Erice

erice@castellammaredelgolfo.com

Erice

On the summit of Monte San Giuliano, a 571 meters in height located Erice: its name derives from the Sicilian Eryx-Italic, which means “mount”.

Area, of extraordinary beauty, and of course provided with, was inhabited since the time of the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic (the caves).

The town was elim, then under the influence of the Carthaginians (His temple, famous in antiquity, dedicated to the cult of fertility and love goddess Astarte was dedicated to the Carthaginians, Aphrodite by the Greeks and Venus by the Romans Ericina) and later by the Greeks fought for its immense wealth.

Destroyed during the 1 st Punic War by the Carthaginians, who moved the inhabitants to Drepanon (Trapani), Erice was conquered by the Romans in 248 a.C., who reported the temple to its original splendor, dedicating it to Venus.

It then followed the historical events of the island: Byzantine fu, Then Arab, Norman then. The Normans repopulated the city, and built the famous Castle.

During the Middle Ages were built churches and convents, and then, except some baroque palace, the stronghold and remained the same.

Inside the walls (three of which have remained outside the Middle Ages) you can admire the Cathedral, built in the fourteenth century, The Norman Castle, the church of San Martino, Norman also, the church of San Domenico (now houses the Science Centre Ettore Majorana), the museum, and all the lovely village, the structure typically medieval.

It’ activates a funicular from Trapani.

click on:> Erice, temple of the goddess of love