A medieval walled city in the clouds above Trapani — and the pastry capital of Sicily
Erice perches on a 751-metre triangular limestone peak above Trapani, its Norman walls and cobblestone streets perpetually wreathed in cloud or sea-mist, giving the town an almost otherworldly atmosphere that makes it feel frozen somewhere between the 12th and 14th century. The views from the castle of Venus — built by the Normans on the site of an ancient temple to Aphrodite/Venus where sacred prostitution was once practised — extend on a clear day across to the Egadi Islands and, faintly, to the Tunisian coast. Erice is equally celebrated for its sweets: the town's pasticcerie (particularly…
Erice (ancient Eryx) has been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age and was one of the most sacred sites in the pre-Greek western Mediterranean — its temple to the Elymian fertility goddess, later identified with Venus, was maintained by sacred prostitutes and visited by Aeneas according to Virgil. The site passed through Phoenician, Greek, Carthaginian, Roman, Arab, Norman, and Spanish hands, each layering new buildings onto the same summit. The Normans built the current castle in the 12th century reusing stones from the ancient temple. The modern town preserves the medieval street plan al…