Saline are the salt-pans where sea salt is obtained through the evaporation of sea water. Composed of two extraordinary white pyramids glistening in the sun, the most fascinating saline in Italy are in western Sicily, located along the coast between Trapani and Marsala. Here, the ocean is still an essential part of daily life which centers around tuna fishing, coral harvesting and the recovery of salt, a precious commodity prized today as it was in antiquity.

Large, slow windmills are used as the energy source in the completely environment-safe workcycle of salt harvesting, not so much a concession to modern-time concerns, as simply the way things have always been done on these salt-pans.

It's possible to stroll along the magical "Via del Sale" with its imposing mountains of rock salt rising up against the background of the azure sea, visiting a few active saline and their characteristic windmills.

They are concentrated around 1000 hectares of natural marine reserve, which comprises the Saline di Trapani and Paceco (there's an interesting Salt Museum at Nubia) 6 km. south of Trapani and the Stagnone (big lagoon) di Marsala, populated by an astonishing variety of wild birds.

At the center of the lagoon, accessible by boat, is the tiny island of Mozia. Colonized by the Phoenicians in 700 BC and razed to the ground in 397 BC, the island has an interesting history illustrated by ruins.

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