Trapani

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Trapani
coat of arms
Trapani (Italy)
Trapani
Country Italy
region Sicily
Free community consortium Trapani  (TP)
Local name Tràpani
Coordinates 38 ° 1 '  N , 12 ° 31'  E Coordinates: 38 ° 1 '21 "  N , 12 ° 31' 29"  E
height 3  m slm
surface 271 km²
Residents 67,141 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 248 inhabitants / km²
Factions Marausa, Xitta, Palma, Fontanasalsa, Guarrato, Fulgatore, Salinagrande, Locogrande, Rilievo, Borgo Fazio, Ummari
Post Code 91100
prefix 0923
ISTAT number 081021
Popular name Trapanesi
Patron saint Albertus Siculus
Website Trapani http://www.comune.trapani.it/web/
Trapani as seen from Erice
Trapani from Erice seen from

Trapani ( Sicilian : Tràpani ) is with almost 70,000 (68,370 (28-2-2017)) inhabitants the seventh largest city in the Italian region of Sicily and the capital of the Free Community Consortium of the same name . The ancient name of the city was in Greek Drepanon (for crescent moon), Latin Drepanum . It was named after the crescent-shaped rock reef in the sea southwest of the old town.

Pronunciation of Trapani

geography

location

The city is located in the far northwest of Sicily on a prominent headland at the foot of Monte Erice . The border between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea ( Strait of Sicily ) runs off the coast ; Trapani is therefore called Città tra due mari (city between two seas).

Trapani covers an area of ​​271 km². There are 67,141 registered residents (as of December 31, 2019).

The districts ( fractions ) are called Marausa, Xitta, Palma, Fontanasalsa, Guarrato, Fulgatore, Salinagrande, Locogrande, Rilievo, Borgo Fazio and Ummari.

The neighboring municipalities are Paceco , Erice , Buseto Palizzolo , Calatafimi Segesta , Salemi and Marsala . The municipality of Trapani is divided into two parts by the municipality of Paceco.

climate

The climate of Trapani is typically Mediterranean with mild winters and moderately humid and warm summers.

The annual average temperature is 17.6 degrees. The warmest and driest months are July and August with an average of 24.5–25 ° C and 2-5 mm of precipitation. During heat waves (e.g. triggered by the Scirocco ), the temperatures rise to more than 40 ° C with very low humidity. January is coolest with an average of around 11.5 ° C.

The annual rainfall is about 450 mm. The rainiest months are November and December with an average of around 65 mm of precipitation.

history

mythology

North coast of the old town

Trapani ( ancient Greek Δρέπανον , Latin Drepanum ) already plays a role in Greek mythology and in Virgil's epic Aeneid . According to this, Anchises , the father of Aeneas , died and was buried here during the wanderings after the fall of Troy . Virgil speaks of Drepanum as a sad, joyless coast. There is also speculation that the scenes of Homer's Odyssey were in this area: Drepanon was equated by some authors with Scheria , the land of the Phaiacs , and by others with the home of Cyclops Polyphemus . Even Homer's Ithaca , the homeland of Odysseus , which is usually equated with the present-day island of Ithaca or one of the neighboring Ionian islands , was already adopted in the Trapani region.

Antiquity

In the 13th century BC Chr. The coast of Trapani probably served as a natural harbor in Erice and Segesta settled Elymians before from approximately v the 9th century. The Phoenicians began to develop the settlement as a colonial trading port. They built a navigable canal between the north port and the more protected south port at about the level of today's Piazza Vittorio Emanuele . The previous building of the Castello di Terra is from this time . They fortified the seaside (now Via Torrearsa ) with rocks. Around five hundred people are said to have lived in Trapani at that time.

During the First Punic War , Trapani was from 260 BC. A Carthaginian base. The forerunners of the fortress construction Castello della Colombaia are said to date from this time. The coast in front of the city became the scene of two great naval battles: 249 BC. The Battle of Drepana took place here, in which the Carthaginians defeated the Romans. Eight years later, at the end of the Punic War (241 BC), Trapani was conquered by the Romans. They took the city of its political autonomy and introduced new taxes, so that Trapani quickly lost its importance.

middle Ages

Drepanum (Braun / Hogenberg 1572)

Only after AD 827 did a new upswing come with the predominance of the Arabs . The port was enlarged, the wall ring around the city strengthened, and trade relations expanded. Salt from Trapani was sold throughout Italy, France and England in the Middle Ages. Goldsmithing and processing of corals also contributed to the new bloom . To this day, Arabic architecture, art and language shape Trapani's cityscape and cultural life.

In 1077 the Normans conquered Trapani under Roger I and another period of prosperity began. The port enjoyed duty-free status and the city set up consulates for the largest trading houses in northern Italy and Catalonia. The Roman Catholic religion became the official religion under the Normans.

Under Charles I of Anjou , the townspeople suffered from high tariffs. With the popular uprising of 1282 ( Sicilian Vespers ) , in which numerous prominent Trapanese took part, Charles I was expelled. Sicily fell to the House of Aragon and Trapani entered a new phase of urbanization.

Trapani was the most important port city in western Sicily under Charles V in the 14th century . In the 19th century it spread from the peninsula in the hinterland towards Erice. In 1817 Trapani became the provincial capital. Since 1844 the city has been the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Trapani .

Development from the 20th century

Corso Vittorio Emanuele

During the Second World War, Trapani was hit by heavy bombing. 28 Allied air raids destroyed the oldest district of San Pietro and the Teatro Garibaldi theater . With the reconstruction from 1950 to 1965 it was possible to gain a foothold economically.

In autumn 2005, America's Cup regattas were held in front of Trapani . The associated expansion of the port and the renovation of the city center led to an increase in tourism. This is also promoted by the civil use of the nearby Birgi airport .

Mayor of the city is Vito Damiano ( PDL / Lista Fazio), elected on May 24, 2012 (1st mandate).

Number of inhabitants
year 1861 1871 1881 1901 1911 1921 1931 1936 1951 1961 1971 1981 2001 2010
Residents 32,571 34,446 40.009 62,344 63,559 72,456 60,252 64,702 74,616 78.508 71,702 69,497 68,346 70,622

(Information as of December 31 of the year mentioned.)

At the end of 2010, 1721 people with foreign citizenship were living in Trapani, mainly people from Romania, Macedonia, Morocco, China and Tunisia.

economy

Salt pans

In 2001, the working population was divided into the following sectors:

  • Services and social affairs 37%
  • Trade, transport and tourism / gastronomy 22%
  • Industry and manufacturing 13%
  • Construction 9%
  • Agriculture 9%
  • Credit 7%
  • Fishing 2%

The salt extraction in Trapani in the salt pans south of the city was for centuries one of the most important economic sectors. Because of its relatively high mineral content, the salt enjoys a good reputation; and Voltaire praised the old salt pans. Even today, around one hundred thousand tons of salt are produced annually in Trapani and it is marketed by the SoSalt company.

Trapani wine is internationally known. Centonze and Firriato (Paceco) are among the most renowned winemakers and oenologists in the region . The most widely grown grape varieties are Grillo and Nero d'Avola .

Other important economic sectors are fishing and fish processing, agriculture with the cultivation of olives, citrus fruits, vegetables, cereals and almonds, the food industry and tourism . There are numerous banks in Trapani. There are a total of 57 branches.

mafia

The Trapanese Mafia is considered to be the most influential in Sicily after the Palermitan Mafia. Since Vincenzo Virga's arrest in 2001, Matteo Messina Denaro has allegedly been the leader of the Mafia in Trapani and perhaps all of Sicily. He should make money primarily with extortion and drug trafficking. In November 2008, a court in Trapani confiscated goods worth 700 million euros attributed to Denaro.

From mid-2001 to 2008, four mayors and 14 chief officials were arrested in Trapani.

Mafia activities in politics and business have concentrated in recent years primarily on the EU-funded construction industry and the energy sector: The building materials company Calcestruzzi Ericina was owned by the Mafia boss Vincenzo Virga until 2000, then was expropriated and in February Converted into a cooperative in 2009.

In January 2009 a major bribery plot about wind turbines was discovered in Trapani. The Trapani police arrested politicians and business people who tried to use corruption to control national and EU funding amounting to several hundred million euros.

A court case against the Trapanese Senator Antonio D'Ali (PDL) ran in April 2013 because of mafia involvement in connection with the port expansion in 2005. In preparation for the America's Cup , around 46 million euros are said to have flowed to mafia-related companies.

traffic

Air traffic

The Trapani airport is open to civilian traffic military airfield . It is located about 18 km south of Trapani near Birgi. There are direct connections to Germany, Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. Within Italy to Milan, Rome, Bari, Palermo and the island of Pantelleria. The nearest international airport is Falcone Borsellino Palermo Airport, 80 km away .

Ferry traffic

Trapani ferry port

The port of Trapanis is the most important on the west coast of Sicily. It connects the city with the Egadi Islands , Pantelleria , Cagliari , Civitavecchia (Rome), Tunis and Nice . The transfer to the Egadi Islands by fast hydrofoil (aliscafi) takes 15–20 minutes. Pantelleria can be reached by ferry in around six hours, Tunis in seven, Civitavecchia in ten, Cagliari in eleven and a half and Nice in eighteen hours.

Trapani is increasingly being used by cruise ships. In 2009, 32 ships brought more than 25,000 tourists to the city in this way. In 2010, the numbers were expected to double. For 2011, 114 cruise ships were on the port authority's calendar.

Road traffic

Trapani has been connected to the A29 direct motorway towards Alcamo / Palermo since 1976 . There are also the two trunk roads along the north (SS 187) and south-west coast (SS 115) and the inland route (SS 113).

railroad

In Trapani Station in an end terminal station , the route of Palermo on Castelvetrano and Marsala and 1937 as a branch line built railway Alcamo Diramazione-Trapani from Alcamo about Milo.

Public transportation

The city's public bus service is operated by ATM Trapani . There are 13 bus routes. Electric buses run in the historic old town. A cable car has been running up Monte Erice again since 2005 . It overcomes almost 700 meters in altitude in ten minutes.

science and education

There is a branch of the University of Palermo in Trapani . Represented are u. a. the Faculties of Law, Medicine and Agricultural Sciences.

The Antonio Scontrino Conservatory was founded in 1978 and is currently attended by around 800 students. In addition to training in jazz and classical music, there is also an academy for dance here.

There are three high schools in the city: the humanistic Liceo Classico Statale Leonardo Ximenes , the art high school Liceo Artistico Statale and the natural science high school Liceo Scientifico Vincenzo Fardella .

Culture

Misteri di Trapani

Trapani is known for the mattanza , the traditional but now discontinued tuna hunting off the coast near the island of Favignana , and for the Easter processions. The largest and most solemn is the procession on Good Friday , the so-called Processione dei Misteri di Trapani .

The Misteri di Trapani has existed for almost 400 years. Every year on Good Friday from the Chiesa del Purgatorio , twenty mystery groups representing the Passion of Jesus Christ are carried through the city. The figures from the 16th and 17th centuries are made of wood and each weigh several hundred kilograms. In rocking pace, they are carried through the flower-filled streets of the old town. They are accompanied by brass bands from the province playing funeral marches. The procession lasts from the early afternoon on Good Friday all night through to midday on Easter Saturday and is one of the most impressive pageants in Sicily.

The city's patron saint is Albertus Siculus , who was born in Trapani in 1212 and canonized in 1474. His feast day is celebrated on August 7th.

City arms

The coat of arms shows the five former watchtowers around the old town center. The arches below either represent city gates or the aqueduct that used to supply the city with water. Above the towers stands the sickle, which is reminiscent of the shape of the city.

Events

  • Ente Luglio Musicale Trapanese - Teatro di tradizione, performances of operas, concerts and theater
  • Teatro Tito Marrone in the university hall, Lungomare Dante Alighieri
  • Palallio stadium for sports and cultural events

gastronomy

The Trapanesian cuisine lives from foreign influences, especially Arab. Fish and couscous often replaced meat and pasta .

One of the local specialties is CousCous Imperiale , steamed durum wheat semolina with fish broth.

The Pesto alla trapanese (pesto to Trapaneser Art) is a raw seasoning sauce of tomatoes, almonds, basil and garlic.

The traditional form of pasta is the busiate , a kind of twisted macaroni .

In summer there is the Stragusto , a three-day festival of international street food .

Buildings and parks

Churches

Jesuit monastery. Chiesa e collegio dei Gesuiti
  • Basilica-Santuario di Maria Santissima Annunziata , called the Madonna of Trapani , church built from 1315 to 1332, rebuilt in 1760, with a campanile from the 16th century; contains the marble statue of the Madonna of Trapani, attributed to Nino Pisano .
  • Cathedral of San Lorenzo , Baroque building from the 17th century, mother church of the Diocese of Trapani
  • Chiesa del Purgatorio , 17th century church with the Mystery Groups, Via San Francesco d'Assisi
  • Chiesa di Sant'Agostino , with a completely preserved rose window . In March 2009, this has Crucifix by Michelangelo on display.
  • Chiesa e collegio dei Gesuiti, Jesuit monastery of Natale Masuccio in the style of the Sicilian Baroque. Today Liceo Ximenes high school , Corso Vittorio Emanuele
  • Santa Maria del Gesù, Franciscan church from the first half of the 16th century
  • Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi, consecrated in 1672
  • Dominican church with remains of the original building from the 14th century
  • Chiesa della Badia Nuova - Baroque church, Via Garibaldi
  • Chiesa di Sant'Alberto - Baroque building with a circular nave, today a gallery of contemporary art, Via Garibaldi
  • Chiesa e Convento Maria dell'Itria , in the 17th / 18th centuries Century erected

Museums

Palazzo del Governo
  • Regional Museum Agostino Pepoli (Museo Regionale Agostino Pepoli), museum of traditional coral processing, sculptures and paintings
  • Torre di Ligny , tower on the very tip of the headland, built in 1617, houses the Prehistoric Museum
  • Museo del sale, salt museum next to the Nùbia salt pans
  • Biblioteca Fardelliana, one of the most important libraries in Sicily, founded in 1830, houses around 150,000 volumes and has some original copperplate engravings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi as well as an important collection of magazines

Other structures

Garibaldi's statue
  • Castello della Colombaia , fortress on rocky island, one of the landmarks of the city, origins in the 3rd century BC. Chr.
  • Palazzo della Giudecca, also Palazzo Ciambra, home of the Ciambra family in the Jewish quarter; with bosswork , late Gothic palace, built in the 16th century
  • Palazzo Cavarretta, baroque facade, formerly the Senate building, today the seat of the municipal council, Via Torrearsa
  • Palazzo delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni, post office with Art Nouveau counter room, built 1923–1927
  • Palazzo Lucatelli, former hospital, Piazza Lucatelli
  • Palazzo del Governo, seat of the government of the Free Parish Consortium
  • Palazzo Riccio di Morana, Presidium of the Free Municipal Consortium, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, early 17th century
  • Palazzo della Vicaria, art gallery, former prison
  • Palazzo D'Ali, town hall
  • Grand Hotel in Piazza Garibaldi, built in 1890
  • Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi , Piazza Garibaldi, built in 1890
  • Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II.
  • Fontana di Saturno, fountain, built in 1342
  • Fontana di Tritone, Triton fountain
  • Ospedale Sant'Antonio Abate , hospital

Parks

Villa Margherita

Trapanis City Park is the Villa Margherita , named after Queen Margaret of Italy . It was laid out around 1878 and opened to the public in 1890. The park is located on the eastern border of the historic old town and covers an area of ​​more than two hectares.

In addition to aviaries , a playground and numerous native plant species, there is a remarkable avenue of palm trees ( Phoenix canariensis ) and an approximately 20-meter-high room fir ( Araucaria heterophylla ) . The focus is on four large fig trees ( Ficus macrophylla ) , under which cultural and political events with up to 2500 spectators take place in summer.

Five Doric columns from the Teatro Garibaldi, which was destroyed in the Second World War, stand by the pond in the south of the park.

Personalities

The following people come from Trapani
Other people associated with the city are

Further information

  • At the end of the 16th century, the Spanish poet Cervantes lived in Trapani for a long time. He is said to have immortalized the windmills of the salt pans in his Don Quixote .
  • Trapani and the surrounding area form the background for the travel notes that the Austrian behavioral scientist, zoologist and writer Otto Koenig published in his book Letters from the South (Vienna 1946), which is furnished with numerous photographs .
  • Trapani is one of the main locations in the Italian television series Alone Against the Mafia
  • The writer Frank Thiess published the novella The Tenor of Trapani in 1942 . It is about the beginning of Enrico Caruso's career .

Web links

Commons : Trapani  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ Pugnatore, Giovan Francesco: Istoria di Trapani. (1595) Corrao Editore, Trapani, 1984, p. 15, 27. Quoted from: Giacalone, Francesco: Storia di Trapani. Trapani 2006, p. 14.
  3. ↑ Publius Vergilius Maro: Aeneas. 3rd book, 707. ("hinc Drepani me portus et inlaetabilis ora accipit.")
  4. ↑ In summary: Armin Wolf : Homer's journey. In the footsteps of Odysseus. Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2009, esp.p. 269ff. (with further references)
  5. ↑ Samuel Butler : The Authoress of the Odyssey. AC Fifield, London 1897. His theses, according to which Homers should also come from Sicily, were taken up in 1955 by the classical philologist Lewis Greville Pocock, but otherwise hardly met with approval.
  6. ↑ Serraino, Mario: Storia di Trapani. Volume Primo. G. Corrao Editore, Trapani 1976, p. 21.
  7. ↑ Serraino, Mario: Storia di Trapani. Volume Primo. G. Corrao Editore, Trapani 1976, p. 20.
  8. ↑ Serraino, Mario: Storia di Trapani. Volume Primo. G. Corrao Editore, Trapani 1976, p. 52.
  9. ↑ comune.trapani.it ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.comune.trapani.it
  10. ↑ TURISMO - CROCIERE
  11. ↑ comune.trapani.it ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.comune.trapani.it
  12. ↑ demo.istat.it
  13. ↑ istat.it
  14. ↑ drepanum.it ( Memento of the original dated May 9, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.drepanum.it
  15. ↑ www.sosalt.it ( accessed online December 15, 2012).
  16. ↑ comuni-italiani.it
  17. ↑ spiegel.de
  18. ↑ ricerca.repubblica.it
  19. ↑ siciliaonline.it  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.siciliaonline.it  
  20. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090221003230/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLi-VwsxO6Y5sUKzJsWAItjP8KlgD96DEUF03
  21. ↑ Fiorenza Sarzanini: Trapani ei maxi appalti per la Coppa America. In: Corriere della Sera, April 9, 2013, ( accessed online April 23, 2013).
  22. ↑ grimaldi-lines.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.grimaldi-lines.de  
  23. ↑ marsala.it  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.marsala.it  
  24. ↑ portotrapani.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (November 17, 2011)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.portotrapani.com  
  25. ↑ atmtrapani.it
  26. ↑ funiviaerice.it
  27. ↑ unipa.it
  28. ↑ conservatorio-trapani.it
  29. ↑ lugliomusicale.it
  30. ↑ drepanum.de
  31. ↑ profumodisicilia.blogspot.com
  32. ↑ prodotti-tipici-siciliani.it ( Memento of the original dated November 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prodotti-tipici-siciliani.it
  33. ↑ ingiropertrapani.it ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ingiropertrapani.it
  34. ↑ Brief information and photos of the Maria dell'Itria church on Trapani nostra , accessed on December 9, 2011
  35. ↑ Year 1927 according to the gable inscription
  36. ↑ comune.trapani.it ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.comune.trapani.it
  37. ↑ 3sat.de