There are places in Sicily where myth intertwines and where archaeology testifies to the life of ancient peoples and civilizations. On the summit of Monte San Giuliano, in a splendid panoramic position over Trapani, silent among the clouds, lies the city of Erice. Erice was populated by the Elymians who erected the temple dedicated to the cult of the goddess of fertility and love. The subsequent rulers dedicated the temple to their own deities, so the Phoenicians worshipped Tanit-Astarte there, the Greeks Aphrodite, the Romans Venus Erycina. On the ruins of the Temple still stands today the Castle of Venus, fortified during the Norman domination, adjacent to the Balio gardens dominated by medieval towers.