Salaparuta: Wine, Festival Tradition and History

Salaparuta combines religious festival traditions, wine, historic churches and visible ruins. For your holiday apartment in Salaparuta, these themes can provide the framework for a trip that brings together enjoyment, architectural history and the traces of the 1968 earthquake.

San Giuseppe and Living Festival Traditions

The San Giuseppe festival is celebrated every year on 18 and 19 March. On 18 March, visitors receive bread and sweets during the bread-giving ritual. During the festival, some particularly devout families prepare multi-tiered altars in their homes. They decorate them with laurel trees and images of the Holy Family and furnish them with foods such as pignolata.

Salaparuta DOC and Freshly Prepared Cuisine

The Salaparuta DOC designation of origin was established in 2006 and covers the province of Trapani. Its wines are based mainly on the grape varieties Catarratto bianco comune, Catarratto bianco lucido, Calabrese, Merlot, Inzolia, Grillo, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. In the heart of Salaparuta, Leonarda Tardi Home Restaurant offers visitors a tasting featuring four wines and four freshly prepared dishes.

Churches and Traces of the 1968 Earthquake

Following its destruction in the 1968 earthquake, the Antica Chiesa Madre Santa Caterina Vergine e Martire preserves the lower sections of the enclosing walls, the bases of the pillars of the naves and the structures of the side altars. Salaparuta also retains ruins, as well as parts of the Castello and the Chiesa Madre; they bear witness to life before the 1968 earthquake. The modern Chiesa Madre Santa Caterina Vergine e Martire was built together with the rebuilt town in the 1970s. The older church had a basilical layout with three naves, a transept and a high dome. The surviving parts were recently consolidated in order to preserve one of the few testimonies to the ancient town for the long term.

The Castello di Salaparuta in the Countryside

The medieval Castello di Salaparuta is also known as Castello della Signora and is visible in the landscape of the Trapani area, amid grain fields and vineyards. In 1462, Geronimo Paruta became lord of the Castello di Salaparuta; around 1500, the castle was given the name Salaparuta after this family.

Concerts and a Historic Stage

Open-air concerts by the Coro Polifonico Belice Canto take place at the Ex Convento dei Cappuccini. The ruins of Salaparuta lie along the eighth stage of the Antica Trasversale Sicula, which passes through the towns of the Belice Valley destroyed by the 1968 earthquake.

Holiday Apartment in Salaparuta and Your Travel Focus

When choosing your holiday apartment or holiday home in Salaparuta, you can decide in advance what you want to focus on during your stay: San Giuseppe, the DOC wines and the Home Restaurant offer a different experience from the churches, castle, ruins or concerts at the Ex Convento. If you are travelling with children or in a group and different interests come together, you can choose your accommodation according to the type of trip you want.

More Destinations for Your Planning

If you would like to add more destinations to your selection, you can also include Ballata, Salemi, Buseto Palizzolo, Rilievo, Marettimo, Pantelleria, Scauri or Partanna.

For the higher-level travel overview: Trapani.