10/2/24: Marsala's Mesmerizing Salt Flats

Our last stop of the day, which started at the magnificent Scala di Turchi and continued to Mazara del Vallo for its Dancing Satyr and Kasbah, was Marsala, the town known worldwide for its richly colored fortified wine of the same name. Years ago, I loved ordering Veal Marsala when eating out at an Italian restaurant. I certainly never thought I'd actually visit the seaside town where it was made!

In 1773, a British wine merchant visiting Marsala discovered that the local wine was comparable to the port the British had long imported from Portugal. By the turn of the century, Marsala was exporting wine all over the British Empire.

Marsala also played an important role in the movement for Italian liberty known as the Risorgimento. In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian national hero, landed in Marsala with his one thousand Redshirts to start the campaign to oust the Bourbons from northern Italy. 

Centuries before that, Marsala and the nearby island of Mozia were also the main bases for the Carthaginians in Sicily. From here, Carthage fought for power over the island against Greece and Rome and left behind the impressive archaeological sites we'd recently explored. 

Steven and I were inspired to stop in Marsala at the end of a long day after reading that the view of its salt pans and the windmills once used to power the area was declared "one of the most stunning scenes in Sicily." That seemed like lofty praise.

Lina: I imagine Dan and Alex would love the parasailing and windsurfing opportunities in Sicily's largest lagoon, the Stagnone di Marsala!

As we drove along the flat and winding coastal road north of Marsala, we soon came across the remarkable series of salt pans in the lagoon's shallows. The lagoon's shallow depth, ranging from just two to six feet, has made it perfect for salt production since Phoenician times. The scene's absolute flatness was only relieved by the conical heaps of salt and a smattering of disused windmills.

Most of the time, the scene was serenely peaceful and quiet except for occasional pockets of activity.

After witnessing so many stunning sights throughout Sicily, I don't know if the views of salt pans were the ultimate, but I know I could have stared at them for much longer than we had available. Seeing the clouds cast their shadows over the salt pans kept treating us to different captivating images.

The ancient windmill had been converted into a salt shop!

The pile of earthenware tiles was used to weigh down the salt so it wouldn't be blown away by wind gusts. 

As we hadn't made the required reservations to visit the 160-year-old Donnafugata Winery, a respected wine producer, we headed into the town of Marsala instead. Not surprisingly, the Parrochia di San Tommaso d'Canterbury dominated the Piazza della Repubblica. The Norman-era cathedral, also known as the Mother Church of Marsala, was constructed on the remains of a previous church destroyed during Arab raids. The stately Baroque structure was dedicated to St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, an English Catholic martyr. 

The Chapel of the Holy Family's Baroque style was evident in its pyramid-style composition: the accentuated gestures of the figures, the scene's division into two levels - the upper level with the cherubim and angels and the lower one with the Holy Family - and the vivid colors based on yellow and red jewel tones.

Beginning in the 16th century, the Chapel of the Most Sacred Sacrament was managed by the fraternity of the Four Guilds: carpenters, cobblers, tailors, and silversmiths. The pillars were inlaid with their respective symbols: the axe, hammer, scissors, and anvil.

Neither of us remembered seeing Oriental carpets in any other Sicilian church before.

The exterior was graced with grand Baroque statues, but the interior was infinitely simpler. 

Adjacent to the Cathedral was the Palazzo VII Aprile 1860. The lovely, 15th-century arcaded palazzo, formerly known as the Palazzo Senatorio or Senatorial Palace, was now Marsala's town hall.

Our Marsala hosts recommended we catch a view of the sunset from the church across the street from their home. It was great advice after a long day exploring the southwest corner of Sicily. 

Next post: Arrivederci, Sicilia, and on to Malta at long last!

Posted on February 1st, 2025, from home in Colorado. Though I was complaining about the cold weather and snow a few days ago, Denver's 'winter' is back like we like it, with balmy temperatures and shorts weather for the locals at least! As I always ask, please take care of yourself and your loved ones.

10/2/24: Marzara del Vallo's Dancing Satyr & Kasbah

After touring Selinunte's Greek ruins, Steven and I drove to Marzara del Vallo, a town on Sicily's southwest coast. The town was largely unknown to tourists until the late 1990s when local fishermen caught an extraordinary Greek bronze statue of a satyr in their nets. Before viewing the satyr, we explored the town's historic center as it would have been a shame to pass it by. 

The imposing structure of the Jesuit College and its elegant cloister was built circa 1672. Its rustic portal was flanked by pairs of telamons, aka hefty male caryatids. During the 18th century, the College was the center of the town's Catholic Inquisition. It was charged with eradicating anything they regarded as heresy. When the Jesuits clashed with Sicily's Bourbon rulers in 1824, they were expelled. 

Next door was the damaged Church of Saint Ignatius, which was considered one of the most inspired Sicilian Baroque churches. Recent studies have attributed the church's design to Andrea Pozzo, the most brilliant architect of the second half of the 17th century. A small dome covered the main altar, located at the bottom of the entrance in a carved presbyteral space. 

Across from both churches was the deconsecrated St. Egidio Church, which is now the Museo del Satiro Danaznate. Constructed in the Gothic-Renaissance style at the beginning of the 16th century and completed in about 1578, the church was converted into the Satyr Museum in 2005. 

The Dancing Satyr, attributable to Praxiteles, the most famous Greek sculptor, was found off Marzara's coast. After four years of painstaking restoration in Rome and multiple attempts to keep it there, it was returned 'home,' so travelers visiting the nearby temples in Selinunte now have an irresistible reason to stop in Mazara.

Until we saw the exhibit, I didn't know that the Satyr's discovery took place in two stages. The first was the discovery of the leg in the spring of 1997 when a ship's captain was trawling; the body without arms and without the other leg was found about a year later. Thick incrustations, determined by the conditions where the statue lay on its back, included the remains of sea organisms. There were no algae or aquatic plants because of the absence of light at the bottom of the sea. The cleaning process consisted of a treatment to prevent further corrosion and other interventions. 

The Satyr, poised on his right leg, was likely grasping a staff or wand and a chalice with his left, both symbols associated with Dionysian worship. The statue might have been part of a Dionysian procession or an isolated figure as a ship's protection god.

Until I read a description at the museum, I thought that satyrs and fauns were analogous mythological figures connected with the natural world. But in Greek myths, satyrs were considered demons with a wild nature and a semi-feral appearance. Over time, they acquired several goat-like features in their representations: tails, legs, and ears. Fauns, considered gods of the Roman world, were represented by human characteristics and seen as protecting flocks and having prophetical gifts.

In addition to the precious sculpture, the museum contained other finds from Mazara's old port and the Strait of Sicily, including a bronze leg of a war elephant from the Punic period and a bronze cauldron from the Middle Ages.

Steven joked that after paying the museum entrance fee and realizing the Dancing Satyr was essentially the only attraction in the museum, he'd better look at it again!

The Dancing Satyr wasn't Mazara del Vallo's only claim to fame, however, as Sicily's ancient Islamic heritage is the most tangible there. While some other Sicilian towns have retained an Arab quarter of twisting labyrinthine streets and dead-end courtyards, none have a thriving North African neighborhood like this town's Kasbah. Its present-day Islamic community dates only to the 1960s when Mazara's fishing fleet, the largest in Italy, was short of workers. Word was sent out to North Africa, asking for sailors, fishermen, and their families to move into the largely abandoned Kasbah. 

It was perhaps inevitable that the town's links with North Africa were so ancient since it is the closest point on mainland Sicily to the African coast. Under the ancient Greeks of nearby Selinunte, it became a booming trade center. In the 9th century AD, a 10,000-man-strong Islamic army began its conquest of Sicily.

Though our stroll through the Kasbah might have been more interesting if we'd been accompanied by a guide, Steven and I were content to wander along the twisted maze of narrow streets. However, we were unclear about the distinction between what was a public thoroughfare versus a private courtyard.

Many of the historic district’s walls were decorated with art, some by local artists and others by schoolchildren who had been commissioned as an initiative by the local administration.

We'd only spotted handpainted street signs in just one other town in Sicily, but don't ask me which one it was!

Janina: Before you ask, the Kasbah's lanes were indeed really this empty. It also seemed peculiar that we didn’t spot a single shop or restaurant anywhere in the Kasbah.

We figured the Kasbah's blue doors were a preview of what we'd see while touring Tunisia!

This was the first of many Tunisian flags we'd also soon see!

Decorative umbrellas adorn many towns's narrow alleys as you may remember from previous posts, but these lampshades were a first!

Another trinacaria for you, Paul.

The town's Piazza Republica was immense. On the left was the town's Duomo, which was founded in 1093 by Sicily's first Norman ruler, Roger I.

In one corner was the shuttered Diocesan Museum, located on the ground floor of the Seminary. It contained liturgical furnishings from the Cathedral's Treasury and sacred silverware from other churches in the Mazara diocese. The silver works covered a period from the 14th to the 19th centuries.

Roger 1 was depicted in relief above the Cathedral's main entrance on horseback, trampling a turbaned Arab. If the church had been open, I'd have loved to have viewed the massive marble tableau of the Transfiguration held back by cherubs above the altar. It was designed by Antonello Gagnini, the Renaissance sculptor who worked with Michelangelo in Rome and whose works we'd been lucky enough to gawk at in other Sicilian towns. 

If the Dancing Satyr, the appealing lanes of the Kasbah, and the town's magnificent Duomo and other striking churches weren't enough to appeal to tourists, Mazara del Vallo's Corniche would be another reason to stay a spell in the delightful town. No other town we'd noticed in Sicily sported a bike lane like Mazara did either.

Next post: On to the exciting Marsala Salt Flats!

Posted on January 29th, 2025, from back home in Denver again for a few days before heading south to Miami and a quick jaunt to Mexico beginning early next week. With another massive snowstorm due to hit eastern Colorado, escaping the cold and snow sounds perfect. Wherever you are, make sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones.