Marsala
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This sunbaked seaside town was founded in 397 BC as Lilybeo by Carthaginians fleeing Motya. It finally fell to the Romans after a 10-year siege, but it was the Arabs who named the city: Marsa Allah, meaning the port of God. Today, the town is best known as the landing point for Garibaldi’s Redshirts (see Giuseppe Garibaldi) and for the wine that borrowed its name. The city survived successive invasions, but came into its own in the 18th century when the Marsala wine trade was born. The Baroque cathedral to San Tommaso di Canterbury presides over a pleasant piazza, where you’ll also find the Museo degli Arazzi with its Renaissance tapestries from Madrid’s Palacio Real (the gift of a Marsala-born archbishop).
Practical Information
Museo degli Arazzi: piazza della Repubblica Open 9am–1pm, 4–6pm Tue–Sun; Adm
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