Val di Mazara
The Val di Mazara is a historical administrative unit in western Sicily .
Val is not an abbreviation from Italian la valle = the valley, but from il vallo , a name that is said to go back to the predominance of the Saracens over Sicily , cf. Arabic wilaya (ولاية) = administrative district. The Kingdom of Sicily comprised the three administrative units Val di Mazara, Val Demone (northeast) and Val di Noto (southeast). These remained in place until 1818 when a new division into seven provinces was carried out.
The Val di Mazara had an area of about 11,000 km² and was therefore the largest of the three Valli. It covered the entire western part of Sicily up to the line formed by the two rivers Imera Settentrionale and Imera Meridionale . This corresponds roughly to the territory of today's metropolitan city of Palermo and the Free Municipal Consortia of Trapani and Agrigento .