San Vito Lo Capo

San Vito Lo Capo is a very small seaside town located at the foot of Mount Monaco (532 metres high). Its greatest attractions are the white and very fine sand of its beach, about 900 metres long and 70 metres wide, and its crystal clear sea. In addition to its natural beauty, this splendid rocky coast is bordered by XVI century towers of the island’s defence system.

Beyond the suggestive beach, the region includes the localities of Castelluzzo and Macari and a large part of the Natural Reserve of the Zingaro falls into the San Vito Lo Capo municipality.

Along the coast the towers of Sciere, ‘Mpisu and Isulidda impose themselves. There were built in the XVI century to defend the town from pirates who infested the Mediterranean sea.In the Golfo del Secco there is the tuna fish warehouse which is now in disuse and whose historic records go back to 1412.

In the last week of September the Cous Cous Festival (o Sagra) takes place. This is an exceptional Mediterranean cultural and culinary event with tastings and food shows all around the seaside town. Chefs from different ethnic backgrounds, compete for the victory palm awarded to the best couscous. The Festival attracts thousands of local residents from the entire region and is also a renown tourist attraction.

In San Vito, until 1968, nets were cast for the traditional mattanza, the capture of the tuna fish which, in spring, used to be numerous in the Gulf of Castellammare.

The history of the town is linked to Saint Vito. According to tradition, he passed through Egitarso, or Egitallo, the Roman name for the site, during the III century A.D., when he was forced to leave his city Mazara. He lived in the caverns of the area, dedicating himself to prayer, fed by a crow like the Desert Fathers. After the martyrdom of the Saint around 300 A.D, at the mouth of the river Sele, a small church was built in Egitarso and later become a sanctuary-fortress to give shelter to pilgrims and protect them from pirate attacks. San Vito Lo Capo developed between the XVIII and the XIX century, around the sanctuary, as a small fishing village.

The town celebrates the Sain of Vito from the 13th to the 15th of June with a suggestive historic re-enactment of the landing of the Saint. St. Vito’s landing on the beach is enacted at sunset to the sound of the sirens of the boats of the fishing fleet and to the launching of multicoloured fireworks, as he moves through the town accompanied by traditional music bands. The picturesque procession through the streets of the town and fireworks closes the event.