus might be running late. We waited a long time, way beyond when the bus had been timetabled, but you always think that if you give up waiting and start to walk, the bus will appear when you are too far away from the bus stop to catch it.

The other people waiting were getting fairly frustrated, and one muttered “hallelujah” when the bus actually appeared. 

Being mere foreigners, we innocently got on, not knowing the rules about purchasing tickets.  We offered to pay the driver, but he just signalled that we should get on. As we moved away from the stop we were aware of an increasingly heated debate between the others who had got on at our stop. We believe that there was some resentment that we had not had to pay. One of the other passengers intervened, we think, saying that the others should just forget about it,  but one in particular was not letting it drop, and eventually was engaged in a discourse with the driver as he drove.

Things quietened down as the most vociferous passengers got off, and we eventually disembarked pretty well outside the marina, and close to the gelateria. We felt that it was important that we checked that the high standard had not dropped since the previous day, so we’re forced to sample them again.

Steve (and Tricia, Teresa and Tom)

Distance today               0 miles

Total distance 2021:   327 miles

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