Today it is a town of several hundred inhabitants with a castle, towers, over a dozen churches and streets that are really winding alleys, making it feel like you could be back in the Middle Ages.
The city’s different names at different times reflects it’s history. “Erice” was the name given to the mountain when The Cartheginians were in control of the area. The Moslems named it” Gebel-el-Hamid” (Mount of Mohammed) and the Normans named it “Monte San Giuliano”, a name it kept until 1934 when the Mussolini government renamed it “Erice.”
Of the churches we visited, my favorite was the duomo, originally built in 1312 by King Federico of Aragon. It was restored many times and was rebuilt when it collapsed in 1853. The ornamentation of the ceiling is amazing.
Here is a sampling of faces we encountered in the churches and on the streets of Erice.
I think Erice is the city that is featured in L. Visconti's movie the Leopard. I recognize the building from the movie, like the church piazza. Very nice.
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