| Castellammare del Golfo | |
| Official Name: | Comune di Castellammare del Golfo |
| Coordinates: | 38.0264°N 12.8806°W |
| Region: | Sicily |
| Province: | Trapani (TP) |
| Frazioni: | Balata di Baida, Scopello, Guidaloca, Fraginesi, Lu Baruni |
| Mayor: | Giuseppe Fausto |
| Area Total Km2: | 127.32 |
| Population Total: | 15293 |
| Population As Of: | 28 February 2017 |
| Population Demonym: | Castellammarese |
| Elevation M: | 26 |
| Saint: | Maria SS. del Soccorso |
| Day: | August 21 |
| Postal Code: | 91014 Balata di Baida: 91010 |
| Area Code: | 0924 |
Castellammare del Golfo (pronounced as /it/; Sicilian: Casteḍḍammari [kaˌstɛɖɖamˈmaːɾɪ]; Latin: Emporium Segestanorum or Latin: Emporium Aegestensium) is a town and municipality in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name can be translated as "Sea Fortress on the Gulf", stemming from the medieval fortress in the harbor. The nearby body of water conversely takes its name from the town, and is known as Gulf of Castellammare.
Heading upwards from its marina/harbour called "Cala Marina", with many restaurants and bars, the urban plan is made of steps and winding streets that lead to Piazza Petrolo in one direction or towards the main central gardens, where the town center lies with many shops, cafes and restaurants. The main street is called Corso Garibaldi.
According to the opinion of historians and geographers such as Ptolemy, Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, Castellammare del Golfo was born as Emporium Segestanorum, port of Segesta, a nearby city which shared the same ordeals until its fall. The Arabs Invaded Castellammare del Golfo from 827 AD, and called it "Al Madarig", which means "The Steps", probably due to an uphill steep street leading from the harbour to the area of the fortified bastion. It was the Arabs who first built the castle fortress, later enlarged by the Normans. The building rose on a rocky outcrop near the sea, linked to the mainland by a wooden drawbridge.[1]
Fishing has been important in Castellammare del Golfo since ancient times. Today the town's economy continues to be based on fishing with the addition of tourism.
The small town is also noted for having been the birthplace of many Sicilian-American Mafia figures, including Sebastiano DiGaetano, Salvatore Maranzano, Stefano Magaddino, Vito Bonventre, John Tartamella, and Joseph Bonanno. This is the origin of the Castellamarese war, fought by the Masseria clan against the Maranzano clan for control of the Underworld in New York City.
During the height of Italian immigration to the United States, many residents from Castellammare del Golfo immigrated to New York City, and settled on Elizabeth Street in Little Italy, Italian Harlem, and Bushwick, Carroll Gardens and East New York neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. After World War II, many residents from Castellammare del Golfo continued to immigrate to New York City, this time, settling in the Gravesend, Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York as well as the Ridgewood and Middle Village neighborhoods of Queens, New York, the Morris Park section of the Bronx, New York and all throughout the borough of Staten Island. As of today, New York City is home to the largest dispora of people that can either trace their lineage back to Castellammare del Golfo or that were born in Castellammare del Golfo.
In the past decades Castellammare del Golfo has become an important tourist location as it is conveniently situated between Palermo and Trapani.
Nearby places include Segesta, with its Doric temple and an amphitheater where performances are still held.
From Castellammare del Golfo you can take a boat trip departing from Cala Marina to the Egadi Islands situated in front of Trapani.
To the east, the gulf of Castellammare has a stretch of 30km (20miles) of white sandy beaches.
Castellammare del Golfo has also been a location for various films, including: