Identity: a port city, Sant'Alberto as patron and the Madonna di Trapani
The municipality presents Trapani as ancient Drepanon, born around the port among Phoenicians, Arabs and Normans, with salt and tuna fishing as historic activities. Sant'Alberto is the city's patron (6-7 August); the feast of the Madonna di Trapani on 16 August is preceded by a sea procession with fishing boats.
Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays
A city born of its port
The history published by the municipality puts the port at the centre of the city's identity: a Sicanian village, a Phoenician trading post tied to Carthage, then an Arab city (which called it Itrabinis) and a Norman one from 1097, with customs exemption and consulates of Genoese, Pisan, Venetian and other merchants. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the city lived on trade, seafaring, salt works and tuna fisheries.
Patron saints and feasts
According to the official 2026 programme, Sant'Alberto is the patron of the city and secondary patron of the diocese: on 6 August the blessing of the water and the gift of Sant'Alberto's cotton are celebrated, on 7 August the solemnity with the procession of the reliquary statues. The Madonna di Trapani is celebrated on 16 August with the procession of the statue; on 13 August, the "Notte Mariana", the statue arrives from the sea with the fishing vessel and the fishing boats.
War and reconstruction
The municipality recalls the destruction in the Second World War of the San Pietro quarter and of the Teatro Garibaldi of 1849, and the twenty-eight air raids the city suffered. The Belice earthquake of January 1968 also caused damage in Trapani.
Data
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-20
Updated: 2026-10-20
Reviewed: 10/22/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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