Mazara del Vallo

Mazara del Vallo

This ancient town looks out on the Sicilian Channel just left of the river Mazarò.

Presumably on the site where the Phoenicians founded the commercial colony Mazara, a native name meaning “castle”.

Thanks to its position, it acquired importance as both a port and as a fortress. It  flourished during the Roman domination, and there are even some ruines that remain.

It attained true splendour  under the Arabs when landed at Mazara to start the colonisation of the islan.

Thery placed the town at the head of one of the three administrative districts into which they divided Sicily.

The various Islamic travellers who visited it praised the fertility of its territory, the quantity of commercial activities, the economic prosperity, the flourishing plantations and gardens,  and the beauty of the edifices.