Erice

Erice
Country	Italy
region	Sicily
Free community consortium	Trapani (TP)
Local name	Èrici
Coordinates	38 ° 2 ' N , 12 ° 35' E Coordinates: 38 ° 2 '13 " N , 12 ° 35' 11" E
height	751 m slm
surface	47 km²
Residents	27,046 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	575 inhabitants / km²
Factions	Napola, Ballata, Casa Santa, Pizzolungo
Post Code	91016
prefix	0923
ISTAT number	081008
Popular name	Ericini
Patron saint	Maria SS. Di Custonaci
Website	Erice

Erice (ancient name Eryx ) is an Italian municipality and a mountain ( Monte Erice ) in the Free Municipal Consortium of Trapani in the Autonomous Region of Sicily . The community has 27,046 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

Location and dates

The place Erice is located 15 kilometers northeast of Trapani on Mount Erice at an altitude of 751 m slm The municipality Erice covers an area of 47.28 km². Only a few hundred inhabitants live in the old town on the high plateau, the rest are distributed between the districts at the foot of the mountain and north on the coast.

The inhabitants live mainly from tourism, agriculture and handicrafts.

To the east and south-east of the city is the Erice wine-growing region of the same name.

history

The area around Erice was already inhabited in prehistoric times . In ancient times the city was called Eryx after a figure in Greek mythology . Eryx was therefore a son of the goddess of love Aphrodite and the Argonaut Butes and ruled in western Sicily. According to another tradition, he was a son of the sea god Poseidon . According to tradition, Aeneas founded a temple of Venus on Mount Eryx ( Aeneid , 5th book).

In ancient times, the city of Eryx, along with Segesta and Entella, was one of the three largest cities of the Elymians . The Elymers from Eryx were closely related to the Phoenicians from Palermo and Motya . The city was founded during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC. It became a Punic citadel and served Hamilkar Barkas as an important base for several years during the First Punic War . 241 BC The city fell to the Romans . On the mountain there was a sanctuary, which was first dedicated to the Phoenician goddess Astarte and then to Aphrodite or Venus Erycina. The sanctuary was famous in ancient times for its wealth and the temple prostitution carried out there . On a coin of Claudius he is depicted as a pillar temple with five pillars on the front.

The Roman legend connects Erice with Aeneas , son of Anchises and Aphrodite. Aeneas is said to have moored in Trapani (Drepanon), the former port of Erice, on his flight from the destroyed Troy . Anchises is said to have died there and was buried at the foot of the rock on which the sanctuary of his beloved Aphrodite stood. The Elymers were seen as descendants of the Trojans, who then did not move on with Aeneas, but stayed here. After the Roman conquest of Sicily, the Elymers were given preferential treatment.

The city was abandoned in late antiquity. At times it was occupied by the Arabs . The Normans repopulated the city in the 12th century under the name Monte S. Giuliano and built a fort and the city gates here. In the Middle Ages the city flourished, churches and monasteries were built.

In 1934 the city was given its current name Erice. In 1985 , three uninvolved people were killed in a bomb attack aimed at judge Carlo Palermo . In the summer of 2011 actions by traders and unions against the distribution of mafia supplies took place in Erice, as the city suffers from its reputation as a mafia stronghold.

Erice as seen from the bell tower of the main church

Viticulture

The wine-growing area in Erice produces DOC wines ( Erice DOC ), which have had their "controlled designation of origin " since 2004. This was last updated on March 7, 2014.

A wide range of different types of wine is produced: white and red wines as cuvées as well as many wines with grape variety names (at least 95% of the grape variety mentioned must be included), also sparkling wines (Spumante) and late harvest ("Vendemmia tardiva").

Cityscape

The city wall , which dates back to Punic times, still limits the city today. Due to its location on a high mountain, Erice has a unique view of the interior and the sea. A cable car connects the city with the valley station.

Buildings

Chiesa Madre with campanile

City wall with the towers Porta di Trapani, Porta del Carmine and Porta Spada from Norman times
Maria Santissima Assunta , the Chiesa Madre of Erice (also called "Duomo" (cathedral), although it is not an episcopal church) was built in 1314 in the Chiaramont style. The bell tower (campanile) is much older. The furnishing of the interior in neo-Gothic style dates from the 19th century.
Castle from the 13th century, partially restored. Little has been preserved of the Temple of Venus Erycina on the site of the fort
Town hall with the Antonio Cordici Museum (1586–1666), namesake was a local literary writer, poet and patron.
San Giuliano, piazza and church, the church was renovated in the 17th century
San Carlo, 17th century church
San Pietro, church built in 1363
San Giovanni Battista, piazza and church, the church has its origins in the 12th century
San Martino, a Gothic church, changed in 1682 and 1858

Events

Erice is known by physicists as a meeting place for summer courses in theoretical physics , which have been held here in the Centro Ettore Majorana since 1963 . They were founded by Antonino Zichichi . The Stadio Polisportivo Provinciale is available for sporting events .