Sam, I am: July 2020

Piazza Mercato del Pesce

Legend has it that Trapani was founded on a piece of land that arose as a result of Demeter's Scythe falling off her chariot as she desperately search for her missing daughter Persephone. The alternate myth features Saturn, who eviscerated his father Uranus, god of the sky, with a sickle which, falling into the sea, created the city. Alas reality is so much more mundane as Trapani was founded by the Elymians, who used it as an agricultural centre for their hilltop fortress town of Erice. Trapani was transformed into an important port by the Phoenicians, whom scored a famous naval victory over the Romans here. Ultimately the port became even more important for tuna fishing and salt production.

Tourism has grown in recent years due to the city's proximity to popular destinations such as Erice, Segesta, and the Egadi Islands. Today, Trapani is still an active port exporting salt and wine (Marsala wine which is a Sicilian fortified wine has long been a stable in my wine cabinet for cooking), and its industrial activities include tuna fishing and canning, marble working, and food processing.

What a beautiful entrance to a Bed and Breakfast
B&B Il Vecchio Messina

Chiesa del Collegio dei Gesuiti (Church of the Jesuit College)
Baroque Style started in 1614, consecrated in 1705.

Always Look up..
Church of the Jesuit College

More details on the Church of the Jesuit College

Palazzo Cavarretta 1672
Trapani’s City Hall

Madonna of Trapani (Giuseppe Nolf 1700)
Statue on Palazzo Cavarretta 1672

Saint Albert of Trapani (1240-1307)
(Giuseppe Nolf 1700)
Statue on Palazzo Cavarretta 1672

Saint John the Baptist (Giuseppe Nolf 1700)
Statue on Palazzo Cavarretta 1672

This gem that is easily missed unless you look up and is known as the Dark Door (not in photo) and Clock Tower (Porta Oscura e Torre Dell'orologio). With the Dark Door below the Clock Tower, built around the fourteenth century, this city gate marks the boundary between the original fortified city and the expansion to the west during the Aragonese period. The astronomical clock was designed and built by the Trapani master Giuseppe Mennella in 1596. The marble used was extracted from the Rizzuto quarry in Valderice. The two clocks are the Sun Dial and Dial of the Moon. Details on the two clocks can be found at: https://www.itregolfi.com/cosa-vedere/trapani/torre-oscura-e-orologio-astronomico.

Torre Dell'orologio (Clock Tower) 1596?

Street in Trapani.

Casa del Mutilato 1937
National Association of War Invalids and Maimed building

Cathedral San Lorenzo (Basilica of St. Lawrence the Martyr)
Originally Built in 1421 with numerous renovations; the last in the 1800's.
The bronze gates by sculptor Ennio Tesei replaced wooden ones in 1990.

Cathedral San Lorenzo (Basilica of St. Lawrence the Martyr)
These bronze gates by sculptor Ennio Tesei replaced wooden ones in 1990

Cathedral San Lorenzo
A baroque styled cathedral decorated in neoclassical plasterwork and frescoed vaults.

Princess Iolanda (Iolanda Margherita di Savoia)
daughter of the king of Italy Vittorio Emanuele III
Piazza Principessa Jolanda

Former Sant'Agostino Church (Former Chapel of the Templars 1101)
Today it is used as an auditorium

Fresh Seafood Anyone!
Seafood Market Trapani

Fountain of Saturn 1342
The fountain and aqueduct was built in 1342 to supply water from Mount Erice.
In the 18th century a Baroque style statue of Saturn, mythical founder of Trapani, was added to beautify it.

Trapani Salt Pans.

The following websites provide more information on Trapani, Sicily:

https://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/trapani-history.php

http://www.turismo.trapani.it/en/home.html

http://www.turismo.trapani.it/it/home.html

Duomo di Cefalù

Cefalù is a popular tourist resort on Sicily's northern coast. It's an ancient fishing port at heart, that in recent years has become the beachside resort of choice for those seeking sun and sand along the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily. You definitely won’t be overwhelmed with lots of things to do in Cefalu but at the heart of the historic centre lies a beautiful Arab-Norman cathedral. Now a UNESCO World heritage site (part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale designation), the cathedral dates back to the 12th century and boasts elaborate Byzantine mosaics. The Cathedral of Cefalù is an example of a socio-cultural syncretism between Western, Islamic, and Byzantine cultures. The similarities between the Cathedral of Cefalù and the Cathedral of Monreale are striking particularly with respect to the depiction of Christ Pantokrator in the main apse. The elaborate Byzantine mosaics predate those of Monreale by 20 or 30 years.