EGADIAN ISLANDS

1. Favignana

Favignana main island of the Egadi Islands archipelago, is located about 7 km from the western coast of Sicily, between Trapani and Marsala. The village lies around a natural inlet where the harbor is structured, on whose shores are the buildings of the old Florio tuna fisheries. The island, covered mainly with Mediterranean scrub consisting of bushy shrubs and maritime pine forests, has established itself as an important tourist destination. The two portions of the island's territory underwent a different fate due to the decision by the Saracens to found the first nucleus of the town near the eastern slopes of Mount Santa Caterina, and the different mineralogical composition of the rock present in both; this difference in composition shifted the islanders' attention to the eastern side, giving rise to the long-standing activity of stone quarrying. The best known accesses to the sea on the island of Favignana are Cala Azzurra, Cala Rossa, Bue Marino and Grotta Perciata. At the center of the town of Favignana stands the 18th-century church dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception inside which is housed a valuable 18th-century wooden crucifix and a 17th-century marble statue depicting St. Anthony. Favignana's former tuna fishery, no longer in operation due to the small number of tuna caught, is currently a place that offers guided tours by former workers of the factory. Inside it is possible to find video evidence related to the mattanza and the tuna fishery, as well as historical footage granted by the Istituto Luce.

	PLACE	Favignana
	DIFFICULTY
	TOURISM	High

2. Levanzo

Levanzo is the smallest of the Egadi Islands, consisting of white limestone rocks that are articulated in numerous caves. Its highest promontory is Pizzo Monaco. The town consists of a sparse group of houses equipped with a small harbor that is about 15 km from Trapani. It lacks rolling roads, apart from a small stretch of paved road leading to Faraglione beach. This technologically backward condition explains the integrity of its scenic beauty. The coast is overlooked by a number of caves, the best known of which is the Grotta del Genovese, one of Sicily's most important archaeological sites, with its rock carvings and paintings dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. In the stretch of water in front of Cala Minnola, on the eastern side of the island of Levanzo, there is one of the most important underwater archaeological sites in Sicily: there is the wreck of a Roman ship and the remains of the cargo of amphorae and pottery fragments lying at a depth of about 27 meters.

	PLACE	Levanzo
	DIFFICULTY
	TOURISM	Low

3. Marettimo

Marettimo is the westernmost of the Egadi Islands; the ancient peoples of this restricted area of the Mediterranean gave it the character of sacredness that can still be enjoyed today. On the island is the Castle of Punta Troia, a fortification built in the Norman period. Marettimo broke away from the mainland several millennia before the other two islands in the archipelago. As a result, there are several endemic plants, such as the Egadi cabbage and Boccone fennel, a shrub that grows on the cliffs around Semaforo.