Turismo
The visit to Stretto-Partanna Archaeological site can be profitably inserted in a journey in Western Sicily taking into consideration the many resources present in the territory and one’s own particular interests.
If your main interests are archaeology and nature we suggest you to spend a day trip at Partanna, where apart from the visit of Stretto you can have a pleasant walk along the Vallone del Castello della Pietra, an uncontaminated natural setting, where you can admire a luxuriant vegetation which penetrates into cliffs, with its walls eroded by the waters of a small affluent of the Belice. The top of the promontory suggestively eroded, still preserves the traces of ancient settlements, active from the Upper Palaeolithic passing through the Final Neolithic, the Bronze Age, the Metal Age to the Norman dominion time, witnessed by the presence of a fort castle. Your day trip should include a visit to the Grifeo Castle, in the center of the town of Partanna, where it has been fitted out the Museo della Preistoria del Basso Belice, and where you can see the finds coming from the excavations of Stretto and from other districts of the Partanna territory.
You could also decide to stay at Partanna, choosing one of the receptive structures present in the territory for sleeping and eating. For further information on the receptive structure you can visit: www.comune.partanna.tp.it at the link informazioni turistiche.
Staying at Partanna you can visit the near archaeological sites, the towns of the Belice Valley and you can discover the beautiful rural landscape of the districts located between the valleys Belice and Modione (Selino River).
Among the most important resources we pointed out:
- The Parco Archeologico di Selinunte and the Cave di Cusa, where are still preserved the rests of the ancient Greek colony of Selinunte, with its magnificent Doric temples, located in the coast of Canale di Sicilia, near Castelvetrano, few kilometers away from Partanna.
- The natural reserve Foce del Belice with the adjacent dunes, not far away from Selinunte, where it is still preserved the spontaneous vegetation of the coastal side among sandy dunes and where you can bath during summer.
- The ruins of the towns destroyed by the earthquake of 1968 situated on the hills which dominate the Belice Valley: Gibellina with the well known Cretto of Alberto Burri, a large land-art work, and the ghost city of Poggioreale, in which the streets the time seems to have stopped the moments after the terrible earthquake of January 1968.
- The interesting medieval towns of arabian matrix of Salemi and Sambuca di Sicilia with the characteristic tortuous lanes and yards.
- The modern town of new Gibellina, with its interesting sculptures and architectures projected by skilful architects of the last century.
- The thermal baths Terme Acque Pie, located in the territorial border between Partanna and Montevago along the S.S. 188.
Widening the range of travel, even if keeping within 100 kilometers of distance, there are the archaeological park of the ancient elymian town of Segesta, Mazara del Vallo, with its Museo del Satiro, Erice, an ancient elymian town and medieval center of great evocation, the natural reserve of Zingaro, near San Vito Lo Capo, with its beautiful landscapes and the creeks on the crystal sea.
For information on the cultural and natural resources and on the events taking place in the Trapani province and in the Western Sicily, visit the following websites:
www.apt.trapani.it
www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali
www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/soprintp
