Situated on top of Mount Erice, in Erice in the province of Trapani, the Castle of Venus is built on the ruins of a temple, initially dedicated to the Greek Goddess Mother of natural fertility, Demeter, later identified as Venus by the Romans.
The structure of the castle dates back to the twelfth century and is the work of the Normans. Inside you can see some fragments of the ancient sanctuary and a large limestone slab with the Habsburg symbol, the egale, but also the remains of the prison, the ruins of the house of the castellan, and the remains of a bath perhaps from Roman times.
Do not miss the panorama that spans the west coast of Sicily and the Egadi Islands, stretching over the sea out to the horizon.

https://www.myguidesicily.com

Castello di Venere

Account

by category

Login

Name

by region

Title

Name in English

Ligny Tower (Italian: Torre di Ligny, Sicilian: Turrignì) is a coastal watchtower in Trapani, Sicily. It was built between 1671 and 1672 at a strategic position on the city's western coast. Today, the tower is in good condition, and it is open to the public as an archaeological museum.

History
Ligny Tower was built on a narrow strip of land on Trapani's western coast, to defend the city from attacks by the Barbary corsairs. It was named after the Viceroy of Sicily, Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, who had ordered its construction. The tower was designed by the Flemish architect Carlos de Grunenbergh. It has a square base with scarped walls, with four corner turrets which originally contained lanterns.

The tower was proposed in a meeting held at Palermo on 11 January 1670. Construction began in 1671, and it was inaugurated in October 1672.

A passage connecting the tower with the mainland was built in 1806, and guns were installed on the tower's roof until 1862. It was subsequently used as a semaphore station, but it was eventually abandoned.

In World War II, the tower was used by the Regia Marina and was armed with anti-aircraft guns.

Present day
The tower was restored in 1979 by the architect Francesco Terranova. Since 1983, the tower has been an archaeological museum, known as Museo civico Torre di Ligny.

Ligny Tower

The “Castello della Colombaia” is an ancient building located near the port of Trapani.

It’s characterized by the main tower of 32 meters high, composed of four floor.

Above all, it’s one of the best examples of military architecture in Sicily.

Some legends trace the origin of the castle to the presence of the Trojan exiles in the city, but the actual fortification was erected around the 2nd century BC, at the end of the First Punic War.

The Bourbons wanted it as a prison, and such remained until 1965.

Otherwise it followed years of abandonment, which deteriorated the structure.

Recently it has been restored.

Nowadays thanks to the contribution of the association  “Save the Colombaia”, through a small boat can be reached and visited inside.

Moreover it’s possible to make a “trip back in time”, where you can look out from the watchtower and admire the weapons, the cells and the open areas where the prisoners used to get some air or have a wash.

http://www.lapprododiangelino.it