Mazara del Vallo Hotels - Sicily

A dancing satyr, which emerged from the waters after having rested for centuries buried beneath the seabed has, in little time at all, become the symbol of Mazara del Vallo. The bronze sculpture of the Satyr, believed to have been sculpted by the Greek artist Praxiteles, and found by a fisherman in 1998, is just one of the many treasures which the sea has offered this city, a city which was already a thriving port in Phoenician times.

Next to the mouth of the Mazara river, the port occupies a sheltered position on the Sicilian coastline, in the province of Trapani, and just a short boat ride away from Africa. Many centuries ago, across this stretch of sea, the Arabian colonists arrived, marking the start of the Mazara del Vallo's most prosperous period followed by that enjoyed under the Normans. The historic center, known as the Kasbah for its maze of narrow paths and alleyways, is remarkably similar to those of the some of the towns found in Northern Africa.

The walls of the city were built during the Norman dominion, as were a great number of the churches, many of which with Arabian-style crenulations. Here and there, a splash of Sicilian baroque lends the city of Mazara del Vallo even greater charm.