Today we tell you about a group travel experience by minibus made in September 2017 with one of our trusted tour operators, Planet Viaggi. It is a beautiful tour of Western Sicily, which began with the gathering of participants in Palermo and continued over the course of a week between the provinces of Trapani and Agrigento. The tour was developed with the collaboration of the tour operator Addiopizzo Travel (https://www.addiopizzotravel.it), which directed us to some significant destinations of what they define as "ethical tourism for those who say no to the mafia"; these destinations have perfectly integrated with the traditional tourism destinations in this part of Sicily, and have certainly constituted a reason for enriching the trip. So let's start with a classic destination, which cannot be more classic: the Archaeological Area of the Valley of the Temples, in Agrigento. The monuments found in the valley are mainly dating back to the 5th century BC. and they are all Doric style temples, built with shell sandstone tuff and immersed in a typical Mediterranean vegetation of olive, almond, carob and cypress trees. Let's give an idea of the wide avenue, easily accessible by wheelchair:
and along the avenue we meet the Temple of Juno Lacinia:
the "statue togate":
the Garden of the Righteous from all over the world, with a tree dedicated to Don Pino Puglisi and the metal plates stuck in the ground each with the name of a victim of the mafia:
the traces of the ancient walls:
But the most famous monument of all is undoubtedly the Temple of Concordia, one of the best preserved works of Doric architecture, in front of which the bronze titled Icarus fallen by the artist Igor Mitoraj (2011) was located. An evocative mix of contemporary art and classical antiquity:
After visiting the Valley of the Temples, it is worth moving to a small adjacent valley, where we find the Kolymbethra Gardens (https://www.fondoambiente.it/luoghi/giardino-della-kolymbethra), an area entrusted by the Region Sicily to FAI, where essentially an agricultural and cultural landscape of the past has been reconstructed. Through an irrigation system based on an internal stream, citrus, olive trees, various fruit and vegetables are grown in a bucolic environment rich in scents and colors.
The sea now. Let's start visiting the Infersa Saline, near Marsala, a human activity that has created an extraordinary landscape, with a mosaic of iridescent colored tanks, silhouettes of the old mills and the white of the mounds of salt:
and these are the Trapani Saline with the Natural Reserve managed by the WWF:
We now reach the first of the most significant goals from the symbolic and historical point of view of the fight against the mafia. We are talking about the plateau of Portella della Ginestra, the place where on 1st of May 1947 the mafia shot from the mountains above and killed many workers, who gathered there to celebrate their feast. It is a place that still puts chills today, also for the blood red writings engraved in the rocks that make up the memorial erected in 1980 by the artist Ettore De Conciliis:
Let's go back to the temples, now, to visit the vast area of the Selinunte Archaeological Park. These are the vestiges of the ancient city founded by Greek colonists in 651 BC, destroyed by the Carthaginians in 499 BC. The memory of the name of the city was also lost, until excavations began in 1823 that brought it back to light. Visiting it on foot is practically impossible, given the size of the area and the distances between one temple and another; we entered by minibus, but electric trains are also available for a fee. Let's take a look at the so-called Temple E, one of the most impressive:
while on the Acropolis we find Temple C and you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Marinella di Selinunte:
And we close the visit to the Selinunte Park with the Baglio Florio Museum, obtained from an ancient rural building, in which significant finds and scale reconstructions of the various temples are collected:
Let's go and see this Marinella di Selinunte, with a walk to the end of the pier:
We are now moving to the Valle del Belìce, to illustrate one of the most significant and controversial experiences of this trip. We are talking about the visit to Gibellina, the town completely destroyed by the 1968 earthquake and then rebuilt several kilometers away from the ancient center, with the contribution of some of the most important contemporary artists and architects. The first work that we show you is the so-called Cretto di Burri, made by the master Alberto Burri covering, like a shroud, the ruins of Gibellina Vecchia with a blanket of white concrete. The installation can be walked through the spaces between one house and another, spaces that correspond to the streets of the village, and, in absolute silence, this experience generates a very strong sensation that is difficult to describe.
But the most controversial intervention was that on Gibellina Nuova, a city built with avant-garde urban planning criteria and scattered with high-level works of art. All this, however, today gives an idea of a site oversized compared to the real needs of the population, while some of the works are suffering the ravages of time. In short, there is matter for extensive discussions, which in fact have existed and continue to exist.
It must also be said that Gibellina Nuova is the seat of important cultural initiatives in the field of visual arts and theater, promoted by the Orestiadi Foundation. The Foundation is based in the Baglio Di Stefano, in whose courtyard we find the famous Montagna di Sale by Mimmo Paladino.
We were able to enter the Foundation only because we used the platform of the van to overcome the flight of stairs at the entrance; however we show you some of the works exhibited in the museum:
Another experience of "ethical tourism" that we did was the visit to the Centopassi Winery, a company built on land seized from the mafia; taking up the definition they give of themselves on their website (https://centopassisicilia.it), Centopassi is the winemaking soul of the Libera Terra cooperatives that cultivate land confiscated from the mafia in Sicily. The vineyards are distributed in the Corleonese Alto Belìce, an area of overwhelming beauty, particularly suited to high quality productions. Here are some pictures of the structure, vineyards and products of the company and Libera Terra:
Very suggestive was also the excursion to Erice, the delightful town with an ancient history, located on the top of a 751-meter relief that allows you to enjoy splendid views. We reached Erice by cable car from Trapani, enjoying splendid views over the city, the sea and the Egadi islands; we then looked out from a beautiful panoramic terrace, near the Venere Castle and here unfortunately our visit stopped, as the stone-paved streets of the ancient village are prohibitive for wheelchairs, unless they are particularly "daring" . However it was worth it!
We cannot close this itinerary in Western Sicily except with our short excursion to Palermo. The Sicilian capital certainly deserves a dedicated visit; however, we believe it is useful to report some particularly interesting places that we were able to see. Let's start with the Cathedral: built in 1184, transformed into a mosque by the Arabs and returned to Christian worship by the Normans, it was the subject of radical renovations over the centuries. Let's take a look at what it is like today:
the chapel dedicated to Don Pino Puglisi, a priest murdered by the mafia:
the Chapel of Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo:
Another significant corner of Palermo are the so-called Quattro Canti, popular name of the scenic Piazza Vigliena, formed by the crossroads between Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele. The four facades of the cantons, decorated with statues, balconies, cornices and windows on three orders, were built between 1608 and 1628.
The last visit we make to Norman Palace, the ancient royal palace built by the Arabs in the 9th century and enlarged by the Normans, today the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly:
But the main attraction of the Norman Palace is the splendid Palatine Chapel, founded by Ruggero II in 1180 and dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, with its incredible mosaics:
Our tour in accessible Western Sicily ends here: keep following us, because soon we will also dedicate ourselves to Eastern Sicily, which will be equally magnificent!