Trapani

Of ancient origin, Trapani has been, as the whole of Sicily, under the rule of various peoples. After the Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs, during the Norman period  (Roger II of Hauteville entered the city in 1077) Trapani experienced a period of flourishing trade and economic development, and its harbour emerged as one of the most important in the Mediterranean. Having actively participated in the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers (1282) against the House of Anjou, Trapani became bigger and prevailed under the Aragonese as the main center of western Sicily. In 1535, the emperor and king of Spain, Charles V (1500-1558) visited the city, pledging to maintain its privileges and freedom. Repeatedly struck by famine and pestilence during the seventeenth century, Trapani underwent a phase of recovery in the eighteenth century, under the rule of the House of Savoy, the Austrians and finally the Bourbons.