Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Aegadian Islands. The city was badly damaged during World War II, when it was subjected to intense Allied bombardments. It has grown greatly since the end of the war, sprawling out virtually to the foot of Monte San Giuliano. Tourism has grown in recent years due to the city’s proximity to popular destinations such as Erice, Segesta, and the Aegadian Islands.
Much of Trapani’s economy still depends on the sea. Fishing and canning are the main local industries, with fishermen using the mattanza technique to catch tuna. Coral is also an important export, along with salt, marble, and marsala wine. The nearby coast is lined with numerous salt-pans. These saltpans were formed by the evaporation of seawater and are situated majestically along the coast road between Trapani and Marsala. The city is also an important ferry port, with links to the Egadi Islands, Pantelleria, Sardinia, and Tunisia. It also has its own airport, the Trapani-Birgi Airport.
Much of the old city of Trapani dates from the later medieval or early modern periods; there are no extant remains of the ancient city. Many of the city’s historic buildings are designed in the Baroque style. Notable monuments include:
The Church of Sant’Agostino (14th century), with the splendid rose-window
The Church of Santa Maria di Gesù (15th–16th centuries)
The Baroque Palazzo della Giudecca or Casa Ciambra.
The Cathedral (built in 1421, but restored to the current appearance in the 18th century by Giovanni Biagio Amico). It includes an Annunciation attributed to Anthony van Dyck.
Church of Maria SS. dell’Intria, another notable example of Sicilian Baroque.
Ligny Tower, a 17th-century watchtower housing an archaeological museum.
Monte Erice is a cable car ride from the city and aside from the cobbled streets and medieval castle, there are views of Tunisia and Africa from up there on clear days. Several beaches run along the coast of Trapani, the best of which are at Marausa about 9 km (6 mi) south of the city.
The city is renowned for its Easter related Holy Week activities and traditions, culminating between Good Friday and Holy Saturday in the Processione dei Misteri di Trapani, colloquially simply the Misteri di Trapani (in English the Procession of the Mysteries of Trapani or the Mysteries of Trapani), a day-long passion procession organized and sponsored by the city’s guilds, featuring twenty floats of wood, canvas and glue sculptures, mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries, of individual scenes of the events of the Passion. The Misteri are among the oldest continuously running religious events in Europe, having been played every Good Friday since before the Easter of 1612. Running for at least 16 continuous hours, but occasionally well beyond the 24 hours, they are the longest religious festival in Sicily and in Italy. Important also to the cult of the Madonna of Trapani. The city gives its name to a variety of pesto – pesto alla trapenese – made using almonds instead of the traditional pine nuts in Ligurian pesto.
