Salt Museum in Trapani: ticket prices and opening times

The famous Salt Museum of Trapani is located in the middle of the Saline Nature Reserve of Trapani. It is a private business, run by the Culcasi family, situated along the route known as the Salt Road, a tourist and cultural project created with the intent of enhancing the coastal area of West Sicily, with its particular moist environment, salt pits and mills.

The museum is located inside a former farm of the Seventeenth century, which was used for the grinding of salt, thanks to its large windmill. It collects and preserves the ancient tools used by people working there and also a rich documentation of vintage photos. Thanks to a guided tour, visitors can discover the stages of processing salt as it has developed over the centuries and admire the exhibition of original artifacts, all accompanied by detailed data sheets and panels illustrating the different work cycle phases.

Among the most characteristic objects you can find in the Salt Museum of Trapani, there are the old machineries used to compact the bottom of the salt marshes, the "cattedri" or baskets to carry the salt, the wooden paddles of the old mills otherwise called "ntinni," the spiral or Archimedes’ screw ("fridda") to suck the water out of the tank, the wooden strips or "tagghia" to measure salt, and also jute bags. Then there is the wagon-barrel, which was attached to a mule and used to carry water to the workers from one tank to another. Other objects include the heavy millstone used in the refining process, and even nets and traps, since quality fishes such as sea breams and sea basses are breed in these salt pools. In conclusion, you’ll find working tools now almost entirely obsolete, but extremely valuable for industrial archeology.

The Salt Museum is located in Via Chiusa in the district of Nubia di Paceco, a large village of just over 11,000 residents located about four kilometers away from the capital of Trapani. You can reach it by taking the SP21 road towards Marsala. It is open every day from 9:30 am to 7:00 pm. The price of admission to the Salt Museum of Trapani is 2.50 €, with reductions for groups of at least 30 people (€ 2 each) and students (1.50 €).

For more information, please contact the phone number: +39 0923 867061 or +39 320 6575455. Email: museodelsale@virgilio.it.

From the Salt Museum of Trapani you can also enjoy a unique view over the Egadi Islands and the charming Erice, and enjoy the fantastic sunsets over the salt pits. The archaeological sites of Motya and Selinunte are also nearby.