SICILIAN DAY'S OUTING WITH BILL GENOVA

• published: 12 Nov 2014
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Trapani is an important fishing port and main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands. It was founded by amongst the oldest inhabitants of Sicily the Elymians. Originally its name was Drepanon which is a Greek word for sicle because of the curving shape of its harbour. It was lost by the Carthagians to the Romans in the First Punic war. Behind it stands Mount Erice at 750 metres (2,460 ft). Superficially, it is the epitome of the Middle Ages, beginning with the castles, walls and stone streets. In reality, it's much older. This singular city, located on a mountain overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast of western Sicily, was ancient Eryx, a prosperous Elymian and Carthaginian city. Following the coast from Trapani and Marsala some of Europe's oldest salt marshes, and is still home to some of the windmills once used to drain water from the basins (containing ponds). Drawing salt from water remains a slow process, similar to desalination, something talked about more and more with the serious water supply problems confronting Sicily. The evaporation procedure utilizes the flat marshlands of Trapani's coast and the long, dry Sicilian summers. The windmills, however, were a medieval development. Salemi was first capital of Italy. When Garibaldi landed in Sicily and fought his way up the peninsula in a successful bid to create the modern Italy. When he passed through Salemi he proclaimed himself a dictator for one day before handing it over to the King. Salemi's golden age was when the Arabs controlled it. Salemi is derived from the meaning of "Salam" and that is a healthy and safe city, and "Salem", which means peace. The urban center was structured then, and remains in the same configuration today. In terms of agriculture, the Arabs introduced many new crops to Salemi and the surrounding areas: oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, asparagus, artichokes, cotton, eggplant and spices such as saffron, cloves and cinnamon.