| Marsala | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Sicily | |
| Territory | Trapanese | |
| Altitude | 3 m above sea level | |
| Surface | 243.26 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 82.355 (2019) | |
| Name inhabitants | marsalesi or lilibetani | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0923 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 91025 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | Maria Santissima della Cava, San Giovanni Battista and San Francesco di Paola | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Marsala is a city of Sicily.
To know
The city of Marsala, whose name derives from the Arabic Marsa Ali (port of Ali) or Marsa Allah, is the most populous city in the province of Trapani. The city is best known for viticulture, the homonymous dessert wine is produced locally, trade and industry are other important branches of the economy.
Geographical notes
It is located on the westernmost tip of Sicily, the so-called Capo Boeo / Capo Lilibeo, 30 km south of Trapani.
A little further north of Marsala is the Lo Stagnone nature reserve with the lagoon between the mainland and the island of Motya, the basins of the salt pans and the windmills that are used for irrigation and drainage provide great suggestions.
Background
After the destruction of the Carthaginian base on the island of Mozia by the troops of Dionysius I of Syracuse, the evacuees founded a new settlement in the nearby mainland called Lilybaion.
After the first Punic war against the Romans, who conquered Sicily from the west and by sea, Lilybaion it remained the last bastion of the Carthaginians until the city in 241 BC. fell and was renamed Lilibeum by Romans. Under the rule of Rome the city experienced a long period of splendor, up to the raids of the Vandals in the 5th century.
With the landing of the Berber Arabs around the year 827, a new heyday of the first Islamic city in Sicily began, now under the new name of Marsala.
From the 11th century the Norman and Swabian rulers alternated, those of the houses of Anjou and Aragon, and Marsala also fell into many hands. To defend against the raids of the Saracens, the port of Punta Alga was filled on the decision of Emperor Charles V to prevent the entry of pirates, which unfortunately also led to the decline of Marsala as a port and commercial center.
With the arrival of the Englishman John Woodhouse, who in 1773 founded a winery in Marsala and began to produce an exportable wine with a high alcohol content, Marsala had a new period of maximum splendor.
Marsala was once again at the center of European interest: when Giuseppe Garibaldi he landed there with "the Thousand" and began the conquest of Sicily with the "red shirts" against the dominion of the Spanish Bourbons during the Risorgimento, thus making it part of united Italy.
How to orient yourself
Marsala: full screen map.The square of the historic city center is surrounded by a wall, the city center, the Piazza della Repubblica is in the center of the main street Via XI Maggio, to the south the Palazzo Senatorio and the Duomo.
Fractions
- Strasatti
- Terrave
How to get
By plane
Trapani - Birgi airport is mainly served by Italian companies, while Central European charter companies are more likely to fly to Palermo.
By car
Marsala can be reached by car from Palermo along the highway 
/ 
Palermo - Trapani, and then in Trapani taking southwards you reach the 
South Western Sicula. An alternative is the 
, which runs close to the coast (along the salt flats with the famous windmills).
A little further on is the road from Palermo to Marsala following the for Alcamo southwards and ends just before Mazara del Vallo. From there continue on to the west, a wider stretch of country road remains to be covered in both variants 
(located near the highway ) from Salemi take the one that leads through the hinterland and although it is scenic and suggestive, it means a waste of time and stress.
The easiest way to go from Messina (ferry port) or Catania it is via Palermo; from Syracuse and from the cities of the south (Gela, Agrigento) the best route to use is the south coast road , which runs along the entire southern coast of Sicily from Syracuse to Marsala.
Ferry connections from Civitavecchia is Tunis (Grimaldi Lines) all arrive at the ferry port of Trapani.
On the train
- 1 Marsala station. The main station of the city. From Palermo, there are a few local trains every day. The journey takes approximately 3 hours and 10 minutes.
- 2 Spagnuola station. The station allows you to go and visit Motya and the Stagnone reserve.
- 3 Mozia-Birgi station. The station allows you to go and visit Motya and the Stagnone reserve.
- 4 Petrosino-Strasatti station.
- 5 Terrave station.
By bus
Bus connections are provided by numerous companies such as Segesta or AST (Sicilian Transport Company) with regular connections between Palermo, Trapani and Marsala. From Palermo, theSalemi Autoservizi it offers buses every two or three hours, but the last one is at 5:30 pm.
How to get around
What see
Religious buildings
- 1 Marsala Cathedral (St. Thomas of Canterbury Cathedral). A first Norman church, dedicated to the English Saint Thomas of Canterbury (or Thomas Becket), was inaugurated around 1176. In 1607 it was decided to build a new cathedral on the foundations, the construction of the Mother Church or Cathedral dragged on over the centuries. The facade is Baroque, the dome was erected in 1827 and then collapsed in 1893 after long fears for its bearing capacity. From 1930 the religious services could be celebrated again under a temporary protective roof and only after the end of the Second World War in 1947, the planning was resumed and the dome was erected in 1951 and the church was inaugurated in its final form.
- 2 Church of San Giuseppe, Republic square. The baroque church dates back to the 16th century and was enlarged around 1700.
- 3 Church of the Purgatory. The church, consecrated in 1601, has a classical plan with a dome on a cross and a beautifully restored Baroque facade with two side towers.
- 4 Maria SS. Sorrowful. According to legend, in 1691 a knight who had taken refuge under the arch of the Porta di Mare survived a lightning bolt when he saw a statue of the Madonna. On the spot the Church of the Madonna del thunder or lightning was built. In the year in which it received the authorization to take over from the church the order of the nuns of the SS Addolorata, it was renovated in 1790 with a neoclassical facade and took its present name.
- 5 Church of S. Antonino. The church was built following a miracle. It happened in 1565 that children had thrown stones on a wall which opened and an image of Mary appeared. The church was thus called Chiesa S. Maria dei Miracoli and only later the name of S. Antonino received.
- 6 Church of S. Matteo. The single-nave church from 1330 is probably built on the remains of a pagan temple of Neptune and was renovated in 2000.
- 7 Sanctuary of Maria Santissima della Cava. According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared to a priest in 1514, he began digging in a spot shown and in 1518 a figure of the Madonna (from about the 8th century) was found. A church was built on the site, the elevated parts of which were irreparably destroyed by an air raid in 1943, only the rock church and some underground rooms remained.
- 8 Church of Sant'Anna.
- 9 Church of San Francesco. The single-nave church of the 1334 Franciscan convent was built in the 18th century. Renovated by the Trapani architect Giovanni Biagio Amico. The San Biagio Hospital is right next door.
- 10 Church of Santa Maria dell'Itria.
- 11 Church of S. Giovanni Battista (outside the city walls). The church of the 12th and 13th centuries was rebuilt after it was destroyed in 1576. It was built over a cave, perhaps as early as 397 BC. and had protected the Carthaginians who had fled from Motya. The cave was later the place of activity of the Sybil of Cumana or Sicula, who is also said to be buried here. The cave with a spring was probably already used as a baptismal font in the early Christian era, in a niche there is also an alabaster statue of John the Baptist.
- Church of Santo Stefano. The church is part of the monastic complex built between 1603 and 1607 on the site of the ancient residence of the noble Ferro family, probably the seat of the ancient Roman praetors - where Pontius Pilate also stayed - later used by the Saracens as the seat of government. In the 16th century the site was bought by the grain merchant Stefano Frisella who, embittered by the fact that he had not had a male heir, founded a monastery for his daughter Francesca, excluded, due to her bourgeois origins, from the more prestigious monastery of San Pietro who it welcomed only noble girls together with the monastery of San Girolamo. Frisella entrusted the convent to the Discalced Augustinians, Francesca was named abbess. The church with a single nave features a decorative stucco work by the Marsala sculptor Vincenzo Giglio inspired by the style of Giacomo Serpotta. Today the monastery houses the "Vincenzo Pipitone" school and the "Giovanni XXIII" Liceo Classico. A tower on the corner of via Lombardi and via Frisella, and the square cloister with portico, remain of the original building. The nuns' cells were transformed into classrooms.
- Church of San Girolamo. The institution welcomed orphans from noble families. The works to build the monastery began on 12 September 1587. The temple was destroyed by the air raid on 11 May 1943.
Palaces
- 12 Palace of the Loggia (VII April Palace), Republica Square. It was rebuilt as a pillared hall and a second colonnade was added to the upper floor, in 1756 the building took on its current appearance, of which only the facade is historic.
- 13 Fici Palace. It was built by Giovanni Fici in the 17th century and with its splendidly restored courtyard it is now used as a municipal wine shop in Marsala for the marketing of local wine production.
- 14 Burgio-Spano Palace. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it houses an art collection with works by Italian painters from the 19th century.
- 15 Grignani Palace. Built in the eighteenth century, after the renovations, the Municipal Art Gallery of Marsala, the municipal art collection, will be located.
Military architectures
- 16 Marsala Castle.
- 17 Porta Garibaldi.
- 18 New door, Via XI Maggio.
- 19 Spanish Quarter. The complex was built in the 16th-17th century as accommodation for the Bourbon troops and is now the seat of the municipal administration of Marsala.
- Along the walls it is possible to visit the remains of the medieval fortifications: the bastions of S. Francesco, Velasco, S. Antonio and S. Giacomo.
Museums
- 20 Baglio Anselmi Archaeological Museum, Boeo promenade, ☎ 39 0923 952535.
full 4 €, reduced 2 €. 
Tue-Sun 9:00 - 19:00, Mon 9:00 - 13:30. Unique remains of a Liburnian, an agile warship of the Carthaginians 35 m long; a marble statue of Venus Callipygia and archaeological finds from the region. - 21 [link not working]Civic Museum (Monumental complex of San Pietro), Via Ludovico Anselmi Correale, ☎ 39 0923 718741. Free. Tue-Sun 9:00 - 13:00 and 16:00 - 20:00. The building complex was expanded until 1418 and today serves as a cultural center and houses the Civic Museum which houses a collection of archaeological finds from the region, Sicilian puppets and, above all, an exhibition on the Risorgimento, the March of the Thousand under Garibaldi, which led to the reconquest of Sicily and integration into modern Italy.
- 22 Flemish tapestry museum, Via Giuseppe Garraffa, ☎ 39 0923 711327. 4€. Tue-Sun 09: 00-13: 00, 16: 00-18: 00. On the back of the cathedral are eight valuable Flemish tapestries from the 16th century, which once adorned the Mother Church. They were a gift from Philip II of Spain to the archbishop of Messina.
- 23 Exhibition Body of Contemporary Painting (Convent of the Carmine), Piazza Carmine 1, ☎ 390923713822. Contemporary art collection.
full 4 €, reduced 2 €. 
Tue-Sun 9:00 - 19:00, Mon 9:00 - 13:30. Unique remains of a Liburnian, an agile warship of the Carthaginians 35 m long; a marble statue of Venus Callipygia and archaeological finds from the region.Other
- 24 Monument to the Thousand.
- 25 Hypogeum of Crispia Salvia, Via Massimo D'Azeglio, 41, ☎ 390923952535. The underground tomb with frescoes can be visited on Saturday mornings by telephone booking. The remains of the tomb can be visited at the Archaeological Museum.
- 26 Archaeological Park of Marsala, Lungomare Boeo, 30, @[email protected]. The excavation area features a Roman insula and a stretch of the main Roman road of the Decumanus Maximus in an east-west direction. The tombs are within walking distance of the Archaeological Museum.
- 27 Villa Cavalotti, Viale Cesare Battisti. It is a public park established on the site of the Bastione S. Francesco in 1902 with a multitude of tropical plants.
Outside the built-up area
- Nature reserve oriented "Stagnone of Marsala Islands" - The reserve includes the islands just north of Marsala including the Punic archaeological site of Motya and the adjoining salt flats.
Events and parties
What to do
Swim at the Lidos (with their rows of paid deckchairs) or at stretches of free beach.
The area is suitable for kitesurfing as it is often a windy area.
- ASD Vela Club flight (Windsurfing school), C / from San Teodoro, ☎ 39 3385049616. A locally run windsurfing school where you can take one or more lessons. It operates south of Marausa, towards the Airport and a Motya.
Shopping
How to have fun
Shows
- 1 Cine Teatro Impero, Viale Vittorio Veneto, ☎ 390923993394.
Where to eat
Famous is the sweet fortified wine of Marsala, which can be enjoyed with dessert.
Many fish and seafood dishes are served with local fish.
Where stay
Safety
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 6 Italian post, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 5, ☎ 390923763013.
