On a mountain summit seven hundred and fifty metres above the Mediterranean is Érice, the ancient town of Eryx. The well-fortified walls of its fortress once protected one of the oldest cities in Sicily. According to legend the Trojan, Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, established a town here after fleeing from the Greeks.

First the goddess of love, Astrarte, was worshipped here followed by the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and then Venus who was worshipped by the Romans. Thus this location became a kind of ‘love mountain’ and a popular destination especially with male pilgrims as it no doubt appealed to their more romantic nature.

The medieval city centre of Monte San Guiliano, as today’s Érice was named by the Normans, has for many centuries remained almost unchanged.

From the fortress, the Castello, there are clear views of the Sicilian coastline and Trapani Harbour, and far out across the Mediterranean.

Beneath the walls of the fortress, in the 20th century Érice also became known as a research centre for both meteorology and oceanography.

Érice is far more than just an historically rich settlement situated on a mountaintop. In the romantic ruins of the fortress above the former Acropolis, the atmosphere of ancient times still lives on.