Page 539 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

SICIL Y  537

5 Erice
Sicilian Islands
Trapani. * 29,000. @ n Via Conte a
Repoli 11 (0923 50 21 11). ( Mon. Surrounding Sicily are several island groups. The Isole Eolie (Aeolian
Islands), to which Panarea, Lipari, Vulcano and Stromboli belong, are
Poised on a crag overlooking a mass of volcanoes (most of them nearly extinct) poking out of the
Trapani, the medieval town of sea off the coast of Milazzo. The Isole Egadi (Egadi Islands), off the coast
Erice was once the seat of the of Trapani, have a distinctly Arabic flavour. They include Favignana,
cult of the fertility goddess Venus Levanzo (which has Palaeolithic and Neolithic paintings and drawings),
Erycina. Her temple stood on and Marettimo – the smallest and most unspoiled. Ustica, renowned
the present site of the Norman for its marine life and popular among divers, lies north of Palermo. To
the south are the remarkably tourist-free Isole Pelagie (Pelagic Islands) –
castle (Castello di Venere), Lampedusa and Linosa, which are North African in character. Remote
beyond the Villa Balio public Pantelleria lies closer to Tunisia than to Sicily.
gardens. On a clear day, you can
see all the way to Tunisia from
the castle. The ancient town of The biggest and most
Eryx was renamed Gebel- popular of the Isole Eolie is
Lipari, which has a pretty
Hamed by the Arabs, Monte San port and a good range of
Giuliano by the Normans and bars, restaurants and hotels.
finally Erice in 1934 by Mussolini. Nearby sulphur-smelling
The Duomo (14th century) Vulcano offers hot mudbaths
has a battlemented campanile and black beaches.
and a 15th-century porch.
Inside is a Madonna and Child
(c.1469), attributed to either
Francesco Laurana or Domenico Favignana, the largest and most
Gagini. The deconsecrated populous of the Isole Egadi, is the
scene of the traditional tuna
13th-century San Giovanni slaughter – la mattanza.
Battista on Viale Nunzio Nasi Although rare nowadays,
(now a hotel) contains this still sometimes takes place in
Antonello Gagini’s St John the May. These fishermen are
Evangelist (1531) and Antonino bringing in the nets
Gagini’s St John the Baptist following the slaughter.
(1539). San Cataldo, a plain
14th-century building on Via Part of the Isole Pelagie,
San Cataldo, houses a holy Lampedusa was once owned
water stoup (c.1474) from by the family of Giuseppe
Domenico Gagini’s workshop. Tomasi di Lampedusa, author
In the Museo Cordici are of The Leopard, Sicily’s most
Antonello Gagini’s Annunciation famous novel. The island is
(1525), a variety of Classical nearer to Malta than Sicily
remains and an old library. and has limpid water and
white beaches.
E Museo Cordici
Piazza Umberto I. Tel 346 577 35 50. Ustica
Open times vary greatly; call in Isole Eolie
advance to check. (Lipari)
Palermo
Isole
Egadi
Sicily

Pantelleria

0 kilometres 100
Isole Pelagie 0 miles 50
A typical medieval street in the small
hill-town of Erice

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