"I sapori del borgo" and the treasures of Custonaci

As is widely known, Sicily is historically considered a region with one of the best regional culinary traditions in Italy. Especially in summer, lovers of good food, both local and not, have the opportunity to participate in the numerous festivals that follow one another.

This year, in Custonaci, a small municipality in the northern end of the province of Trapani, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea, the 'I sapori del Borgo' (The Flavours of the Village) festival will take place, a gastronomic review that aims to promote typical Sicilian dishes and products.

During the festival, numerous stands are set up for the tasting of cous cous, busiate, cassatelle, spincie and much more.

The festival also includes a series of music, folklore and entertainment performances of various kinds.

The festival will take place from the 8th to the 11th, a period still full of wonderful weather to be enjoyed in the open air.

Custonaci is known for its important marble extraction activity, especially that of the 'Perlato di Sicilia' (Sicilian pearl). There are about two hundred quarries, for the extraction of this unique marble exported to several countries, particularly to the Arabian Peninsula. The quarries of Custonaci, Italy's second largest marble basin, also extract 'Libeccio', a pinkish marble already known in the 19th century and found in all the Baroque churches of Sicily.

Before the festival, it might be a good idea to visit the Scurati Caves (the largest of which is the Grotta Mangiapane), a clear sign of the village's ancient past. An evocative living nativity scene is organised here at Christmas.

Nearby, there is also the Monte Cofano Oriented Nature Reserve, a site that the municipality of Custonaci is part of.

In the centre of the town, you can visit the Mother Church of the Madonna di Custonaci. This sanctuary is the destination of many pilgrimages and is the starting point of the procession held every year on 27 August. 

It is said that around 1500, the year in which the temple was built, a French ship escaped an awful storm by invoking the Holy Virgin. It managed to take refuge in the Gulf of Cornino, and for this it gave the town a painting depicting the Saint with the Child on her arms.