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.

Erice and Maria Grammatico

The view from Erice isn't so good today.

Perched on a mountain 750 meters above the port city of Trapani, Erice is reachable by road with lots of switchbacks and treacherous drop-offs or by cable car.  There are two major reasons for visiting, the views and Maria Grammatico's pastries.  When the clouds cover the mountain thank god for Maria Grammatico and vino liquoroso Sicilia.

Frutta di Martorana or marzipan fruit, tomatoes and oranges.

Sicily’s rich tradition of ‘dolci’ has been shaped by diverse cultural influences throughout history, from the almonds and oranges introduced by the Arabs to the cocoa beans introduced by the Spanish to the pastry making nuns. Each culture left behind its own gastronomic influence, resulting in a love affair with all things sweet.

Maria Grammatico crushing almonds for 'Seni di Vergine'.

She's instructing the group on shaping the 'Seni di Vergine'

'Seni di Vergine' ready for the oven    

'Seni di Vergine' hot form the oven 

Maria lost her father when still a little girl. Her mother was alone with five children and waiting for the sixth. Realising that she simply couldn’t afford to feed her children, Maria’s mother placed her in a convent at age 11.  Maria and her companion orphans in the convent would get up at dawn to begin working.  The rest of the time, the orphans read their missals, and went to Mass and confession.  The saving grace of this isolated existence was learning the art of making almond paste, ‘pasta di mandorla’, and marzipan.  

Maria Grammatico filling cannoli 

Young Maria was attentive and watched the nuns as they went about the business of making the much-loved ‘pasticcini’, observing the way they prepared, weighed and mixed the ingredients.  She finally left the convent in 1963.  On June 1, 1964 she set up her own small shop, La Pasticceria di Maria Grammatico.  Maria still uses the traditional methods she learned from the nuns to make her world-famous creations.  She places a strong emphasis on using local, natural ingredients, seeking milk that’s been produced by hand, and always using 100% Sicilian almonds from Avola.  She has become a celebrated pasticceria expert, specialising in ‘torrone’ and ‘pasta di mandorla’.  The bakery on Via Vittorio Emanuele, in the center of Erice, has remained the same. The desserts displayed in the windows carry on the tradition of the nuns of the San Carlo who are gone.  Thankfully that tradition remains in the hands of Maria.

Biscotti al Fico on the left, and Lingue di Suocera on the right    

If you would like to know more of Maria her story is told in a book, Bitter Almonds, coauthored by Mary Taylor Simeti, available in English.

Now on to something to get rid of the chill and damp of this day, Ben Ryé from the island of Pantelleria, made from Zibibbo (Moscato d'Alessandra), the grapes dry naturally in the sun and the wind for 20-30 days to yield a naturally sweet wine or Morsi di Luce made from Zibibbo grapes cultivated on the island of Pantelleria producing a must with a high sugar content to which, after partial fermentation, wine distillate is added.  That Creme di Patacchi looks interesting as well.  Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Segesta

Due to its rural setting, Segesta in springtime is a magical place.  Built before 430 BC, the Doric temple is the focal point of Segesta. The temple is just over sixty meters long and twenty-six meters wide, built upon four steps, with a total of thirty-six Doric columns.  High upon a neighboring hill are the ruins of the city itself.  A small amphitheater is the most impressive, with a spectacular view over the Gulf of Castellammare.  Productions are still staged there in the summer.  Remains of a church and public forum can be found, as well as street paving from Greek and Roman times.  Built on top of these more ancient ruins are the remains of medieval buildings.

amphitheater with a view of a modern autoduct.    

Situated strategically on the slopes of Mt. Barbaro, close enough to the coast to support a trading port.  Segesta established itself as the most important regional town of the Elymi people.  Little is known of the Elymi, founders of the place initially called "Egesta."  Originally from Asia Minor they arrived in western Sicily around 1200 BC.  From the 7th century BCE Segesta, to use its more familiar Latin name, became an established Greek polis or city-state and the regional political capital.  Trade flourished, they assimilated architecture from Greece, there was an independent army and a mint.  A dog seen on 4th century BCE coins may refer to the myth where a dog personifies of the river god Crimisus who fell in love with a local nymph, Egesta,  their offspring, Egesto, is credited with founding the city.

Around 600 BC the Greek colony of Selinunte, 60 kilometers south of Segesta, which had dramatically grown since being founded around 650 BC, alarmed the Segestans.  Around 580 BCE, the rivalry with Selinunte finally broke out in war.  Likewise the Carthaginians viewed the Greeks as a menace on the northern coast.  Segesta allied itself with Carthage.  With the Greek victory over the Carthaginians at Himera in 480 BC, the Segestans quickly changed sides, allying themselves with Athens.

The Doric Temple of Segesta looks as though it were built a few hundred years ago, not twenty-six hundred.  Clues have led scholars to believe that the temple wasn’t ever actually finished, building tabs that should have been removed are still present, columns weren't fluted, and there was never a roof.  In 450 BC, Segesta's rival, Selinunte, allied herself with Syracuse.  Segesta turned to Athens for aid.  To the Athenians, Segesta was a city of little importance.  Before they would consider an alliance with Segesta they sent a delegation of diplomatic envoys to investigate the city's claims of wealth.  In order to deceive the Athenians into thinking they were prosperous, the Segestans built the temple to impress their visitors. Once the envoys departed, convinced of Segesta's wealth, work on the Temple ceased.