The Salt Pans of Marsala and Mozia: the Phoenician that floats on the lagoon
Among the windmills of the Marsala salt pans, a boat carries you to the island of Mozia, where a Phoenician colony almost three thousand years old resurfaces on the Stagnone.
Foto: Fedina31 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Wikimedia Commons
A few kilometres from the centre of Marsala opens the Stagnone, a shallow, motionless lagoon that many travellers cross in a hurry on their way elsewhere. Here the water rarely rises above the knee, the wind turns the sails of the windmills and white heaps of salt mark the horizon. It is a landscape built by human hands over the centuries, and yet it seems suspended out of time, above all in the hours before the tour buses bound for better-known destinations have arrived.
The salt pans
The salt pans tell of an ancient craft. The windmills, now restored, once served to pump the water and to grind the salt, and beside them you can see the basins and heaps that change colour with the light. At sunset the lagoon blazes with pink and orange, but if you are after its most authentic side it is best to come early in the morning, when the reflection is clear and the silence almost complete.
The island of Mozia
From the shore a small flat-bottomed boat crosses the short stretch of lagoon to the island of San Pantaleo, where Mozia once stood. It was one of the oldest Phoenician colonies in Sicily, founded around the 8th century BC in a strategic position on the trade routes of the western Mediterranean. The city was besieged and destroyed in 397 BC by Dionysius I of Syracuse, and the survivors took refuge on the mainland, at Lilybaeum, present-day Marsala.
The island can be walked in a few hours, among walls, necropolises, the small inner harbour and the museum born from the house of the archaeologist Joseph Whitaker, who bought the place at the start of the 20th century. The most famous discovery is the Youth of Mozia, a marble statue that continues to puzzle scholars. All around, the low vegetation and the song of the birds remind you that this is a nature reserve.
How to visit them
To visit the Stagnone with respect means moving on foot or by bike, choosing local guides and boatmen, avoiding treading on the basins and carrying away your own rubbish. Mozia is not a great mass attraction, and it is precisely this restraint that gives it its value: a Phoenician that floats on the lagoon, to be listened to on tiptoe.
Related guides: Sicily off the beaten track: hidden villages and destinations far from the crowds · Beyond Taormina: seaside villages of eastern Sicily off the tourist trail · Where to go to the sea in September without crowds: the South when the tourists leave.
Getting there
The salt pans and the boarding point for the island of Mozia lie along the Stagnone lagoon, between Marsala and Trapani. By car you follow the coast road (Litoranea Marsala-Trapani) to the jetty for Mozia. The nearest railway station is Mozia-Birgi, on the line to Trapani, while Marsala has its own station a little further south. The reference airport is Trapani-Birgi (Vincenzo Florio), a short distance from the salt pans.
Practical guides for Trapani
Practical info
When is the best time to visit The Salt Pans of Marsala and Mozia?
The recommended time is April, May, June, September and October, when it is less crowded.
Is The Salt Pans of Marsala and Mozia crowded?
The Salt Pans of Marsala and Mozia is a very quiet destination compared with the more touristy ones.
Where is The Salt Pans of Marsala and Mozia?
The Salt Pans of Marsala and Mozia is located in Marsala, Sicily, Italy.
How to get there
- 🚆 Nearest station: Mozia-Birgi ~3 km as the crow flies
- ✈️ Nearest airport: Aeroporto di Trapani-Birgi TPS ~5 km as the crow flies
Nearest points as the crow flies (source OpenStreetMap): actual times depend on the roads, often mountain ones.
