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Erice

Coordinates: 38°2′13″N 12°35′11″E / 38.03694°N 12.58639°E / 38.03694; 12.58639
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For other uses, see Erice (disambiguation).
Erice
Èrici (Sicilian)
Comune
Città di Erice
Erice and the Castle of Venus, with Trapani and the Tyrrhenian coast beyond.
Erice and the Castle of Venus, with Trapani and the Tyrrhenian coast beyond.
Erice is located in Italy
Erice
Erice
Location of Erice in Italy
Erice is located in Sicily
Erice
Erice
Erice (Sicily)
Coordinates: 38°2′13″N 12°35′11″E / 38.03694°N 12.58639°E / 38.03694; 12.58639
CountryItaly
RegionSicily
ProvinceTrapani (TP)
FrazioniBallata, Casa Santa, Crocefissello, Napola, Pizzolungo, Rigaletta, San Cusumano, Torretta
Government
 • MayorDaniela Toscano
Area
[1]
 • Total
47 km2 (18 sq mi)
Elevation
751 m (2,464 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2023)[2]
 • Total
26,441
 • Density560/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
DemonymEricini
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
91016
Dialing code0923
Patron saintMaria Santissima di Custonaci
Saint dayLast Wednesday of August
WebsiteOfficial website

Erice (Italian: [ˈɛːritʃe]; Sicilian: Èrici [ˈɛːɾɪʃɪ]) is a comune (municipality) contiguous with the provincial capital Trapani, in western Sicily. Its historic core occupies the site of the ancient city of Eryx, one of the most significant archaeological and religious centres in pre-Roman western Sicily.[3][4]

Located on the summit of Monte Erice, the city developed around a site that later became a prominent religious and military stronghold for the Carthaginians and Romans. It retains its medieval layout and architecture, with few modern interventions, and occupies a natural vantage point that historically offered strategic control over the Strait of Sicily and the western coastline.[5]

The municipality includes both the hilltop centre and a number of modern lower districts, some of which extend to the Tyrrhenian coast, as well as small agricultural frazioni (hamlets) on the surrounding foothills.

Erice is a member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia (The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy), an association that recognises towns of notable historical and architectural interest.[6] It has at times been mentioned in the local media as a potential candidate for UNESCO World Heritage Site status.[7][8]

History

[edit]

Antiquity

[edit]
Main article: Eryx (Sicily)

The earliest occupation of the hilltop is debated, but settlement likely began in the early first millennium BCE.[9][4] Under the Elymians, who called the site Irka, the community established fortifications and a sanctuary on the summit.[10][4][11]

With the arrival of the Phoenicians in western Sicily during the early Iron Age (attested by the early 8th century BCE at nearby Motya) and, later, Carthaginian control (from the late 6th century BCE until the Roman annexation in 241 BCE), the settlement developed within a circuit now known as the Elymian–Punic walls. Excavations distinguish an Elymian phase and a Punic rebuilding, including squared blocks bearing Punic mason’s marks; the oldest quarter of the city preserves a capillary network of narrow, irregular lanes often interpreted as part of a defensive, escape-oriented layout.[12][13][4][14][15][5]

The Greeks (attested from the 5th century BCE) and Romans (after the Roman annexation in 241 BCE) called the settlement Eryx.[16][17] Within the largely irregular historic street network, Via San Francesco is a notably straight alignment; Caracciolo has interpreted it as evidence of very ancient planning.[5] Excavations and surveys document several ancient construction phases at the sanctuary on the summit.[18][5]

Medieval period

[edit]

The modern settlement of Erice began in the Norman period, when the summit was re-fortified as the Norman Castle of Venus.[19] In the same centuries the kingdom’s ventures in Ifriqiya (1148–1160s) heightened the strategic weight of western Sicily’s heights and sea lanes, with Erice again serving as a defensive stronghold over the Strait of Sicily.[20][21] During this period the town came to be known as Monte San Giuliano (by tradition since the Norman conquest).[22] In later medieval sources it appears as a royal demesne (città demaniale): in 1413 its universitas petitioned for the royal appointment of a captain and castellan, underscoring direct crown control rather than feudal lordship.[23]

The 12th-century traveller Ibn Giubayr described abundant springs, cultivated fields, vineyards, and a fortress accessible by a bridge. Monte San Giuliano held an intermediate status in the territorial hierarchy, positioned between a civitas and a casale, and was classified as a terra (land).[5]

The Norman fortress anchored the upper citadel, with the Balio Towers serving as its fortified gateway. A second hub formed around the Mother Church, and a third around the Palazzo Giuratorio, seat of the giurati (sworn civic magistrates). The town’s fabric coalesced around these three nodes, linked by the “Royal Road” (now Via Albertina degli Abati) and the “Great Road” (now Via Vittorio Emanuele II). Wealthy families consolidated plots by combining neighbouring properties.[5]

By the late 13th–14th centuries a parish network and several monastic houses reinforced this layout, further anchoring the three hubs (see Religious significance).

Early modern and Bourbon period (16th–19th centuries)

[edit]

From the 1500s Sicily formed part of Habsburg Spain via the Crown of Aragon, governed as a Spanish viceroyalty.[24][25] In 1713 the island passed to the House of Savoy under the Treaty of Utrecht; in 1720 Victor Amadeus II exchanged Sicily for Sardinia, transferring Sicily to the Habsburg monarchy.[26][27] In practice, society remained strongly aristocratic: feudal and ecclesiastical estates dominated landholding and local power well into the modern era, especially in Sicily, where large latifundia and church property were prominent.[28][29]

Within this framework Erice prospered: its population rose from 7,657 in 1584 to about 12,000 by the late 1600s, and the town controlled much of the surrounding countryside. Many palaces and churches date to this period, and the patterned cobbled paving laid with small stones became a defining feature of the historic centre.[5]

In 1734 Charles of Bourbon conquered Naples and Sicily; Bourbon rule continued thereafter, and in December 1816 the two kingdoms were formally unified as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which lasted until 1860–61.[30][31][32] Bourbon land policies redistributed parts of the demanio (public lands) through emphyteusis—long leases that transferred cultivation rights while reserving ultimate ownership—encouraging new rural settlements such as Custonaci and San Vito Lo Capo. As administrative functions consolidated in Trapani, noble families and residents relocated, and the hilltop town became increasingly depopulated and economically peripheral.[5] The suppression of monasteries by the Italian state after unification in the late 19th century further altered the town’s institutions and urban fabric.[33]

Villeggiatura and salons (c. 1870–1930s)

[edit]

From the late 19th century Erice entered a new phase of prosperity shaped by the culture of villeggiatura—the seasonal retreat of wealthy families to hill towns during the summer. The town’s altitude and cool breezes made it a favoured refuge from the heat of the lowlands, attracting not only residents of Trapani and Palermo but also expatriate Sicilian families from North Africa, including Tunis and Cairo.[5][34]

Institutional life shifted at this time: civic functions moved from the medieval Balio Towers to the newly built Palazzo Municipale, and a piazza was created in front of it as the town’s modern civic centre.[5] The Balio complex was reimagined as a public garden under the patronage of Count Agostino Sieri Pepoli, who leased the towers in the 1870s, laid out the landscaped Balio Gardens, and constructed the neo-Gothic Pepoli Turret as a retreat for study and cultural exchange.[35] The turret became a venue for cultural gatherings, hosting writers, scholars, and musicians of the period.[36][37][38]

By the early 20th century, civic cultural infrastructure expanded: the Cordici Museum was founded in 1876 and later housed (from 1939) in the upper floors of the town hall, in rooms that had formerly served as the municipal theatre, while the municipal library was formed from suppressed convent collections after unification.[39][40]

These decades also marked the beginnings of organised tourism, with the appearance of guesthouses and small hotels catering to seasonal visitors. The Grand Hotel Igea, opened in 1927–28, attracted figures from Sicilian aristocratic, cultural, business, and political circles, and for many years was a symbol of tourism in Erice. Though the tradition of villeggiatura declined in the 20th century with changing patterns of mobility and leisure, the architecture and public spaces of this period remain distinctive features of Erice.[5]

In 1934 the town’s name was officially changed from Monte San Giuliano to Erice. During the Second World War, in 1943, a Luftwaffe operations post associated with Zerstörergeschwader 26 and Jagdgeschwader 27—units flying from nearby Trapani–Milo Airport—was positioned on the slopes of Monte Erice until Allied air raids forced its relocation. After the Allied landings in July 1943, elements of the 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry Regiment (U.S. Seventh Army) advanced up Monte Erice; Italian forces occupying the ramparts surrendered after initial exchanges of fire.[41] Erice ended the war largely unscathed, with its historic character intact.

Intellectualism (since 1962)

[edit]

The post-war decades brought new accessibility: a cable car linking Trapani to Erice—first opened in 1956 and re-inaugurated on 8 July 2005—made the hilltop readily reachable for day-trippers and routine travel between the lower districts and the historic centre.[42][43][44]

In 1962 the physicist Antonino Zichichi founded the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, establishing a year-round centre for international scientific schools and meetings.[45] The Majorana Foundation has hosted residential schools and workshops that attracted scholars from around the world, including Nobel laureates such as Paul Dirac, Steven Weinberg, and Carlo Rubbia.[46][47][48] Courses have ranged across disciplines—from particle physics to ethics, microelectronics, and nutrition—and have produced declarations such as the Erice statement on the responsibilities of science.[49][50][51][52] The Foundation’s science-for-peace vocation has been acknowledged internationally; the Erice initiatives drew the attention of world leaders including Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pierre Trudeau, Olof Palme and Sandro Pertini.[53]

The Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Ignazio e Vincenzo Florio (a state hospitality and catering school; IPSEOA “Florio”) opened Officucina teaching labs at Palazzo Sales (the former Santa Teresa monastery) in 2019 and expanded its learning spaces in 2024 under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The Officucina are purpose-built culinary laboratories—professional teaching kitchens designed for food innovation projects and hands-on training.[54][55][56]

In the 2020s the school expanded its facilities in the historic centre, opening boarding facilities (convitto) in the former San Carlo monastery and the former Grand Hotel Igea.[57][58][59] The school hosts public demonstrations and masterclasses led by visiting chefs and notable alumni. Guests have included American television chef Marc Murphy, Michelin-starred chef Giuseppe Costa of Il Bavaglino, and television chef Fabio Potenzano; the institute has also hosted an Erasmus+ bakery and chocolate masterclass with Belgian chefs Stijn Van Kerckhoven and Gilles Discart.[60][61][62][63]

Religious significance

[edit]

Pre-Christian origins

[edit]
Main article: Eryx (Sicily)

By the fifth century BCE, the indigenous Elymians living on the mountain had a sacred place on the summit.[64][65] Later in the century, in 415 BCE, people from nearby Segesta led Athenian visitors up to see it and showed them silver bowls, ladles and incense burners as proof of wealth.[65] Greek writers in the late fifth century BCE refer to it as “the temple of Aphrodite at Eryx”.[65] Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. “Eryx” is the Greek name for the mountain.

Later Greek writers wove the summit site into their stories. Diodorus Siculus (1st century BCE) recounts a tale that the craftsman Daedalus built a wall on the crag by the temple and even fashioned a golden ram for the goddess at Mount Eryx.[66] Strabo (early 1st century CE) notes the temple’s wide renown and says that in earlier times many attendants had been dedicated there by people from Sicily and from abroad.[67] Together these accounts show how famous the hilltop sanctuary was in Greek writing.

Roman veneration

[edit]

In Roman usage the goddess was called Venus Erycina (“Venus of Eryx”).[68][69] A Roman coin from 57 BCE shows the sanctuary as a small temple with four front columns, set on a rocky summit within a walled precinct.[70][69] Coin images are not architectural plans, but they suggest how Romans pictured the hilltop shrine.

Rome later founded two public temples in her honour—one on the Capitoline Hill (dedicated 215 BCE) and another outside the Porta Collina on the Quirinal (vowed 184 BCE; dedicated 181 BCE). Both temples used the epithet "Erycina" ("of Eryx").[68][69] The Sicilian sanctuary stayed important: in 25 CE the people of Segesta asked Emperor Tiberius to restore the old temple on the mountain, and he agreed.[71]

Early Christianisation

[edit]
See also: Castle of Venus
See also: List of historic buildings in Erice

From late antiquity onward the old sanctuary declined as the summit was reused. A small church dedicated to Santa Maria della Neve (often rendered “Our Lady of the Snows”) was probably built within the former sacred area during the time of the Norman castle (11th–12th centuries); its ruins are still visible inside the Castle of Venus.[72][73]

From the 13th and 14th centuries, Erice (then known as Monte San Giuliano) saw new churches and monasteries founded with royal and baronial support. The town’s main church, the Chiesa Matrice (Chiesa di Maria Santissima Assunta), was built in 1314 under King Frederick III of Aragon, reportedly reusing material from the ancient temple of Venus Erycina.[74] Baronial families backed new monasteries and churches. The Chiaramonte family are linked with the Santissimo Salvatore Benedictine house, set up in their former palace around 1290; the Ventimiglia family backed the Spirito Santo (San Francesco) convent, authorised by a papal bull of Pope Urban V in the 1360s.[75][76][77] The pope also issued an edict at Avignon in 1365 to found the nearby San Pietro church.[5]

Erice is linked in Carmelite tradition with several figures. Blessed Luigi Rabatà (1443–1490) is generally said to have been born at the site of the Church of Sant'Isidoro.[78][79] Nineteenth-century local historians also report that the palace later adapted as the Spirito Santo convent was traditionally considered the birthplace of Saint Albert of Trapani.[80][81] Modern Carmelite scholarship, however, generally places Albert’s birth in Trapani rather than Erice.[82][83]

By the 1730s, Erice had at least thirty churches, along with six convents and three monasteries.[84] Municipal “riveli” (tax censuses) from 1836–1839 record 204 declarations; clergy were the largest single group among registrants—38 priests, 6 parish priests, 6 canons, an archpriest, a friar, a vicar, 3 clerics and 3 nuns—and many two-storey “solerate” houses are listed as residences with rooms that often included a small domestic chapel.[5]

Modern devotion

[edit]

Erice remains a religious destination. The Diocese of Trapani has renovated and reopened churches as part of the project Erice – la Montagna del Signore (Mountain of the Lord), which aims both to conserve and restore the town’s church heritage and to keep the churches open longer “for the faithful and for visitors”.[85] The churches are presented together as a “museo diffuso” (a distributed museum) and are open to visits on a ticketed schedule.[86][87]

Pilgrimage today often focuses on the Sant’Anna shrine on the lower slopes of the mountain. The footpath known as the Sentiero di Sant’Anna climbs from the valley cable car station up to the Santuario di Sant’Anna and on to Porta Trapani at the town gate; diocesan groups sometimes organise pilgrimages along these paths.[88][89][90][91] Near the summit, the woodland below the Castle of Venus (Bosco dei Runzi) is being restored and signed as part of the municipal Bosco Sacro (Sacred Wood) project, reopening paths around the historic core; it is a municipal green belt rather than a distinct pilgrimage site.[92][93]

In the Balio Gardens, the “Venus and the Bee” fountain (dated 1933) nods to the old cult in modern form.[94][95] At the town's Cordici Museum (Museo Archeologico Storico-Artistico “Antonino Cordici”), an immersive video installation titled Venere Ericina tells the story of the ancient Erice cult to a generative fertility divinity—identified by the Romans as Venus—dating back to the Elymian period and continued by later colonisers; the projections cover the room’s walls and floor.[96]

Jewish community (medieval)

[edit]

In the 1400s Erice had a substantial Jewish community that helped drive the town’s growth. There were artisans such as blacksmiths, cotton workers and leather tanners, along with doctors and goldsmiths; together their work made the community largely self-sufficient in everyday goods.[5] The Jewish quarter (giudecca) lay mainly between the parish church of Sant’Antonio Abate and the Spanish Quarter, extending east toward the “Fontanella” and down to a long-vanished stretch of the old town wall.[5]

In 1492, following the expulsion ordered by Ferdinand the Catholic, the quarter was largely abandoned and fell into ruin as families left or converted.[5][97] The small church Madonna di Custonaci was formerly a synagogue before its conversion to a chapel, a fact once attested by a plaque that has since been lost.[98]

Geography

[edit]

Setting and topography

[edit]

Erice is located approximately 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the regional capital, Palermo. Its historic centre sits at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,460 ft) atop Monte Erice, while the wider comune extends to the coastline, encompassing a varied topography of mountainous, hilly, and coastal terrain.

An infographic showing the different districts that make up the comune of Erice, Sicily

Districts and urban structure

[edit]

The comune comprises 12 officially recognised frazioni (hamlets or districts): Adragna, Baglio Rizzo, Ballata, Casa Santa, Crocefissello, Lenzi, Napola, Pizzolungo, Rigaletta, San Cusumano, Specchia, and Torretta.[99] Historically, the municipal territory also included neighbouring towns such as Valderice and San Vito Lo Capo, but its present boundaries were finalised in 1955.

Until the mid-20th century, Erice’s territory was primarily rural, with an economy based on agriculture, grazing, and scattered farm settlements. From the 1950s onward, rapid and largely unregulated urban expansion reshaped the lower districts. Casa Santa emerged as the municipality’s administrative and commercial hub, while the historic centre transitioned into a centre for tourism.[5]

Climate, land use and vegetation

[edit]
Main article: Monte Erice

Erice experiences a Mediterranean climate, with heat moderated by its elevation.[100] Summers are warm and dry, while winters are cool and wetter. The hilltop location of Erice results in more frequent fog and lower average temperatures than the coastal areas, contributing to a microclimate distinct from nearby Trapani.

Much of the area around the historic centre is wooded with Mediterranean species such as Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), holm oak (Quercus ilex), and cypress, interspersed with underbrush of myrtle, heather, and broom. Two particularly notable green spaces include the Sacro Bosco—a semi-natural sacred grove with mythological and monastic associations—and the Bosco dei Runzi, a forested area on the northeastern slope known for its biodiversity and shaded walking trails.[101]

Economy and tourism

[edit]

Tourism and hospitality

[edit]

Heritage conservation has underpinned Erice’s visitor economy since the late 20th century, beginning with works on the ancient city walls in the 1970s and continuing with a €2 million consolidation project approved in 2023 under Italy’s PNRR programme. The Balio Gardens were restored between 2019 and 2024, and additional works—such as the renewal of the San Nicola sports field and Porta Spada gymnasium—have improved recreational infrastructure with a combined investment of over €3 million.[102][103][104]

Recent studies have called for more inclusive and sustainable heritage strategies to address long-term challenges such as depopulation, inaccessibility, and seasonal tourism pressures. Proposals include the creation of accessible walking routes, a wellbeing park near the ancient walls, and improved visitor resources such as digital guides and interpretive signage. These efforts aim to balance conservation priorities with broader goals of health, community engagement, and inclusive cultural access.[105]

Erice’s 1 km wide sandy beach, Spiaggia di San Giuliano, features seasonal beach clubs, a dedicated Lido Smile, which provides accessible bathing services for people with disabilities, and a cycling path, which forms part of a roughly 3 km coastal route, linking it westward to Trapani’s Dante Alighieri beach.[106][107]

The Giardino dello Sport (Sports Garden), inaugurated in 2019 directly across from the San Giuliano beachfront, is one of the largest seafront sports parks in southern Italy. It features a large green area, a children's playground, a multi-purpose indoor facility, and various outdoor courts and fields for team and racket sports, as well as a fitness zone and full amenities including changing rooms, toilets, and refreshment areas.[108][109]

These and other seasonal initiatives have contributed to a sharp rise in visitors. A 2025 study by the Centro Studi Conflavoro reported a 25.7% increase in summer tourism to Erice, outperforming the 14.7% growth recorded for Sicily overall, which was the second most visited destination by Italians after Puglia. The study attributed Erice’s success to its elevated location, offering cooler temperatures during the peak travel months, along with its medieval charm, panoramic views, and appeal to tourists aged 46–60 seeking authentic and temperate destinations.[110]

Agriculture

[edit]

The hillsides around the comune support viticulture under the official Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) designation Erice DOC, established in 2004, which allows the cultivation of both native varieties such as Nero d’Avola and Grillo, and international ones like Syrah and Chardonnay.[111] The Erice area is noted for its production of high-quality extra virgin olive oil, primarily from the Nocellara del Belice and Cerasuola cultivars, which are well-adapted to the region's arid summer conditions.[112] These traditional crops form the basis of a rural economy closely linked to Erice’s microclimatic diversity, which also supports limited cultivation of almonds and figs on the lower slopes.

Public services and institutions

[edit]

Key public facilities that serve both Erice and Trapani are located in the lower district of Casa Santa. These include the Sant’Antonio Abate Hospital, the Stadio Polisportivo Provinciale, and the Polo Territoriale Universitario di Trapani, a satellite campus of the University of Palermo.[113][114]

Landmarks

[edit]
Main article: List of historic buildings in Erice

Key sites in Erice’s historic centre include:

  • Elymian-Punic Walls: Ancient fortifications that once protected Eryx. They are considered among the most significant surviving examples of early Mediterranean defensive architecture, incorporating Elymian, Punic, and medieval construction phases.[4]
  • Castle of Venus: A Norman-era fortress built on the site of an ancient sanctuary dedicated to Venus Erycina, a Roman adaptation of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The area has been associated with religious activity since antiquity and features archaeological remains from Elymian, Roman, and medieval periods.[115]
  • Chiesa Matrice: The main church of Erice built in the 14th century during the reign of King Frederick III. There are many other churches, monasteries, and oratories in the city, include the churches of San Giuliano and San Giovanni Battista.[5]
  • Cordici Museum: A civic museum housed in a former Franciscan convent, founded in 1876 to conserve artworks and archaeological finds from suppressed religious institutions and local collections. Its holdings include Elymian and Roman artifacts, sacred art, ethnographic objects, and Garibaldian-era weapons.[116]
  • Balio Towers: A group of medieval towers that served both defensive and administrative functions following the Norman conquest of southern Italy. They were the residence of the Bajulo, a royal official responsible for civil justice and taxation, and formed a gateway to the Castle of Venus.[5]
  • Pepoli Turret: A neo-Gothic retreat built between 1872 and 1880 by Count Agostino Pepoli as a place for study and cultural gatherings. Situated on a rocky outcrop east of the Balio Gardens, it blends medieval, Moorish, and Liberty architectural elements. Restored in 2014, it now serves as a multimedia museum and the “Observatory of Peace and Lighthouse of the Mediterranean”.[117]
  • Balio Gardens: Public gardens created in the 19th century by Count Agostino Pepoli on former grazing land adjacent to the Balio Towers. The gardens feature Mediterranean and exotic plantings, fountains, monuments, and viewpoints over Trapani and the surrounding coastline.

Transport

[edit]

Road and air connections

[edit]

Erice is accessible by road from Trapani, connected via SP31 and SP3. The A29 motorway provides onward links to Palermo to the east.

Air travel is served by two nearby airports: Vincenzo Florio Airport (Trapani–Birgi), located about 29 km (18 mi) south of Erice, and Falcone–Borsellino Airport (Palermo), approximately 90 km (56 mi) away.[118][119] A new railway station at Trapani-Birgi Airport, part of a broader €13 billion in Sicilian rail infrastructure funded by Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan, will connect the airport to Trapani and Palermo via the restored and electrified Palermo–Trapani line.[120]

Bus and ferry services

[edit]

Bus transport between Erice and Trapani is fully integrated, with metropolitan routes providing continuous service across both municipalities. These services include connections to Trapani-Birgi Airport and Palermo.[121]

The redevelopment of Trapani’s cruise terminal and island ferry facilities—closely linked to the tourism economy in Erice's historic centre—provides access for passengers arriving via the Aegadian Islands and Mediterranean cruise routes.[122][123][124]

Cable car

[edit]

A cable car (funivia) runs a regular service that connects the lower district of Casa Santa to the historic centre.[125] While this has improved vertical mobility, broader accessibility challenges persist in Erice’s historic centre. Steep gradients, narrow streets, and uneven paving limit access for people with disabilities, and recent efforts—such as the limited introduction of electric vehicles—reflect the complex balance between conservation priorities and inclusive design.[105]

Culture

[edit]

Erice holds a number of annual events and traditions, including religious processions, cultural festivals, and sporting competitions, many of which are associated with the town’s historical and seasonal calendar.

Religious traditions

[edit]
  • Misteri di Erice – Held annually on Good Friday, this solemn procession re-enacts the Passion of Christ through a series of sculptural tableaux known as the Misteri that are carried through the streets of Erice by members of local guilds in traditional costume. The procession begins at the Church of San Giuliano, where the groups of sculptures are displayed before the ritual begins.[126]
  • Festa di Maria Santissima di Custonaci – Celebrated annually in late August, this festival honours Erice's patron saint, Maria Santissima di Custonaci. A highlight of the festivities is the "Consegna delle Chiavi d'Oro" (Presentation of the Golden Keys), during which the mayor symbolically entrusts the city's keys to the Madonna, followed by a procession through the historic centre involving local officials and representatives from neighbouring municipalities.[127]
  • EricèNatale – During the winter holiday season, the town hosts a Christmas market, nativity displays, concerts, and lights the town with Christmas decorations and pine trees. This is followed at New Year with live performances in Piazza della Loggia and fireworks at midnight.[128][129]

Festivals and cultural events

[edit]
  • Ericestate – Erice’s official summer cultural programme, held annually between June and September. Organised by the Comune di Erice, it features a broad calendar of events including concerts, theatre performances, art exhibitions, children’s activities, and food-and-wine initiatives. Events are staged across various venues in both the historic centre and the modern districts, including the Teatro Gebel Hamed, with the aim of promoting cultural participation and supporting tourism in the region.[130]
  • Festa FedEricina – A three-day medieval-themed festival held annually in September, dedicated to King Frederick III. Organised by the Gruppo Medievale MonteSanGiuliano – Erice with support from the Comune di Erice, it features historical parades, falconry displays, themed villages, and medieval banquets. The event attracts historical reenactment groups from across Sicily and abroad, and was first launched in 2015. The festival has been officially registered by the Central Institute for Intangible Heritage of the Italian Ministry of Culture as part of the national mapping of historical reenactments.[131][132][133]

Gastronomy

[edit]

Traditional foods of Erice reflect the town’s convent heritage and surrounding agricultural landscape, several of which are officially recognised as Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (P.A.T.) of Sicily.[134] Local specialities include:

  • Pasta reale di Erice, an almond paste confection with convent origins.
  • Ericino, a firm, rind-covered cheese made from approximately 80% Valle del Belice sheep’s milk and 20% Cinisara cow’s milk.
  • Busiate, a spiral pasta from the province of Trapani, still produced in Erice by local artisan workshops.
  • Erice DOC wine, produced from vineyards on the slopes of Monte Erice.[135]

Erice retains a convent-pastry tradition centred on the former San Carlo convent; local patisseries continue the town’s almond-based recipes. Among its exponents is pastry chef Maria Grammatico, who learned in the convent and offers short public pastry classes at her own Scuola di Arte Culinaria in the old town.[136][137] The Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Ignazio e Vincenzo Florio, which has purpose-built culinary laboratories called Officucina at its campus in the historic centre, also hosts public demonstrations and masterclasses led by visiting chefs and notable alumni.

Borgo diVino in Tour stages an annual tasting weekend in the historic centre—typically in late August—featuring local and national wineries, street food, and live performances across venues such as Piazza della Loggia and Piazza San Giuliano.[138][139]

In literature

[edit]

In 1897 the English novelist Samuel Butler argued in The Authoress of the Odyssey that the poem was written by a young Sicilian woman from Trapani and that several episodes reflect the landscape of western Sicily; he identified Mount Eryx (Monte Erice) and Trapani with key points in Odysseus’s journey.[140][141] Erice commemorates Butler with a street, Via Samuel Butler.[142]

The town also honours the Italian writer Carlo Levi (author of Cristo si è fermato a Eboli) with Via Carlo Levi.[142]

In art

[edit]
Louise-Joséphine Sarazin de Belmont's View of the Castello di San Giuliano, near Trapani, Sicily

Erice has been a frequent subject for painters and printmakers from the 18th to the 20th century.

  • Jean-Claude Richard, abbé de Saint-Non, Voyage pittoresque ou Description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicile (Paris, 1781–1786) includes engraved views of Sicilian sites; plates of Monte San Giuliano (Eryx) circulated widely in these volumes.[144][145]
  • Francesco Lojacono, Monte San Giuliano (c. 1875–1880), a landscape of present-day Erice attributed to Palermo’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna and reproduced on Google Arts & Culture.[146]
  • Alberto Pisa, colour plates of Monte San Giuliano in the travel book Sicily (London: A. & C. Black, 1911), part of the publisher’s illustrated series. Specific images include “Monte San Giuliano” and related street scenes. [147][148]

In film and television

[edit]

Erice has served as a filming location or creative inspiration for several film and television productions:

  • At War with Love (In guerra per amore, 2016), a World War II romantic comedy directed by Pif (Pierfrancesco Diliberto), was filmed on location in Erice.[149]
  • La baronessa di Carini (2007), a television miniseries broadcast by RAI, included scenes filmed in Erice.[150]
  • Màkari (2021–), an Italian crime drama series, features Erice prominently in multiple episodes.[151]
  • The town inspired sets in the 2018 superhero film Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa; although no scenes were filmed on location, its architecture was digitally recreated after local authorities denied filming permission.[152]

Sport

[edit]

In 2025 the municipality of Erice presented its candidacy to ACES Europe to be designated a European City of Sport 2027.[153]

Erice manages or hosts a range of sporting facilities. The largest is the Stadio Polisportivo Provinciale in the Casa Santa district, a 10,000-seat ground that has served as the home stadium for Trapani Calcio.[154] The town also includes the Giardino dello Sport, a 35,000 m² seafront sports park with multiple outdoor courts and pitches and a multi-purpose hall,[155] the Porta Spada gymnasium,[156] the municipal tennis and five-a-side football courts at Viale delle Pinete,[157] and the historic Campo San Nicola football ground.[158]

The town is represented in national women’s volleyball by Pallavolo Erice, which has competed in Serie A2 and plays its home matches at the PalaShark arena in neighbouring Trapani.[159] Football is played at amateur level on the municipal grounds, while local associations also field teams in tennis, basketball and athletics.

Erice also hosts recurring sporting events, including the Cronoscalata Monte Erice, an automobile hillclimb established in 1954 that forms part of the Italian national championship calendar,[160] the Maratona Trapani–Erice and other running events, such as the Erice Trail, a springtime trial-running event.[161] [162] Cycling events also make use of the coastal cycle path along San Giuliano beach.[163]

Notable people

[edit]

This list includes people born in Erice and figures closely associated with the town’s institutions and heritage.

Arts and letters
Religion
  • Albert of Trapani (c.1240–1307), Carmelite saint. Generally held to have been born in Trapani; several Ericine historians record a local tradition that his family palace in Erice—later adapted as the Spirito Santo (San Francesco) convent—was his birthplace.
  • Luigi Rabatà (1443–1490), Blessed Carmelite priest; beatified in 1841.
History and civic life
Science
Sport
[edit]
  • Castle of Venus
    Castle of Venus
  • Balio Towers
    Balio Towers
  • Chiesa Matrice
    Chiesa Matrice
  • Balio Gardens
    Balio Gardens
  • Pepoli Turret
    Pepoli Turret
  • Urban fabric
    Urban fabric
  • Cobbled street
    Cobbled street
  • Strategic position
    Strategic position
  • Cable car
    Cable car
  • Beach
    Beach

References

[edit]
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[edit]
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