San Vito Lo Capo ( scn, Santu Vitu) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in North-Western

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, administratively part of the

province of Trapani Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...

. The small town is located in a valley between mountains, and is home to a public beach that is destination of local vacationers. The town's primary industries are tourism and agriculture, particularly olive groves owned by small farmers. The town's eastern border is provided by a small range of mountains, the northernmost of which is peaked by a large

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

visible from the public beach below. The mountain is home to numerous caves, most of which are inaccessible without professional climbing gear. A cave, accessible by foot at the southern base of the mountain, was named "Caverna della Capra Guasto," or "Cave of the Dead Goat" by explorers Christian D'Angelo and William Spears. To the south is the Riserva naturale dello Zingaro. Other sights include the sanctuary-fortress, the chapel of Santa Crescenzia, the historical lighthouse, several

tonnara ''Mattanza'', literally 'slaughter' or 'killing' in Italian, also known as ''Almadraba'' in Spanish and ''Almadrava'' in Portuguese, is a traditional tuna fishing technique that uses a series of large nets to trap and exhaust the fish. There ar ...

s and the Torre dell'Usciere, a coastal watchtower. San Vito Lo Capo is a well-known rock climbing destination. Along the coast on the west side of San Vito lo Capo is a coastal cliff nearly long.

Cultural events

Since 1998 during the last week of September, the little town of San Vito Lo Capo has hosted the Cous Cous Fest, an international festival of Mediterranean culture and gastronomy, during which, in addition to live musical performances, there is an international couscous gastronomic competition "The Couscous World Championship", which involves chefs from all over the world, who compete by offering couscous cooked according to their own gastronomic tradition. The countries that joined this initiative are: Ivory Coast, France, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Palestine, Senegal and Tunisia. In recent years the duration of the "Couscous Fest" has been extended to 10 days. The festival of books, authors and bougainvillea takes place in the period July–September of each year, presented by Giacomo Pilati as a series of meetings with the author in Via Venza, the town's outdoor lounge. Italian writers present their latest literary works in front of an audience. In May – after a tour of all Sicily – the International Kite Festival ends with a final stop in San Vito Lo Capo. Kite flyers of international fame meet in acrobatic kite sessions to the sound of music. On 15 June the feast of the patron St Vito Martyr takes place. Celebrations begin in the afternoon with the ancient game of the antenna in the sea, in which competing participants have to walk on a 10-metre wooden beam suspended over the sea and made slippery with a layer of soap, the goal being to grab a flag at the end of the beam. The Disembarking of the Saints (a representation of the original) on the beach of St Vito Lo Capo follows, during which three performers arrive from the sea on a small boat at sunset, each representing the young Vitus, the nurse Crescenzia and master Modesto, while the fishermen wait on the beach to welcome them. In the meantime, inside the sanctuary the statue of

St Vitus Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical D ...

is covered by the votive of the faithful; then it is solemnly presented to the faithful and carried on the shoulders by the devotees in the final procession that tours around the village. The festivities end with a fireworks display. In October, there is the San Vito Climbing Festival, an international festival for climbers, who can climb the mountains in the area.

References

External links

Official website

Touristic website

Cultural and touristic website
San Vito Lo Capo view

{{authority control Municipalities of the Province of Trapani