Travel Guide Mazara Del Vallo

Located at the mouth of the Mazara River, this town is one of the most important fishing ports in Italy, with a fleet of 350 large boats and about 4,000 active fishermen. The whole island serves the famous red prawns of Mazara del Vallo in the best restaurants! Like the others, it has seen different cultures pass through before finding its identity. First Phoenician, then Carthaginian, it passed into the hands of the Romans two centuries after the second Punic war (218-201 BC). In 827, the Arabs made it the first emirate of Sicily just after the Byzantine occupation. This sumptuous period continued with the Normans, so much so that Mazara was chosen to be the capital of the Val de Mazaro. However, with their departure, the city began to lose its prestige. The Germans (under King Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in the 13th century), then the French Angevins very briefly, followed by the Aragonese until the 15th century, the Austrians and finally the Spanish Bourbons in the 18th century occupied this strategic city. It was during this period that the typically Islamic urbanism of the ancient part was supplemented by a new, more organised part. New streets and squares were opened, including the typically baroque Piazza della Repubblica. It was also during this period that the residences along the royal trazzere were built and that fish farming and wine growing developed along the banks of the river Mazaro.