The cultural beauties of Marsala

Marsala is located at the extreme western tip of Sicily, at Capo Boeo, and is characterized both by its rich cultural heritage and by its naturalistic beauties. The history of the city begins in 397 BC, when the inhabitants of Mozia, invaded by Dionysus I, fled to a new settlement which they called Lilibeo. That was the original Marsala, which assumed its present name in the seventh century, with the arrival of the Berber Arabs. Subsequently Marsala had to undergo many other invasions: Norman, Swabian, Angevin, Aragonese. One of the most important dates for the history of the city, however, is 11 May 1860, when Garibaldi and his Thousand landed here and then continued the triumphal march that would have led to the unification of Italy. Today there are two monuments that commemorate that day: the Garibaldi Museum and the Monument to 1000, where the names of the individual components of the expedition are reported. Other interesting places are the church of San Giovanni Battista, under which the tomb of the Cumaean Sibyl is said to be, and the Cathedral of San Tommaso di Canterbury.