Trapani & Erice, Sicily
At last we reached the western coast of Sicily! We tied up at the dock in Trapani in the early morning, and after breakfast took buses up to the town of Erice, sitting at the top of the mountain near Trapani. A winding road drew us slowly nearer, allowing us to see the very green vegetation formed principally by olive trees and pines. The ground was graced by locally abundant cyclamen, almost the only flowering plant at the moment. We are near the end of the long, dry summer, and everybody is looking forward to the rainy season, which takes place in winter. The vegetation reflects this rain regime, which is called Mediterranean Climate.
This lovely town is the very old city of Elimi, called Eryx, famous for its temple to the fertility goddess Astarte, later known as Venus and worshipped by the Romans. The town owes its name to Eryx, a mythical ruler of the Elimi. Two other Greek gods were associated with Erice, Hercules and Aeneas. The city fell and grew in the hands of first the Phoenicians, then the Carthaginians and the Romans. The Saracens followed, and called it Gebel Hamed, which in turn was named Monte San Giuliano by the Normans. We walked its ancient narrow streets, clean, lovely, and after visiting the castle built by the Normans, we had a taste of the local sweets cuisine at Maria Grammatica’s pastry shop. All kinds of almond and other pastries titillated our tongues!
At last we reached the western coast of Sicily! We tied up at the dock in Trapani in the early morning, and after breakfast took buses up to the town of Erice, sitting at the top of the mountain near Trapani. A winding road drew us slowly nearer, allowing us to see the very green vegetation formed principally by olive trees and pines. The ground was graced by locally abundant cyclamen, almost the only flowering plant at the moment. We are near the end of the long, dry summer, and everybody is looking forward to the rainy season, which takes place in winter. The vegetation reflects this rain regime, which is called Mediterranean Climate.
This lovely town is the very old city of Elimi, called Eryx, famous for its temple to the fertility goddess Astarte, later known as Venus and worshipped by the Romans. The town owes its name to Eryx, a mythical ruler of the Elimi. Two other Greek gods were associated with Erice, Hercules and Aeneas. The city fell and grew in the hands of first the Phoenicians, then the Carthaginians and the Romans. The Saracens followed, and called it Gebel Hamed, which in turn was named Monte San Giuliano by the Normans. We walked its ancient narrow streets, clean, lovely, and after visiting the castle built by the Normans, we had a taste of the local sweets cuisine at Maria Grammatica’s pastry shop. All kinds of almond and other pastries titillated our tongues!
