TORRETTA GRANITOLA 3 km(Campobello di Mazara, Trapani)The town of Torretta Granitola, which has been property of Prince Diego Aragona Cortez, is located on a south-west cliff of Campobello di Mazara. The seaside village is located in an inlet of the indented coastline, characterized by a natural port, which is now a resort area renowned for its crystal clear sea and warm waters that attract bathers.Until a few decades ago it was home to a large tuna-fishing factory (1875), whose structures were used both for tuna processing and for the storage of special boats, nets and anchors. Nowadays the Tre Fontane tuna trap hosts an operational unit of the Institute for the Coastal Marine Environment (Iamc-Cnr), which carries out research and training activities mainly in the field of interdisciplinary oceanography, ecology and fisheries biology. One km far from the town, on a rocky cape called Capo Granitola or Capo Sorello, stands the lighthouse.The construction was completed in 1862. In the same year it began to be functioning. Two watchtowers, erected in the 16th century along the coast, constituted a system of control of the territory from the threats of the Barbary pirates, and today they characterize and give the name to the area.The locality was awarded from Legambiente for the quality of tourist services and territory and for the bathing waters.
CAVE DI CUSA 10 km(Campobello di Mazara, Trapani)Not far from Selinunte, the Cusa quarries have provided the material for the city's temples. The stone - a compact and resistant tuff particularly suitable for construction – has been quarried for more than 150 years, starting from the first half of the 6th century B.C.The construction of the temples was suddenly interrupted due to the war between Selinunte and Carthage. The quarries have been abandoned in a very short time as well as the houses of those who worked there. One of the peculiar characteristics of the place is that enormous unfinished rocks destined for temples are still lying on the floor. Large cylindrical boulders roughly hewn or not yet extracted characterize this 1.8 km long quarry. Some rocks – some completely excavated, ready to be transported, and others barely roughed in, characterized by an external furrow that made it easier to the stonemasons to work them out - mark out the first part of the quarry. Towards the end of the route, it is possible to appreciate a freshly hewed capital.
SELINUNTE 25 km(Trapani)Selinunte is an ancient Greek city located on the Sicilian south-western coast and is today the largest archaeological park in Europe. Its position at about 30 meters above sea level allows the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea to lap one of the uncontaminated coasts of the area close to the archaeological park. Seafaring traditions, beach life, slow times and Mediterranean cuisine are the characteristics of this small strip of Sicily, where every evening at 8pm a fish auction takes place in Empedocle Square. A small provincial reality literally invaded by nature. To add environmental prestige to the area is also the Natural Reserve Foce del Fiume Belice.
SELINUNTE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK 30 km(Marinella di Selinunte, Castelvetrano)The ruins of the town are located in the town of Castelvetrano, near the mouth of the Belice river. The archaeological area stretches for about 40 hectares.The archaeological complex consists of the Acropolis, the Eastern Hill, the plateau of Contrada Manuzza, the sanctuary of Malophoros in Contrada Gaggera and two Necropolis (Manicalunga and Galera Bagliazzo). Many buildings are now ruined due to the earthquakes in the Middle Ages; however, some interventions have made it possible to rebuild almost completely the Temple E (the so-called Temple of Hera) and to rebuild the long sides of the Temple C. Many of the sculptures found in the excavations of Selinunte are on exhibition in the National Archaeological Museum of Palermo, except for the most famous one, the Ephebe of Selinunte, which is on display at the Civic Museum of Castelvetrano.
MAZARA DEL VALLO 15 km (Trapani)Mazara del Vallo rises 52 km from Trapani, at the mouth of the Mazaro river, probably of Phoenician origin, it was conquered by the Carthaginians (409 B.C.) and later by the Romans. Part of the Natural Reserve are also the Preola Lake and Gorghi Tondi, a 335 hectares WWF oasis, which is home to several valuable species of flora and fauna.The old town centre, once enclosed within the Norman walls, includes several monumental churches, some dating back to the 11th century. The narrow streets are characteristic of the typical Islamic urban plan of the medinas (called “Casbah” or “Kasbah”).
MENFI 35 km (Agrigento)Along the south-western coast of Sicily, located between the area of the Doric temples of Selinunte and the archaeological excavations of Eraclea Minoa, lies the town of Menfi in the province of Agrigento.The territory is crossed by the rivers Belice and Carboj and some torrents, it borders with Montevago, Santa Margherita Belice, Sambuca di Sicilia, Castelvetrano, Sciacca and the Mediterranean Sea. Menfi’s coastal strip extends for about 10 km and is characterized by beaches made of fine sand and white pebbles, a fascinating cliff that overlooks the sea and characterized by the natural phenomenon of dunes.The dunes invade the hinterland for hundreds meters. Menfi presents an uncontaminated nature, bathed by a multi-coloured sea. The beaches, together with the small port of Porto Palo, make Menfi an ideal place for a relaxing holiday. Not surprisingly, year after year, it has been awarded with the Bandiera Blu, a prestigious international recognition for the water quality. Menfi is famous for being the cradle of Sicilian wine considering the presence of five of the most prestigious wineries on the island: Cantine Barbera, Lanzara, Piana dei Cieli, Planeta Settesoli.
PORTO PALO 35 km(Menfi, Agrigento)The ancient fishing village of Porto Palo is located in the middle of a large gulf and is today the most famous seaside resort in the area, a place where small boats dock. Its landscape is unmistakably dominated by a watchtower, built in 1583 on top of the promontory.The ancient fishermen's settlement climbs up the promontory with white little houses that have preserved their ancient physiognomy overlooking the port, the ancient eastern landing place of the nearby Selinunte.The coastline is made of fine and light sand and here are concentrated the few bathing establishments in the area, leaving free access to the rest of the beaches, awarded with the Bandiera Blu for the purest waters.
NATURAL RESERVE FOCE DEL FIUME BELICE 35 km(Menfi, Agrigento / Castelvetrano, Trapani) On the border between the towns of Castelvetrano and Menfi extend the Natural Reserve Foce del Fiume Belice and the neighbouring dunes, which covers a short stretch of the southern coast of Sicily, the most typically 'African' coast, strongly characterized by sand dunes moving because of the wind.In ancient times this kind of landscape characterized almost entirely the Mediterranean coast of the island; today, due to indiscriminate interventions, only this small strip left over. It is a place full of charm with its rugged coastline, sculpted and smoothed by the sea.The protected area includes three different environments: the dunes, the mouth of the river with its marshy vegetation and the evergreen Mediterranean scrub. The reserve is bathed by the waters of the Canale di Sicilia and is limited to the north by the old Castelvetrano-Sciacca railway. The Belice river flows into the sea after 77 kilometres, starting from Piana degli Albanesi.Once it was navigable for a long stretch so that, for millennia, it was an important communication route between the inland and the Belice coast, as evidenced by archaeological remains that go to from prehistory to the Middle Ages. The watercourse was also very fishy and fed the old mill, structure of Roman origin, which can be visited following a small road that runs along the Belice river, moving away from the old state road to Menfi.
ERICE 110 km(Trapani)On the top of the homonymous mount - which, on the extreme western coast of Sicily, overlooks the city of Trapani and the sea where the Egadi Islands are reflected on the south-west side, and Castellammare del Golfo and Mount Cofano on the other one - the city of Erice has stood since ancient times. On a plateau, in an exceptional geographical position, the village maintains its medieval appearance intact: from the cobbled streets to the stone walls, almost always protecting from the outside glances of flowering courtyards where family life takes place, the feeling one has, walking along the plots that make up the paving stones of Erice, is of an immersion in the remote past, in the fluid atmosphere in which the fog moves between the walls and the pine forests. The breathtaking views include: on one side Trapani and the salt pans, the Egadi, even further south Marsala, and if the climate allows it, also Pantelleria and Capo Bon in Tunisia; on the other side the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Gulf of Castellammare, the coast of San Vito Lo Capo and Ustica.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE VALLEYOF THE TEMPLES OF AGRIGENTO 110 km(Agrigento)The about 1300 hectares wide park preserves an extraordinary monumental and landscape heritage that includes the remains of the ancient city of Akragas and the surrounding area to the sea. In the Valley of the Temples, declared in 1997 UNESCO World Heritage Site, there is one of the largest archaeological complexes in the Mediterranean, surrounded by an agricultural landscape of rare beauty mainly consisting of centenary olive and almond trees. The Valley of the Temples of Agrigento is very rich in temples and monuments: 12 temples including the Temple of Hera (Juno) Lacinia (450 - 440 B.C.); the Temple of Concordia (430 B.C.); the Temple of Demeter (480 - 470 B.C.), three sanctuaries, necropolis, hydraulic works, fortifications, the Lower Agora and the Upper Agora, an Olympeion and a Bouleuterion.
SAN VITO LO CAPO 115 km(Trapani)San Vito Lo Capo in the province of Trapani is one of the most beautiful seaside resorts in western Sicily. Despite it is one of the most famous destinations in Sicily, it maintains an elegant and relaxed atmosphere thanks to the preservation of the original architecture of the village, with its typical white buildings erected over the centuries around the Mother Church (once a Saracen fortress). Although the climax of the activities is during the Cous Cous Festival period, San Vito Lo Capo is an always alive destination. The seabed of San Vito Lo Capo lends itself to wonderful scuba diving. At 40 meters of water it is possible to find the first branches of red coral. The seabed of the area shows the ancient maritime traffic: amphorae of different ages and especially lead anchors abandoned by vessels. The beach falls within the Natural Reserve of Mount Cofano and not far from the Natural Reserve of Macari, which takes the name from the homonymous village close to the sea. Not far from here is the large archaeological site of Segesta and the famous salt pans of Trapani.
ZINGARO ORIENTED NATURAL RESERVE 125 km(San Vito Lo Capo, Trapani)The reserve extends in the western part of the Gulf of Castellammare, in the peninsula of San Vito Lo Capo which overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea between Castellammare del Golfo and Trapani. The Zingaro coast is one of the very few stretches of Sicilian coasts not yet contaminated by the presence of a coastal road. Rock and sea, stone and water: elements meet each other giving life to a mix of intense and soft colours at the same time. The green-blue and white pebble coves and the land, cool in summer days, follow one another from the entrance of San Vito Lo Capo to Castellammare del Golfo: La Tonnarella dell'Uzzo, Cala dell'Uzzo and Cala Marinella, Cala Berretta, Cala della Disa, Cala del Varo and Cala Capreria. The territory of the Zingaro Oriented Natural Reserve presents a great variety of environments of great naturalistic interest. Not far from it, Mount Cofano, imposing and majestic, preserves so much beauty.
