The stories into the rocks
In the past, one of the more particular village of Sicily was Custonaci, near Trapani. Today, the travelers appreciate this little town for his historical richness and artistic heritage. There, the houses and the landmarks are entirely decorated with the ancient marble. Indeed, has many know this part of Sicily has a floride business for selling the marble all over the world. When you’ll go around, you’ll see the mountains change the color. A large part of white color appears from the rock for the digging process to quarry the marble.
The Scurati caves
The trapanese zone is surrounded by beautiful landscape with large beaches and one of the best seaside of Sicily. Choose where to stay in our villas in Sicily with sea view that are present in the area. Explore the location near Trapani for example near Custonaci, there is a special place where the nativity scenes is real. You could reach it driving just for 10 minutes. The caves have a prehistoric origin and a relevant presence of the Paleolithic human traces. There, the most famous cave is called Mangiapane: it is about 70 meters high, 50 meters deep and 13 meters wide. During the Nineteen, the last family has abounded the houses that could be visited today.
Especially, during the Christmas time, the houses are open for housing the nativity scenes protagonists. Buy the ticket and you’ll seem to be part of a real nativity scenes. The Mangiapane cave is open every day from April to November, from 10 am to 6 pm. Than, the entrance ticket costs 3 euros and children enter for free. Reservations are required only for groups.
Christmas time
The island has a long tradition of the hand made nativity scenes. Every year many artisans produce this kind of sculptures with the wood or the porcelain. As the religion wants, the Santissima Maria sanctuary of Custonaci became an incredible place where admire the sparkling and colorful marbles and the nativity scene. Moreover, you should know that the living nativity scene of Custonaci is one of the most important on the island, and in 2006 it was included in the register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Sicily. Don’t miss out!
This article was written by Giulia Sofi
Today, she creates editorial content for cultural magazine and exhibition project.
Her articles have been published in some art magazine like CityRivista and Insideart.