One of the few cold days we had on our whole trip, we decided to go up to see Erice, a small castle town on top of a mountain.
Erice
Monday, 23 October 2017
One of the few cold days we had on our whole trip, we decided to go up to see Erice, a small castle town on top of a mountain.
The town of Trapani is in the background.
They have two castles : Pepoli Castle, which dates from Muslim occupation (you can see that one directly behind us) and the Venus Castle, dating from the Norman period (further back on the mountain), built on top of the ancient Temple of Venus. The earliest temple was built by the original inhabitants (the Elymians) who dedicated it to the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, then by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians (who called the same goddess Astarte) then the Romans as Venus Ericina. It was famous all through the ancient world back in the day. Then the Normans built a castle on top of it, but it is believed that the worship of Venus continued during the Christian era.
And some lovely Sicilian pastries!
Dinner was a huge 1kg steak. Too much food, you ask? Well… we got through it.
And a lovely bottle of Sicilian red.
One of the few cold days we had on our whole trip, we decided to go up to see Erice, a small castle town on top of a mountain.
