Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing every 20 minutes from 9.15am to 6.30pm, and the round trip costs €5 (€2.50 for chil-
dren under 14).
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Marsala
POP 80,145
Many know about its sweet dessert wines, but few people realise what a charmer the town
of Marsala is. Though its streets are paved in gleaming marble, lined with stately baroque
buildings and peppered with graceful piazzas, pleasures here are simple - a friendly
passeggiata
(evening stroll) most nights, plenty of aperitif options and family-friendly
restaurants aplenty.
Marsala was founded by the Phoenicians who escaped from Mozia after it was defeated
in 397 BC by an army led by Dionysius I of Syracuse. They settled here on Capo Lilibeo,
calling their city Lilybaeum and fortifying it with 7m-thick walls that ensured it was the
last Punic settlement to fall to the Romans. In AD 830 it was conquered by the Arabs,
who gave it its current name Marsa Allah (Port of God).
