MAZZARA DEL VALLO

mazzara del vallo, a town of sicily, in the province of trapani, on the south-west coast of the island, 32 m. by rail s. of trapani. pop. (1901), 20,130. it is the seat of a bishop; the cathedral, founded in 1093, was rebuilt in the 17th century. the castle, at the south-eastern angle of the town walls, was erected in 1073. the mouth of the river, which bears the same name, serves as a port for small ships only. mazzara was in origin a colony of selinus: it was destroyed in 409, but it is mentioned again as a carthaginian fortress in the first punic war and as a post station on the roman coast road, though whether it had municipal rights is doubtful.[1] a few inscriptions of the imperial period exist, but no other remains of importance. on the west bank of the river are grottoes cut in the rock, of uncertain date: and there are quarries in the neighbourhood resembling those of syracuse, but on a smaller scale. see a. castiglione, _sulle cose antiche della citta di mazzara_ (alcamo, 1878). footnote: [1] th. mommsen in _corpus inscr. lat._ (berlin, 1883), x. 739.