In an extraordinary location in the northern end of the promontory that closes to the west, there’s the Gulf of Castellammare, San Vito Lo Capo is known as one of the most important seaside resorts and most popular for one’s holidays in Sicily.
The town, which looms over the sea between the two natural reserves of Monte Cofano and the Zingaro, was developed at the end of ’700, but its origins are much older.
San Vito is an ancient seaside village, but, despite the massive building activities during the past 20 years, nowadays still preserves a strong Arabic character: low square white houses, the typical inner courts, the jasmine plants, and the colourful bougainvillea framing the portals and making this extraordinary place a corner of Africa in Sicily.
The most ancient building, the core around which the old town was set up, is the San Vito Martire Sanctuary, the so-called San Vito Lo Capo, because of its proximity to the promontory with the same name, the ancient Egatirso.
On the main road stretching towards the beach, Via Savoia, there’s the heart of the town: pub, restaurants, shops, fly pitch and the typical “struscio”, the evening promenade which during the week-ends in July and August, becomes a truly flood of people. San Vito Lo Capo boasts a cristal-clear sea and a white sandy beach so that a couple of years ago it was awarded with the Blu Flag thanks to an unspoilt environment.
San Vito Lo Capo is much more than beaches, sun, sea, shopping and night life. A few kilometres far from San Vito, there’s the ancient Tonnara, whose maze of nets used to be casted at a few netres from the shore, in the sea of Capo San Vito and in the bay of San Giuliano. The Tonnara is abandoned since the 70s, but next to these buildings one can admire the ruins of the old tuna processing plants, such as crock tanks dating back to the IV century BC Going on south-eastwards and passing by the tourist complex of Calampiso one gets to the tonnara dell’Uzzo, where the road stops and starts the Riserva dello Zingaro. From San Vito one can take boat trips of 3-4 hours to the Zingaro. An event of great importance taking place in San Vito Lo Capo is the Cous Cous Fest, a gastronomic event of high interest held every year in September. For this event, the chefs from the countries where the traditional cous cous is eaten, challenge in a contest of culinary delights. During these days one can taste the cous cous cooked in a thousand ways and drink red and white wine from Trapani’s countryside.
Tags: beaches, blue flag, cous cous fest, holidays, marine reserve of Zingaro, marine reserves, Monte Cofano, San Vito Lo Capo, sea, sicily, tuna
