Casa Mortillaro

The house, the result of the restructuration of an ancient stony building and with a 600 sqmt internal garden, is close to the San Giovanni church (built on the XII century and reconstructed in 1436 and in 1631) and to a panoramic viewpoint where one can enjoy a beautiful panorama on the coast below until monte Cofano. Erice is an ancient medieval hamlet placed on the top of mount San Giuliano (700 metres on the sea level) in a wonderful, panoramic location at the utmost north-western end of Sicily, 100 Km away on the western side of Palermo. Erice has a typical medieval town-planning plant with its tiny stony squares, narrow and winding streets containing flowery courts; on the temple ruins and close to the Balio garden there is the Venus castle. The pagan worship of Venus had made worldwide famous the mountain of Erice,which in the past had been place of the cult of love and of the sacrificial summer feasts, attended by crowds of pilgrims.
The historic town-centre is full of local handicraft shops: ceramics, carpets and traditional almond and candied fruit sweeties. Among the most important monuments worth visiting there are: la Chiesa Matrice (the Mother Church), il Castello di Venere (Castle of Venus), il Museo Cordici (the Cordici Museum), i Giardini del Balio (the Balio's gardens with its medieval towers), il Quartiere Spagnolo (the Hispanic Quarter), le Mura Elimo-Puniche (the Elimo-Punic Walls).


Distance from the house to services: grocer’s,restaurants and shops: 200 mt; other facilities (post office, bank with cash dispenser): 200 - 300 mt; cableway (link to Trapani): 500 mt; railway station: 18 kmt (Trapani); hospital: 30 kmt (Trapani); airport: 30 kmt (Trapani) and 90 kmt (Palermo); sandy and rocky sea: 15 kmt.

In the outskirts worth visiting are: le Saline di Trapani (the salt-works of Trapani, an enchanting landscape characterized by its windmills used for the salt cultivation), the Mozia small island, the Egadi Islands (links from Trapani), the Tonnara di Bonagia (where the tunny-massacre occurred), the Monte Cofano Natural Reserve, Scopello and Zingaro Natural Reserve, Segesta, Marsala.


The structure still maintains the fascination of the old stony houses; a magnificent portal leads to the peculiar internal courtyard equipped with furniture (table, chairs, deck-chairs). All around extends a glorious garden of around 600 sqmt with a rich vegetation of pine-trees, palm-trees, box hedges and other ornamental Mediterranean plants.
The 80 sqmt house, fully furnished, is organised for 4 sleeps and extends on two levels:
Ground Floor:
- a brickwork kitchen, fully furnished (disheware, tableware, saucepans, etc.), with a door on the internal courtyard with lunch zone under the trees, barbecue and 600 sqmt garden
- small living/study room with small sofa, desk and chest of drawers
- 1 bathroom with shower
- pellet-stove.
1st Floor:
- 1 double room with wardrobe, armchairs and conditioner
- 1 twin room with wardrobe, linenchest and conditioner
- 1 bathroom with shower.

Fittings:
- Sheets and towels
- Cot
- Pellet-stove
- Water-heater in the kitchen and in each of the bathrooms
- Fridge
- Outdoor barbecue
- 2 deck-chairs
- Garden chairs and table

Directions

By flight: Trapani- Birgi airport (there is a bus to Trapani) or Palermo airport (from the airport take the bus or the train to Palermo; from Palermo there are both bus or train to Trapani)

By car: Highway A29 Palermo-Trapani, then Erice.

By bus: from Trapani, take the bus direct to Erice near the railway station (Piazza Ciaccio Montalto, Trapani). Otherwise, take the bus from the railway station up to the cableway that takes you direct to Erice.
Once reached Erice, go to the Chiesa di San Giovanni (San Giovanni church): Casa Mortillaro is just at the church's side.

Facilities

No Curfew, Smoking Rooms