Isola San Pantaleo, Trapani, and Salt

The building houses a salt museum, the boats take one to Isola San Pantaleo 

A small island in the middle of a lagoon, so small as not supposed to have had a part in the history of Sicily.  Yet at San Pantaleo the Phoenicians had a prosperous colony, Motya founded in the eighth century BC.  The Phoenicians transformed the inhospitable island, which they called Motya, into one of the most affluent cities of its time.  Surrounded by the shallow waters of the lagoon of the Stagnone, and naturally protected by Isola Longa, made ​​it a target of both the Carthaginians and the Syracusans.   Because of this Motya (Mozia in Italian) was completely destroyed, only to be rediscovered at the end of the last century.  
The island, like most of the other Phoenician colonies, had a trading post and was to serve as a docking point for Phoenician ships en route in the Mediterranean.  

Gardens outside the former home of Joseph Whitaker, now a museum for artifacts from the island.

The Greek colonization begins in the eighth century, concentrated mainly in the eastern part of Sicily, so the Phoenicians then fall back on the west side and Motya increased its importance.  In the sixth century the conflicts between Greeks and Carthaginians for supremacy over Sicily worsen.  In 397 Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, besieged the city and ends its existence.  The inhabitants took refuge on the mainland in Lilybaeum, today Marsala.

The rediscovery of Motya is linked Joseph Whitaker, an English nobleman whose family had settled in Sicily and had started a thriving wine export trade in Marsala.  The home of Whitaker is now converted into a museum.  On display are objects found on the island itself, at Lilybaeum (Marsala) and in the necropolis of Birgi, on the shore across from Mozia.  The sculpture collection includes statuettes, terracotta heads of Greek influence and the superb Efebo di Mozia, with long robes in folds showing Greek influence.  

Efebo di Mozia

The statue, in greek-eastern marble, depicts a Efebo, a young man with athletic body.  The sculpture is devoid of arms and feet, and the presence of bronze pins on the head suggests that it should have a hat.  His head slightly tilted with his face framed by spiral curls.  The figure is supported on the left leg with the right advanced and flexed. The missing arm had to be stretched upwards, the left also in part broken is folded with the hand resting on his hip. The long tunic with thin folds is close to the body and highlights the anatomical shape and musculature.  Plausibly he represents a victorious athlete.  The place of production is uncertain.  It seems plausible that the Greeks made artistic the masterpiece in a Greek city in Sicily, Selinunte or Agrigento.  It is also difficult to determine if the work was done on commission of a rich citizen of Mozia, or was brought over as war booty after the destruction, by the Carthaginians, of one of the Greek colonies in Sicily.  The sculpture was found in the northwest area of the island.  Scholars date the statue to the second quarter of the fifth century BC.

Efebo di Mozia. Scholars date the statue to the second quarter of the fifth century BC.

Until 1971 one could reach the island by horse cart along the path of a Phoenician road linking the island to the mainland.  Since the road is located just below the surface of the water it had the strange feeling of "walking on water".  This was the means for transportation of the Grillo grape grown on the island used for the production of Marsala.  

Piles of salt covered with tiles

Ancient windmills and saltpans were used for evaporation, salt grinding and refinement, and to maintain the condition of the lagoon and island.  Recently the mills and saltpans have been restored and opened to the public.

Salt ponds

The elongated scythe like form of Trapani, as it curves elegantly into the sea, inspired early settlers: the Elymians, of Phoenician extraction, named the city Drepanon, which translates to sickle. Legend tells that Demeter, goddess of harvests and of plenty, whilst seeking her lost and beloved daughter dropped her sickle in a moment of despair, and as it fell to earth and landed by the sea, Trapani grew in its place, retaining the form of the Goddess' scythe.  Myths aside, Trapani is the perfect port, and fishing village, being set on a low peninsula stretching in an arc into the sea.  Apart from its ancient trade in tuna, fishing, and salt, Trapani also deals in olives and wine, and in recent years has begun to flourish.  Osteria La Bettolaccia, unwaveringly authentic Slow Food favorite, is the perfect place to try cous cous con zuppa di mare.

Pesce spada (swordfish) crudo con mozzarella di bufala

Caponata and other antipasto

The remains of cous cous con cuppa di mare.