Marettimo (Trapani Province), the furthest island of the Egadi, is stretched across waters which preserve centuries-old secrets and which in their ancient voice tell of remote battles and tragedies at sea, now forgotten. They still recall the wrecks lying on the seabed; the nimble Pheonician and Punic craft, the solid Roman ships, and Spanish galleons.
This archaic voice slowly dies away as the ferry or hyrdofoil approaches the little jetty at Scalo nuovo, and one's eyes are drawn by the little fisherman's cottages strung around the bay and by the characteristic high-sterned boats known to the local sailors as campione.
A mountainous island of limestone and dolomite, Marettimo has an uncommon fascination.
Also: Punta Libeccio lighthouse, and another, on the left, leads to the Case romane (Roman houses), the ruins of a solid construction probably built in the 1st century AD by an isolated outpost of Rome; The Castle high on Punta Troia; It is rich in marina grottoes of impressive solemnity and rugged beauty; The sinister Castello spagnolo looms beneath Punta Troia; this Spanish castle was converted into a prison by the Bourbons; Further on the Scoglio del Cammello (Camel Reef) stands guard outside the cave that bears the same name.
Links to other sites about Marettimo include:
My latest book on CD is titled Sicily - A Reference for Researchers and is now available. With a file for each town (plus many other files), it relates the history of Sicily as reflected in the photos, records and festivals of its towns. It contains over 2500 text and photo files and can be ordered at CD order.
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