Why have sailors since ancient times favoured landing at Drepanum (Trapani) whence to climb Mount Erice (pronounced E-ree-che)?
Ten points if you said, “For the sacred prostitutes!”
The mountain has always had a cult of divinity to Venus. The early local tribes built an open-air temple there. When the Phoenician-Carthaginians arrived, they identified the divinity with their own goddess Astarte, and introduced their own uses and rites. For example, as well as breeding doves, the goddess priestesses ‘gave themselves’ to the pilgrims! If you know what I mean.
Subsequently, the Greeks worshipped Aphrodite here, and then the Romans venerated their own ‘Venus Erycinia’. As these are synonyms for lust and passion, it meant that I was eager with anticipation as we wobbled and swayed up the mountain, in a cable-car bubble, to the site of the ancient temple. Of course, I had not mentioned any of this raunchy history to Alix.
You can imagine my disappointment, therefore, when I discovered that the temple was no more. The Normans had built their castle on the site, using the temple stones. Worse still, the priestesses had long gone!!
There is still a dovecote, and a well into which the priestesses might have plunged to cleanse themselves. At least the Normans had the good grace to name their castle the ‘Castle of Venus’.
[As an aside, is the brilliantly-bright planet named after the goddess, or vice-versa?]
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In an early blog (‘Port Vendres and the Crown of Aragon’), I introduced the idea that Missy Bear would be following the route that Catalan conquerors and traders would have used back in the 14th and 15th centuries, during the age of their thalassocracy. And my latest blog (‘Norman Conquest’) described how, 300 years earlier, the Normans, led by the Robert and Roger de Hauteville, had invaded Sicily in the 11th century, and how Roger II became the first King of Sicily.
Both dynasties were present in Erice, and I was on the lookout for remnants of their presence.
The Norman Castle of Venus lies on a jaw-dropping location, on a precipitous cliff. It has commanding, panoramic views over the green and fertile plains far below, and of the low, crescent-shaped promontory of the ancient port, and the brilliant blue sea and islands beyond. Defenders in any era, would have had ample notice of any approaching enemy, from whatever direction.
The Normans were a god-fearing race, and they built several churches here. In 1076 Grand Count Roger had built the Church of St Julien to thank the saint for helping him throw the Arabs out of the city. I sought out the church, naively expecting to see some early Sicilian-Romanesque architecture. But, of course, the original building has long disappeared. Apparently, the bell tower, with its pagoda-shape spire is Norman, dating back to 1170. The main building was razed and rebuilt in the 17th century in a baroque style.
[There is a lot of baroque architecture in Trapani: it seems to me that every simple-faced church in town got given a fussily embellished – even ugly - doorway in the 17th century].
What about Aragonese architecture? First, let’s remember how they got here.
The Norman King William II (Roger II’s grandson) and his queen (Joan of England) had no heir. A successional dispute broke out between William’s relative (Tancred) who had gained papal support, and the surviving daughter of King Roger II of Sicily, Constance. Constance had married the Holy Roman Emperor (Henry VI of Hohenstaufen).
So, it was Pope against emperor again! And Henry VI won, thus also becoming Henry I of Sicily. The papacy was not happy, and much later (in 1254) the pope declared the Kingdom of Sicily to be a papal possession. He offered the crown to the son of King Henry III of England (Edmund Crouchback). But as Edmund never succeeded in taking the kingdom, the pope reversed his decision and granted it to the King of France's brother, Charles of Anjou. Unlike Edmund, Charles succeeded in dispossessing the last Hohenstaufen (Manfred).
You will remember that the locals did not like their French rulers, and they rebelled. Peter III of Aragon supported the Sicilians (in the War of the Sicilian Vespers) against their rulers. Peter won and all the French were killed! Peter became King Peter I of Sicily, under the Crown of Aragon. His queen was Constance II, Manfred’s daughter.
Where could I find some Aragonese architecture at Erice?
The cathedral was built by Frederic II (Peter’s grandson) in 1314. He had lived briefly in Erice during the Vespers war. The interior has been totally refurbished in a neo-Gothic style. His coat-of-arms is included in tiled floor.
I thought the entrance façade might be original Sicilian-Romanesque, because the round-arched door has a slight point. It is original and is called ‘Chiaramonte-Gothic’, named after a powerful Sicilian family of the time. But the porch is a later Gothic addition of the 16th century.
The adjacent tower is of Carthaginian origin, but was totally rebuilt in line with the will of King Frederick III of Aragon, again in thanks to the locals’ support in the Vespers war. The windows on the second and thirds floors are also Chiaramonte-Gothic.
There is much more to relate about Erice, but not that you’ld want to read on a blog.
Erice is a wonderful place; revered, visited, inhabited and fought over for thousands of years. If you are ever in Sicily, I strongly recommend a visit.