For two centuries Trapani was the capital of coral: fishermen brought it up from the seabed of the Sicilian channel and in the city there were workshops that carved it, mounted it in silver and sold it to the courts of Europe. This museum, opened in 1908 at the wish of a local count, holds the most important collection of that production.
What to see
There are nativity scenes, bedside crosses and monstrances made of red coral mounted on gilded copper and silver, with tiny figures carved one by one. Coral is worked like a gem but it is living matter, and the masters of Trapani made from it works that today are looked at with a lens to count the details.
The rest of the museum is the city's history: sculpture by the Gagini, paintings from the middle ages to the nineteenth century, ceramics, silver, furnishings and archaeological finds. There are also objects that tell the hard side of history, such as the guillotine used in the city in the nineteenth century. The museum is in the former Carmelite convent, beside the sanctuary of the Annunziata.
Visiting
The museum is in via Conte Agostino Pepoli, outside the old town towards the sanctuary, ten minutes by car or bus from the port; paid ticket, with a weekly closing day. An hour and a half.
Our editors' tip
Look at the coral nativities from very close: the figures are a few centimetres tall and have features, folds of clothing and objects in their hands. Then consider that the material came from the sea in front of the city, hauled up in boats, and that today the coral of the Sicilian channel is all but gone.