ERICE

formerly (until 1934) Monte San Giuliano, town, Trapani provincia, northwestern Sicily, Italy; it lies at 2,464 feet (751 m) above sea level on the top of Monte San Giuliano (also called Monte Erice), just northeast of Trapani city. The town originated as a settlement of the Elyrir (an ancient Sicilian tribe) and was fortified by the Phoenicians and contested by the Carthaginians and Romans. Known in antiquity as Eryx, it was famous throughout the Mediterranean for the temple of Venus Erycina, which grew out of a local Greek cult of Aphrodite. Later occupied by the Saracens, the town was conquered in the 11th century by the Norman count Roger I of Sicily, who called it Monte San Giuliano. Although the town is primarily medieval in character, ancient remains include cyclopean walls with Phoenician inscriptions and fragments of the celebrated temple. The principal church is the Chiesa Matrice (1314), with a portico from 1426 and a detached tower from 1312. Local occupations are stockbreeding and vine cultivation. Pop. (1993 est.) mun., 29,975.