Favignana is the largest island in the archipelago off the west coast of Sicily known as the Isole Egadi (the Aegadian Islands in English).  Situated a few kilometres off Sicily’s west coast roughly between the cities of Trapani and Marsala, the archipelago is made up of 3 main islands, 2 islets and a few large named rocks. These are historically fascinating and visually stunning islands – some of my favourites so far and hardly anyone in the UK even knows they are there!

The islands are famous for ‘La Mattanza’ (literally ‘The Killing’ or ‘The Slaughter’) an annual event in which the islands’ fisherman worked together to form a complicated network of nets beneath the sea, designed to guide and finally trap the adult bluefin tunafish – returning to Sicilian waters to reproduce – in a series of net ‘rooms’ leading them finally to the last one (the room of death) where they would be debilitated by the lack of oxygen and the stress of being trapped all together in a confined space and could be harpooned and hauled out of the water by a party of strong-armed fishermen and then finished off.

La Mattanza, now abolished, was a huge part of island life and at one time essential for the islanders’ survival. This practice, carried out since Phoenician times, has many associated rituals, including the special song sung by the ‘tonnaroti’ (tuna fishermen) known as the Cialoma – a song with Arabic roots sung to keep the fishermen’s morale high and to keep them in time with each other and to assist them with the huge physical effort involved in bringing the enormous tuna from the water with just the strength of their arms.  Apparently it took 8 men to lift one tuna fish from the water and the practice was extremely dangerous. The event is depicted in photos and paintings all over the islands as well as in items on menus for tourists. The last Mattanza took place in 2005.  The tuna have apparently changed course as an effect of climate change and the old tuna fisheries now stand empty and the islands rely on tourism rather than fishing for their livelihood.

Although no-one in the UK seems ever heard of Favignana, it’s easy enough to get to.  The nearest airport is situated between Palermo and Trapani so you can take a bus from the airport directly to Trapani or, as I did, stay overnight in Palermo and take a bus to Trapani from there.  A regular and year-round Liberty Lines hydrofoil service operates a from Trapani harbour to the 3 main islands. The journey across to Favignana takes about 40 minutes. I was delighted to see that the hydrofoils are the same ones that operate in the Aeolian Islands.  I boarded my old friend the Carlo Morace for the short journey across (the hydrofoils all look the same so they have names – also printed on the ticket – so you don’t get on the wrong one!).

I was travelling on 1st November – Ognissanti or Tutti i Santi in Italy – All Saints’ Day, a national holiday.  It is followed by All Souls’ Day or to give it its official title ‘commemorazione di tutti i fedeli defunti’ – Commemoration of all the defunct faithful – more commonly known in many places as ‘Day of the Dead’.  In Sicily, as in other Catholic countries, it is a time to visit the graves of your deceased relatives and lay flowers on the grave or ossuary. I was therefore accompanied on my journey by many native islanders with enormous bunches of chrysanthemums, returning to the final resting place of their relatives to pay their respects.

The hydrofoil drops its passengers onto the tiny quayside and is gone.  Favignana’s tiny harbour is an enchanting first glimpse of this lovely little island – rows of tiny blue, red and white fishing boats are moored in orderly lines around the harbour with the causeway that slops up from the water to the road acting as boatyard with boats in various stages of repair and re-painting arranged on stands of varying shapes and sizes.

I had booked to stay in Ajamola Affitacamera (literally Ajamola room rental) through booking.com – it was one of the nicest places I stayed in all of my island visits. The owner, Giusi, helpfully sent me a map reference on google maps and it only took me 5 minutes to walk there from the harbour along the pavement that runs along the coast.  The room was beautifully decorated in Moroccan style with stunning views of the sea, the island of Levanzo across the water and the Santa Caterina fortress on the hill to one side. And, as an added bonus, the room came with a bicycle!!! (well, two actually!)

The Sicilians I met seemed to have a hard time with the fact that anyone would be travelling alone – perhaps because it is something that just doesn’t happen here. I was repeatedly asked ‘Siete in due?’ ‘Are there two of you?’ wherever I went – even when it was blatantly apparent that I was there by myself.  Here was no exception and it was quite hilarious when Giusi’s husband, Germano, provided me with 2 bicycles – even though I had booked the room as one person and was standing there by myself.  Having very kindly adjusted the saddle height of my bike, he asked me whether I would like him to adjust the seat of the other one as well……!!! For my invisible friend? I asked, but he looked at me like I was a bit deranged.

I had not ridden a bike for years but, as they’d been kind enough to provide me with one, I thought it would be rude not to use it! Favignana is 19.8 kms² in area and is mainly a flat island shaped like a butterfly with the two halves joined by a range of hills in the middle. The highest point is Monte Santa Catarina at 314 ms, topped by the picturesque, and at night beautifully illuminated, Forte di Santa Caterina, used by the Italian Military. In addition, there are hardly any cars so it is perfectly suited to cycling (there is a tunnel through the mountain which links both sides of the island so no hills).  I headed off to explore the east side of the island. I had a fantastic time remembering how to ride a bike (it’s true what they say!) and, although Favignana is home to 3,400 people, I only saw about 2 other people all afternoon!  The earth is red, the buildings a gold sandy colour – mostly made from ‘tufa’ a type of soft stone which used to be quarried here.  Remnants of the quarries can been seen all over the eastern side of the island and are a surprising and fascinating sight. Many of them have houses built precariously on the edges with narrow stairways leading down into the quarry bottoms.  Lots have been planted with olive and pomegranate trees and other shrubs – the high slopes providing protection from the wind.  Some houses I saw had even transformed the quarries into beautiful gardens.

Dry stone walls separate the fields where surprisingly cabbages grow and even in November there were brighly coloured flowers everywhere – red, white and pink bougainvillea, blue plumbago, spikey aloes with their tall branches.  I saw herds of white and reddish cows and calves, fields of donkeys, some very skinny goats but hardly any people!  The majority of people live in the island’s only town and houses elsewhere are few and far between and many are obviously holiday homes locked up for the winter. I’m sure it looks very different in August!

I rode around for hours and finally, exhausted and starving, I ended up back in Favignana town around 3 pm in search of food.  Sadly, it being a bank holiday, I was out of luck.  The bars and restaurants were mostly closed and the ones that were open were full of families celebrating the bank holiday and were no longer serving.  I ended up in a friendly bar in one of the town’s squares with the last couple of stale panini and a beer – better than nothing! I took away a couple of little pizzas for later as I didn’t hold out hope of getting any dinner anywhere! It gets dark quite about 5 pm here in November and the sun sets on the west side of the island. Favignana town is on the east side of the hills so I couldn’t see the sunset from my balcony but the sky and the clouds turned a beautiful pink colour across the sea and over Monte Santa Caterina.

The next day I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and stunning views from my bed across the water to the island of Levanzo.  I walked to the port to see what the fishermen had brought in – I passed a heron perched on the rocks and chatted to the fishermen and their friends, apologised for not buying any fish (no kitchen!) and asked their permission to take some photos. Back in town, I sat down for breakfast in the same friendly bar I’d been to the day before. They were doing a roaring trade and when I sat down I realised why.  I spotted a man at a nearby table spooning pale green cream from his croissant.  I asked to have what he was having and was served the most delicious croissant I have ever eaten in my life – freshly baked and full of thick and delicious pistacchio cream served with a perfect cup of coffee. Sicily is well-known for its patisserie much of which is apparently made by nuns in convents.  The cuisine of western Sicily and the Trapani area has been heavily influenced by Arab culture and contains many rich dishes.

This was obviously a popular choice as the waitress was busy serving huge plates of cream-filled croissants and coffee all around.  A middle-aged lady in very noticeable high-heeled red shoes and her elderly mother sat at the next table but moved closer to me to avoid the clouds of cigar smoke emanating from another inconsiderate customer and started chatting.  The older lady – originally from Favignana – told me they’d come to place flowers on her husband’s grave and recounted the tale of how her brother had cheated her out of her inheritance of a house on the island. I had a nice chat with them. They were very friendly, loved the UK and had recently visited Cornwall.  When I went to pay I discovered they had paid for my breakfast! Grazie mille! Compared to yesterday the place was thronging with people, shops were open, children were playing in the street and bars and restaurants were doing a brisk breakfast trade with both locals and smart-looking people in sunglasses who didn’t look as though they lived on Favignana.

After breakfast I took the bike and re-traced my steps from yesterday – this time in the sunshine. By now I was a bit more confident on my bike so I ventured off the tarmac onto the Percorso Cicloturistico – the networks of tourist cycle trails. I headed towards Bue Marino and Cala Rossa on the island’s east coast – awarded Italy’s best beach award (not sure why as it’s mainly rocks). This is an absolutely stunning spot! The water is an unbelievable turquoise colour and the cliffs and tufa quarries create fascinating shapes in the rock. Some small yachts were moored in the crystal clear water and large family group on bicycles were having fun riding around. I didn’t go down to the water as it wasn’t suitable for a bike but some brave souls were swimming. The views from the clifftop across to mainland Sicily and the tiny island of La Formica were stunning. This was my favourite place on Favignana and the views back to the mainland were amazing. I pushed my bike back up along a rocky path to a better road and took a slow cycle back to town. The only thing I didn’t like about my bike was that, in order to take photos, I had to keep stopping – otherwise it was amazing fun!

Back in town I treated myself to a slap-up lunch in Le Due Colonne restaurant to make up for yesterday’s meagre rations. I sat in the shade of a huge canopy looking out onto an enormous square and the green-tiled dome of the golden church.  I followed the friendly waitress’s recommendations and had the local specialities – Parmegiana di pesce (aubergines with fish in a tomato sauce) and Busiate Pescatrice (a local pasta dish made with monkfish) washed down with half a bottle of the local wine.  It was all delicious and the atmosphere in the restaurant was jovial and convivial but the food was quite rich with more sauce than is usually found in Italian dishes.  I needed a lie down to recover! Favignana’s only town is nothing special architecturally but is pleasant enough. There are a couple of large squares with a handful of bars and restaurants, their tables arranged outside under wide canopies to protect from the sun.  The main church is an imposing building of golden stone with a green dome of ceramic tiles. Rows of bicycles are parked everywhere.  The streets are narrow and shady with tiny or non-existent pavements and doors are painted bright blue with wrought iron lamps and balconies.

I probably should have avoided cycling after a lunch like that but I only had a couple of days here and didn’t want to miss the other side of the island so after a little rest I set off to explore the western part of the island.  A very big hill separates east from west and it is necessary to go round or through it to get to the other side. The road around was closed so I took the tunnel.  The tunnel is 738 ms long! I pushed the bike for a lot of the way.  The footpath was narrow and my cycling not straight enough to prevent me scraping my knees on the edge of the tunnel or the metal railings. It wasn’t fun! I don’t like being underground much!

The other side of the island was completely different. Even flatter than the east, dotted with residential houses and smallholdings all surrounded by colourful bougainvillea and olive trees.  I cycled to the westernmost point where the enormous Punta Sottile lighthouse towers over the stretch of water between Favignana and the neighbouring island of Marettimo.  On the way back, I decided against the tunnel and took the closed off road instead which turned out to be perfectly fine for a bike.  The enormous rock face to one side was encased in a huge net to stop rocks from falling onto the road – probably why it was closed! An enormous red sun was setting spectacularly behind me as I rode back and a wonderful bright full moon appeared in front of me in a glorious pink sky.  There were no cars or people and it was a fabulous end to a brilliant day. My bike had no lights so I pedalled hard to get back before dark and made it just in time! I watched the full moon on the sea from my balcony.

The next day it was time to leave my beautiful room.  I spotted the heron in his familiar spot and had my breakfast at the fishermen’s bar at the port.  The fishermen recognised me and were friendlier today. One of them was making a lobster pot ‘una nassa d’aragosta’.  He was making it as a commission for €50 and was happy for me to take pictures of him – he told me to put them on facebook!  I was surprised to see a man making such a thing and he told me he’d been taught by his mother-in-law and that I was right, in the old days the women would have made them while the men were out at sea.  He told me that these days many people from the mainland bought them for lampshades and for house decoration. One of the fishermen explained the different types of fish to me and told me how the young people aren’t interested in eating fish anymore! The hydrofoil arrived, I waved goodbye to the fishermen and headed for Marettimo.

This was definitely one of my favourite islands – history, tradition, culture, local colour, stunning water and scenery, friendly people, delicious food and you get a bike with your room!

NEXT ISLAND: From Favignana I took a short hop on the hydrofoil to the next door island of Marettimo.