Salt Flats in Sicily - Trapani and Mozia

If you ever get the chance to go to the west coast of Sicily do it, the beauty and the light there is indescribable And as long as you’re there, go visit the salt flats south of Trapani at sunset.

Granted, salt is one of my favorite subjects. An ingredient which is so essential to our survival and to the culinary arts and to our tasting and enjoying the simplest of foods, whose history is so old and tied to struggle, war and wealth, it’s incredible to contemplate.

These salt flats are ancient, having been started before Roman times by the Phoenicians, at least. The salt is concentrated and evaporated by the sun, then scooped up and washed with brine, then milled to the desired coarseness by windmills right out of Don Quixote.

Mountains of salt are piled up into perfect long mounds and covered with terra cotta tiles to protect it from the wind and rain. The reflection of the light off the water, the glare of the white salt, the clarity of the sky, all mix to give one an idea of paradise.

Ancient Phoenicians in Sicily

When I was in western Sicily last week, I was surprised to learn of all the layers of ancient civilizations that left their mark on the land. The strongest footprint of pre-Roman peoples were the Phoenicians.

Now, I don’t know where I thought the ancient Phoenicians were from, but Western Sicily and Tunisia? I did not know that. Beginning around 700 BC, their little empire covered much of northern Africa and part of Sicily for several hundred years, with the capitol city being Carthage on the coast of Tunisia. They fought constantly with the Greeks of Siracusa, were allied with the Persians, and it all came to an end around 270 BC when they finally fell to the Romans.

The Phoenicians, or Carthinagens as they’re also known, are the ones who started the salt flats on the western edge of Sicily, between Trapani and Marsala, and they’re the ones who founded the town of Marsala itself, after having been run off an island called Mozia by those dang Siracusans. They sacked the Greeks and rebuilt their temples on the southern coast in Selinunte.

I sort of felt sorry for the Phoenicians after my tour. They kind of got kicked around the Mediterannean and kept hanging on to come back and defend their territory another day. Until the Romans finished them off and sacked Carthage, on the tip of Tunisians. The Romans were apparently so fed up with them that they sowed the ground of Carthage with salt so that nothing would grow, finishing off the Phoenicians once and for all.

All that remains are the beautiful ruins and temples. And of course their salt flats.

All that remains are the beautiful ruins and temples. And of course their salt flats.