Page 5 - Piacere Sicilia N 2 marettimo

PIACERE SICILIA|ISOLE EGADI
The charm of the Castle
In Marettimo the Bourbon prison becomes the
“Museum of Prisons”
The castle of Punta Troia is built on the headland of the island
overlooking the sea and is one of the oldest monuments of Ma-
rettimo. In the IX century the Saracens had already built a tower
on this site, coeval with those of Favignana and Levanzo. Later in the
twelfth century,Roger II,the Norman king of Sicily,fortified the defensive
positions of the Egadi including the tower of Punta Troia. It was not
until the 1600’s that the Spanish built the present castle, giving it a
large cistern for collecting water and a small church called“Royal Pa-
rish Church” of Marettimo. The cistern was subsequently used as a
prison by the same Spaniards. From the end of the 1700’s it was used
by the Bourbons as a prison for political offenses. In 1803 Guglielmo
Pepe, the most famous patriot of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799,
was jailed there: in this pit without light or air he saw horrible suffering, grottos. In ancient times Favignana was called Aegusa, which
of which he told in his memoirs. Since the closing of the prison, in
1844 the fortress was used for military purposes until the last war.The
lower floor of the castle consists of a single room and a staircase that
leads upstairs via an entrance hall and a narrow passage.This leads
to a small staircase and on to a terrace where there are different
rooms.After years of decay, the castle of Punta Troia has been restored
and contains within it its walls the “Museum of Prisons” and the ob-
servatory of the Monk Seal in the Marine Protected Area of the Egadi.
The goal is to transform the old fortress into a cultural centre at the
heart of the Mediterranean. At the beginning of June it hosted the
event “Mare Tango Mare”, dedicated to the famous argentine tango
dance and organised by Tango Te Quiero Mas and Nicolò Noto, in
collaboration with the C.S.R.T. Marettimo, which promote cultural
events on the island and manages the maritime museum called‘Museo
del Mare’. The castle can be found at 115 metres and is reached by
boat and then a climb up a steep staircase, or overland along a steep
path in the mountain. The place might seem inappropriate to host a
‘milonga’ (the tango event), but as Paolo Conte says in one of his fa-
mous songs, the milonga has an unsettled nature and it can take
place anywhere tango dancers wish to dance.The appointment with
tango, which is dance and lifestyle together, will be repeated every
year. Of note, romantics visiting the castle will see a plaque comme-
morating the likely step in the waters of Marettimo Admiral Horatio
Nelson (who helped crush the Neapolitan Republic) and his dream
of love for Lady Emma Hamilton, an English adventurer lodging at the
court of the Bourbons, who is remembered for being his mistress.
TRAVEL ENCOUNTERS
THE TERRITORY
Egadi Islands
The archipelago of the Egadi Islands is composed of three
main islands, Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo and a few
islets and rocks. It is situated approximately 7 km off the Si-
cilian west coast, between Marsala and Trapani.
Evidence of ancient human settlements has been discovered
in Levanzo and Marettimo which leads to the assumption that
the last glacial period created a natural passage between
Africa and Sicily. In 241 BC the Romans conquered the Egadi
Islands after the final battle of the First Punic War.
After the end of the Roman Empire, Vandals, Goths and then
Saracens ruled the islands until in 1081, when the Normans
occupied the territories and fortified them. Then the islands
became property of Pallavicini-Rusconi family and in 1874
they became a possession of Florio family.
Favignana, the largest, lies approximately 9 sea-miles west
off Trapani, its land area is 19.38 square km and has 33 km
of rugged coastline dotted with pits and several impressive
means butterfly and refers to the shape of the island. The cur-
rent name derives from Favonio, a warm wind blowing from
the west which also determines the very mild weather of the
island. In the town centre there are entrances to the caves of
calcarenite and sandstone rock situated in the area of San-
t'Anna. This was the early urban site, built in the mid-17th
century and where the hypogean gardens can be admired. The
Florio’s family Tonnara (Tuna factory), built in the 19th century
and overlooking the harbour, is an excellent example of indu-
strial archaeology. Few miles away from Favignana there is
Levanzo, the closest island to Trapani, with a small port and
a beautiful little town. Levanzo lies approximately 8 miles west
off Trapani and in ancient times was known as Phorbantia,
from the name of a sort of spice that grows on the island.
Smaller than Favignana and Marettimo, it is an uncontamina-
ted paradise with high cliffs that drop into the sea. The tiny
port of Cala Dogana has been built, as the rest of the town, in
a natural creek on the south side of the island; during the day
hydrofoils and ferries coming from Trapani dock in the little
port. If you are in Levanzo you can forget about cars: you can
walk or cycle across the main street that goes through the is-
land from north to south. A must-do is a boat trip around the
island to enjoy from the sea the wonderful view of the several
bays and little creeks. “Grotta del Genovese” is an extraordi-
nary place to visit: it is famous for the prehistoric Palaeolithic
graffiti, representing deer, cattle and equine, and the Neolithic
cave paintings, the most important of which represents a
tuna, one of the vital resources of the Egadi Islands’ economy. 83
On the plateau that dominates the island, less than 300 metres
above sea level, there is an amazing view of the Case Florio,
an ancient building surrounded by the rest of a farm.
The third island, Marettimo is 38 km west off Trapani: the
most mountainous and verdant of the archipelago, surroun-
ded by pristine clear water, full of grottos that are accessible
only by boat. Particularly impressive are Cammello, Presepe
and Bombarda. On the top of Punta Troia there is a fort from
the Bourbon period which in the past was also used as a pri-
son. Visiting the island nowadays is facilitated by several pe-
destrian paths that allow admiring fascinating views. One of
the pedestrian path leads to the Pegna, a spring next to a little
pine forest. Marettimo is also well known for its flora, with
lots of species typical of the Mediterranean maquis.
The three main islands together with the two smaller ones,
Formica and Maraone, form part of the Egadi Islands Marine
Protected Area (Marina Protetta delle Isole Egadi), the largest
in Europe.