FILM DIRECTORS ENCHANTED BY NATURE

IN THE TRAPANI COUNTRYSIDE FICTION AND FILM IMMORTALIZE THE FORTIFIED ARCHITECTURE OF THE BAGLI. A WAY TO LENGTHEN THE TOURIST SEASON

Western Sicily never ends its surprises. A land perfumed with jasmin year round, thanks to its mild climate that attracts tourists for long stays characterized by sunsets of unequaled beauty. The seduction of the Trapani and Erice countrysides is strong, in the well known Salemi and the Belice Valley but also along the coast of Castellammare del Golfo up to Mazara del Vallo where the typical fortified farmhouse constructions known as bagli dot the landscape of what was once the heart of Sicilian agriculture, and are now being transformed in boutique hotels. Faithful to their original plan, a large rectangular or square courtyard, thick protective walls trimmed with bouganville and jasmin, the large dark wooden door inside an archway where the building’s date is carved in the stone.

The owner lived on the upper floors while those who made the ricotta or repaired the barrels and huge jars lived and worked around the courtyard. Emblems and garden tools, modernity and tradition meet in these marvelous structures that dot the province. A resource for the area that is being proposed on the tourism and real estate markets with elegance and uniqueness, under the auspices of the Tourism District of Western Sicily, with the brand name West of Sicily.

The objective is to make tourism a year round business promoting the area’s oil, wine, gastronomy and also the highlands and the sea. The latter two attractions are perfect for bike excursionists, trekkers and kitesurfers who come from all over the world. Westerm Sicily counts on the countryside and its breathtaking panoramas of sea and mountains without forgetting the glamour promoted by the different fiction and films that are have shot in the area.