Castelvetrano (Trapani Province) is 70.5 km from Trapani, alt. 187 m, in the hills between the Delia torrent and the River Modione, area 207 sq km, pop. 30,245, post-code 91022, tel. 0924. Economy: Agriculture; wine industry, metalworks, construction material, tourism.
Its territory was inhabited before the foundation of the neighboring Selinunte (7th century BC), as testified by the ancient necropolis discovered in the modern town, in Piazzo Umberto I.
Castelvetrano later served Selinunte as a kind of suburb, or as a camp for the lodgings of veteran soldiers in charge of the stores, which were kept in great cisterns. The name of the town apparently comes from "castrum veteranorum", its original use. During the Roman and Byzantine period, Castelvetrano followed the decadence of Selinunte, and under the Arabs it was reduced to a mere hamlet. In 1299 it was made a fief of the Tagliavias, who promoted the development of the town. In 1653 the fief passed by succession to the Pignatelli Aragona family.
In modern times the town's buildings, agriculture, industry and commerce have developed considerably.
Of interest is the Museo Civico, which contains archeological material from Selinunte and the Selinunte Archaeological Park nearby, Fontana della Ninfa, and the Porta Civica (1626).
Also not far away (7 km) are the Cusa quarries from which the stones and the columns were hewn for the construction of the never finished Temple G at Selinunte.
Churches (Mazara del Vallo Diocese) include the following:
Family Reunion
Families researched in those records include the following:
Links to other sites about Castelvetrano include:
My latest book on CD is titled Sicily - A Reference for Researchers and is now available. With a file for each town (plus many other files), it relates the history of Sicily as reflected in the photos, records and festivals of its towns. It contains over 2500 text and photo files and can be ordered at CD order.
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