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5+1 THINGS YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST DO IN ERICE

Written by Luca Sciacchitano

At about 750 meters high, clearly visible from all over the Trapani area, the ancient medieval village of Erice stands out.

Named Monte San Giuliano until 1934, the town can be visited at all times of the year and is one of the most evocative and characteristic Italian tourist sites, loved and appreciated every year by thousands of tourists from all over the world.

Visiting the province of Trapani, a stop in Erice becomes mandatory, with its cobbled alleys and its mossy stones. Despite the many places to see in Erice (we talk about it fully here), in this article we focus on the 5 things not to miss during your holiday in Erice.

1) GET TO ERICE ON FOOT

If you are really a mountain lover and you like trekking, we recommend you to go up on foot. This obviously does not mean climbing the mountain with rope and ice ax but, equipped with good shoes, tackling the many comfortable paths that climb up the mountain, just below the cable car route. In direct contact with nature, you will cross the wooded area of Martogna and breathe the clean air of our territories. Arrived halfway, turn around to admire the wonderful terrestrial landscape with the city of Trapani in the foreground and the Egadi archipelago in the background of an indigo and infinite sea. But if you don´t feel like taking on this challenge, you can always count on the comfortable cable car service with its characteristic egg-shaped cabins. Even if filtered through the glass, the view will be equally breathtaking. The silence of the climb, a few gusts of wind that creeps into the cabin and a panorama that extends over the entire Trapani coast, almost as far as Marsala.
Journey time 15 minutes - click here for the cable car timetables.

2) VISIT TO THE MATRIX

To visit as soon as you arrive at the summit, the Mother Church or Matrice, is located almost close to the arrival station of the cable car. There are many monasteries and churches in Erice, but the Matrix is the main place of worship in the village. Built at the behest of Frederick of Aragon in 1314, the Matrix embodies the whole atmosphere of Erice, with its imposing and fully embattled bell tower, which in ancient times served as a lookout tower.

Chiesa madre di Erice

3) TASTING OF THE PASTRY

In addition to being a city of science and faith, like all Sicilian villages, Erice also has a centuries-old food and wine tradition that is consolidated here in the delicious Ericina pastry, inheritance of the numerous local convents. In fact, in ancient times the cloistered nuns used to prepare delicious almond sweets or, again, the famous Genoese with custard to sell to pilgrims in exchange for some money. With the suppression of the convents in 1866, the traditional recipes remained a local cultural legacy and, from laboratory to laboratory, have come down to us today thanks to the local craftsmanship carried out by Erice´s pastry chefs. A visit to Erice cannot therefore escape this dip into past flavors: almond desserts, fig buccellati, orange and pistachio balls, Genoese, mustazzoli. All to be accompanied with an excellent Ericino liqueur, green in color and very flavored.

4) A WALK ALONG THE WALLS OF THE CASTLE OF VENUS

Built in the twelfth century by the Normans, the castle of Venus was erected over the remains of an ancient Elymian-Phoenician-Roman sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Venus whose name it still bears today.
The castle is accessed via an imposing flight of stairs close to the Balio gardens, planted above what was the ancient acropolis.
A walk along the castle walls allows you to see the whole area below, letting your imagination fly like on the wings of an eagle. For further information on the castle of Venus, click here.

5) PURCHASE OF A TYPICAL ERICINO CARPET

The typical Erice craftsmanship does not manifest itself only with confectionery sweets. Even the colorful and lively Erice rugs are the result of the tireless hands of Erice´s artisans. Displayed outside the shops, along the streets of the village, these local artifacts fill every street corner with color and ethnic joy. Here too we are faced with an ancient tradition that has come down to us. It dates back to the period in which the women of the village had a loom in their home to weave, with infinite patience and slowness, carpets for their own home or for sale to pilgrims. And even if the weaving materials were poor, this did not detract from the beauty and fantasy of these unique and exceptional objects.

These are our 5 tips.
But Erice is a hotbed of attractions and we talk about it on the special page dedicated to Erice and in the dedicated photogallery.

6) BONUS TIP: GET OFF ERICE AT SUNSET

We will not comment on this advice because it cannot be described in words. You will have to take the cable car at sunset to experience this experience for yourself.