Mazara del Vallo

A city suspended between East and West

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The cities of the sea are always a mélange of peoples, colours, flavours. Mazara del Vallo is a city of port where the passage of very different cultures, which have been able to live together, is evident. It is not only a city that overlooks the sea, but it is the expression of a world, the western one, which overlooks another world, the Arab one. Here, for centuries, coexist the Casbah, the ancient fortified Arab citadel, and the Giudecca, the fifteenth-century Jewish quarter. Walking through the narrow alleys of Mazara one is struck by the beauty that the passing of the centuries has left behind, and is overwhelmed by the scents of the kitchens in which fish is often prepared.

Much of the economy Mazara, in fact, revolves around fishing, so that Mazara is considered one of the most important fishing centres of the country. The red shrimp is famous here, and appreciated by the greatest chefs in the world, a delicacy that cannot be missed. However, Mazara is not only sea and fish, of course.

There are numerous Norman churches to visit. The ruins of a castle built in 1072 by Roger I are particularly fascinating; it is also worth visiting the Museum of the Satyr, housed in the ancient church of Sant’Egidio, where you can admire numerous archaeological discoveries in the Channel of Sicily. Mazara is also the town that gave birth to the famous artist Pietro Consagra, interpreter of international abstractionism, whose works are housed in the Civic Museum.

It is worth mentioning the two WWF reserves, Lago Preola and Gorghi Tondi and Capo Feto, populated by migratory birds and a vast biodiversity.

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Museum of the Satyr

(Ex Church of Sant'Egidio) Mazara del Vallo

The Museum of the Satyr tells the story of the submerged heritage of the Strait of Sicily, whose findings tell a millennial history of contacts between peoples and cultures. The Museum is located within a prestigious historical building, itself evidence o...

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Cathedral of SS Salvatore

Mazara del Vallo

The cathedral reveals the importance and history of a city that was once a diocese and is now still a bishopric. The oldest plant dates back to the eleventh century. The rich facade has a portal surmounted by a high relief of Roger I of Altavilla on horse...

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Jesuit College

Permanent Exhibition "Pietro Consagra: graphic works 1947-1977"

It is a monumental complex of rare beauty in the heart of the historic city centre, next to the Museum of the Satyr and the Church of S. Ignazio. It is a prestigious exhibition centre of ancient and contemporary art. Amongst these, there is a unique perma...

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Islamic Quarter (Medina)

Mazara del Vallo

In the heart of the city there is a Medina also known as Casbah, in Arabic “fortified citadel”, the Saracen settlement built in the ninth century. This district is one of the most fascinating port and it has been inhabited for centuries by fis...

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Custonaci

The crystal clear waters of Cornino Bay

Salemi

One of the most beautiful villages in Italy. And, therefore, in the world.

Buseto Palizzolo

A walk inside the scents and colors of a city garden.

Jesuit Church (main church)

Salemi

Church and Cloister of Sant’Agostino

Salemi

Piazza Dittatura and Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall)

Salemi

Piazza Alicia

Salemi

Arab-Norman castle

Salemi

Salemi Vineyards

Salemi

Montagna Grande

Salemi

Marettimo

Uncontaminated nature

Levanzo

Small and wild

Custonaci

The crystal clear waters of Cornino Bay

Swimming in the crystal clear waters of the bay of Cornino, suddenly look up and be surprised by the solemnity of Mount Cofano which quietly dominates the landscape: things that can happen in Custonac...

Salemi

One of the most beautiful villages in Italy. And, therefore, in the world.

Salemi is recognised as one of “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”. And I would like to see, anyone who has visited this jewel would say! Salemi, which lies between the Màzaro and the Grande riv...

Buseto Palizzolo

A walk inside the scents and colors of a city garden.

Do you know those little villages where you happen to stop, almost by accident, maybe on a Sunday morning, to be amazed by their beauty? Buseto Palizzolo is such a village, certainly less famous than ...

Jesuit Church (main church)

Salemi

This baroque church dedicated to Sant’Ignazio di Loyola has a facade that features four spiral columns wound with vine spirals to the sides of the entrance. Founded at the end of the 17th century, ...

Church and Cloister of Sant’Agostino

Salemi

This original 13th-century church is one of the oldest in Salemi and was built next to Porta Aquila, a city gate that has now been lost. On the facade, two niches accommodate the statues of Saints ...

Piazza Dittatura and Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall)

Salemi

Salemi’s main square takes its name from the “dictatorship” declared by Garibaldi on 14 May 1860, in the name of Victor Emmanuel II. From the Palazzo Comunale, Garibaldi declared Salemi the first capi...

Piazza Alicia

Salemi

This iconic square houses the remains of the former Chiesa Madre (main church). Built on the ruins of a mosque, it was rebuilt in the 17th century but almost destroyed in the 1968 earthquake, and is n...

Arab-Norman castle

Salemi

The Arab-Norman castle dominates the monumental landscape of Salemi and is an exceptional example of medieval architecture in the west of Sicily. A first fortification was built in the Norman perio...

Salemi Vineyards

Salemi

For thousands of years, vines and wine have been characteristic features of the Salemi area, together with the other two components of the “Mediterranean triad”, wheat and oil. The hilly terrain of...

Montagna Grande

Salemi

Montagna Grande is a special conservation area, where the ancient holm oak wood has been reforested with Aleppo pine conifers and is home to protected species. It is home to porcupines and hares, as w...

Marettimo

Uncontaminated nature

Dolomitic island characterized by a wild and uncontaminated nature, Marettimo appears from the sea with its green and luxuriant tops - whose peaks reach up to 686 meters at Pizzo Falcone - and the hou...

Levanzo

Small and wild

Small and wild this island is the ideal place for a relaxing vacation: intimate and sparsely inhabited, Levanzo offers many habitats in which to immerse themselves, devoting himself to a trek of disco...