Marsala (, local ; ) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily.
The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibaldi on 11 May 1860 (the Expedition of the Thousand) and for its Marsala wine. A feature of the area is the Stagnone Lagoon Natural Reserve – a marine area with salt ponds.
Marsala is built on the ruins of the ancient Carthaginian city of Lilybaeum, and includes in its territory the archaeological site of the island of Motya, an ancient Phoenician town. The modern name likely derived from the Arabic (marsā ʿaliyy, "Ali's harbor"), or possibly (marsā llāh, "God's harbor").
Geography
Situated at the extreme western point of Sicily, the town was founded on Lilibeo Cape from where the Aegadian Islands and the Stagnone Lagoon can be seen.
Territory
The territory of Marsala, , has a rich cultural and landscape heritage; its area includes the Stagnone Lagoon, a Natural Reserve in which is located the island of Mozia.
The city of Marsala had a population of about 86,000 until the end of 1970, when Petrosino, a village formerly part of Marsala, decided to become a self-governing town after a local referendum.
The area of Marsala is classified as a seismic zone 2 (medium). In the last 200 years three earthquakes of medium-high intensity were recorded: 18 May 1828 – magnitude 5.17 (about VI Mercalli scale). 15 January 1968 – Belice earthquake which in Marsala reached VII Mercalli scale (although its intensity was as high as X in other locations). 7 June 1981 – magnitude 4.60 (IV–V scala Mercalli scale) with epicentre in Borgo Elefante in Mazara del Vallo, about from the town-centre of Marsala.
Climate
Marsala has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), similar to most coastal towns in Sicily, with hot and dry summers coupled with moderately wet and mild winters. Weather in Marsala is similar to that of nearby Trapani.
Summers are generally warm with a record maximum temperature of in August 2017. In the summer, due to how dry it is, it is not unusual to experience the effect of Sirocco wind, which brings dust and sand from the Sahara.
Winters are generally rainy and cooler with temperatures ranging between minimum of (in December 2014) and . Snowfall occurs very rarely, since the temperature has never dropped below freezing, although snow has fallen before, for example in December 2014.
Mythology
In Greek mythology, Butes was the only Argonaut who jumped in the sea while sailing past the Sirens because he couldn't resist the charm of their singing, but Aphrodite saved him and transferred him to Lilybaeum.
History
Carthaginian Period
The Carthaginian army sent to conquer Selinunte in 409 BC landed and camped near the site of the later Lilybaeum. In 397 BC when the Phoenician colony of Motya on the southwestern coast of Sicily was invaded and destroyed by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I, the survivors founded a town on the mainland nearby, the site of modern-day Marsala, which they called by a Punic name, recorded in Greek as Lilýbaion () and in Latin as . Over the following two centuries, it became a trade centre for manufactured goods and served as a strategic port between Carthage and Carthaginian territories in Sardinia. It was built with strong defensive walls from the beginning and had three linked harbours. Punic Lilybaion was never conquered although it was besieged several times e.g. by Pyrrhus of Epirus and the Romans. The walls were ultimately over 10m high and 7m thick. They were strengthened for Pyrrhus' Siege of Lilybaeum in 278 BC by a second wall 10m from the first. The siege lasted 2 months before he withdrew. It was the only city which Pyrrhus could not conquer during his campaign at Sicily.
The First Punic War began here when the Punic army landed at Lilybaion in 265–264 BC, then marched across Sicily to Messina, where the opening clash of the war took place.
In 250 BC the Romans sent a huge naval expedition of up to 240 ships towards Lilybaeum, the Carthaginian headquarters. A massive Roman army of 4 legions under the two consuls was also sent. The Carthaginians also understood the importance of this port and put their whole force together to save the city including about 10,000 mercenaries (Celts and Greeks). The Carthaginians sailed 50 ships from Africa under the command of Hannibal to try to save the city by charging towards the centre of the harbour. The Romans did not attempt to stop the entry of the fleet because of their sudden appearance and unfavourable winds in a foreign port.