We really enjoyed
our stay in Trapani with Chris. We spent Thursday taking the cable
car to the hilltop village of Irice; still populated today, it was
first settled by the Elymnians, who claimed decent from the Trojans,
then in turn by the Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Normans, who
have all left their mark. We rented a car Friday and Saturday as
Chris need to be at Palermo airport for 7am. This gave us the
opportunity to see some of the West of the Island, we visited the
ruins of the Ancient cities of Segesta, which like Irice dates back
to 12th century BC and its rival, Selinus which reached
its peak in 5th century BC, before being sacked by the
Carthaginian and then destroyed by earthquake.
We have visited many
impressive cathedrals over the last 3 summers but by far the most
amazing is the Norman cathedral at Monreale, which contains the most
impressive and extensive area of Christian medieval mosaics in the
world. Dropping Chris early in the morning meant we were there by
8.30, which was lucky as by the time we left it was completely
swamped by other tourists.
Today we sailed 20
miles up the coast to the pretty resort of San Vito.
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| The Norman castle at Irice |
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Theatre at Segesta
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| The temple at Segesta |
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| Norman cathedral at Monreale, |
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| San Vito |
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