locality
Paceco
A few kilometres from Trapani there is a town that did not grow by chance but was designed: straight streets crossing at right angles, rectangular blocks, a square at the centre. In 1607 the marquis Placido Fardella founded it from nothing on a grid plan, and gave it the name of his wife, Teresa Paceco. This is its first surprise: Paceco is a "planned town", born already orderly, with the clear geometry of 17th-century settlements.
But the heart of Paceco's territory beats towards the sea, where land turns to water and salt. Here lies the southern stretch of the salt pans of Trapani and Paceco, today a WWF nature reserve, with its windmills, white heaps roofed with red tiles and the flamingos that have made it their home. And here, in the hamlet of Nubia, two treasures are born that carry the name of this land across Italy: the Salt Museum and the Red Garlic of Nubia, a Slow Food Presidium.
"Red garlic and white salt": in Nubia the two colours of Paceco tell their story in a braid hung in the sun and a heap glittering among the basins.
— From the flavours and landscapes of Nubia
The planned town and its grid layout
Paceco was born in 1607 by the will of the marquis Placido Fardella, who obtained the title of prince for the new settlement and named it after his wife, Teresa Paceco of Vigliena. Unlike villages that grew over the centuries around a castle, Paceco was conceived on a drawing board: an orthogonal street plan, with roads crossing at right angles and regular blocks, following the scheme of 17th-century new foundations. The central square is overlooked by the Mother Church, dedicated to the Holy Crucifix and built from 1623. From this family descended Vincenzo Fardella di Torrearsa, a protagonist of the Risorgimento and president of the first Senate of the Kingdom of Italy.
Nubia, the salt pans and the windmills
A few minutes from the town, towards the coast, opens one of Sicily's most beloved landscapes: the salt pans of Trapani and Paceco, about a thousand hectares of wetland established in 1995 as a nature reserve entrusted to the WWF. This is the realm of the hamlet of Nubia, the village of the salt workers: geometric basins that change colour — blue, pink, white — according to the concentration of salt and a microalga called Dunaliella salina, salt heaps protected by red tiles and the windmills that for centuries pumped the water between the basins and ground the crystals. At sunset, when the light settles on the still water, everything becomes gold and mirror.
The flamingos and the birdlife of the wetland
The salt pans of Paceco are not only landscape: they are one of the most important wetlands in the Mediterranean. Among the basins, herons, black-winged stilts, avocets and dozens of migratory species rest and feed, but the star is the pink flamingo. For the first time in western Sicily these birds have chosen the reserve not only as a stopover during migration, but as a nesting site, with the first chicks born among the salt heaps and dozens of documented nests. Watching them at dawn or dusk, filtering the brackish water on their long legs, is the wildlife experience that makes Paceco unique.
The Salt Museum and the Salt Road
In the heart of Nubia, an old 17th-century baglio flanked by a well-preserved windmill houses the Salt Museum: the salt workers' tools, old black-and-white photographs, the stages of the harvest and a craft handed down for generations. Nearby, the still-active salt pans — such as the historic "Chiusa" saltworks — let you see the heaps and windmills up close. From here begins, in spirit, the Salt Road, the scenic route linking Trapani to Marsala along the salt pans, the Stagnone lagoon and the island of Mozia: one of the most beautiful drives in Sicily, to be taken slowly at sunset.
The Red Garlic of Nubia and the flavours of the land
If salt is Paceco's white gold, the Red Garlic of Nubia is its red gold. It is a local ecotype with a compact bulb, white outer tunics and cloves of a bright red: on average twelve cloves per head, a very high content of allicin and an intense, unmistakable flavour. Grown on the dark soils of the countryside in rotation with the yellow melon of Paceco, broad beans and durum wheat, it has been a Slow Food Presidium since 2002 and is harvested by hand between May and June, braided into long plaits hung in the sun. Try it raw, in Trapani-style pesto or giving character to seafood dishes: it is the very scent of this land.
When to go
Frequently asked questions about Paceco
Where is Paceco and how do you get there?
Paceco is in the province of Trapani, about five kilometres from the city, in western Sicily. It is easily reached by car from Trapani and is very close to Trapani-Birgi airport. The hamlet of Nubia, with the salt pans and the Salt Museum, is a few minutes away towards the coast.
What is there to see in Paceco and Nubia?
In the planned centre, the grid layout and the Mother Church of the Holy Crucifix. In Nubia, the Salt Museum in its baglio and windmill, the WWF salt-pans reserve with its windmills and flamingos, and the farms of the Red Garlic of Nubia. A sunset among the basins is a must.
Can you see flamingos in the salt pans of Paceco?
Yes. The Salt Pans of Trapani and Paceco nature reserve, managed by the WWF, is home to pink flamingos, which have even begun to nest here, as well as many other species of water birds. The best seasons for birdwatching are spring and autumn; the ideal times of day are dawn and dusk.
What is the Red Garlic of Nubia?
It is a prized ecotype of garlic grown in the countryside of Nubia, a hamlet of Paceco, with cloves of an intense red colour, a very high allicin content and a particularly aromatic flavour. It has been a Slow Food Presidium since 2002 and is harvested and braided by hand between May and June.
What is the Salt Museum?
The Salt Museum is in Nubia, inside a 17th-century baglio flanked by a large windmill. It gathers the salt workers' tools and old photographs that tell the story of harvesting sea salt. It is surrounded by the active salt pans of the reserve and is an ideal starting point for the Salt Road.
When was Paceco founded?
Paceco was founded in 1607 by the marquis Placido Fardella, who named it after his wife Teresa Paceco. It is a rare example of a "planned town" with an orthogonal grid layout, typical of the new foundations of the 17th century.
Discover more
For institutional information, events, opening hours and visitor services, see the official website of the Municipality of Paceco.
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