Kalat

It has become an indipendent council since 1955 and called "Paparella -S. Marco"; it has got its actual name since 1958. It consists of Valderice, Bonagia, S. Andrea, Crocevie, Misericordia, Ragosia, Fico, Casalbianco, Crocci, Lenzi and Chiesanuova. Predominantely it's a country based on a rural economy, with wine plantations, farages, olive-groves, and wheat fields; fishing and sheep-rearing are practised. There are some factories to produce wine and oil and to do marble works. The building activity and the zootechnics production are remarkable activities. There are also two equiped artigianal laboratories to produce pottery. During the
Normans' domination, Erice got the chance to enlarge its possessions. It added a large number of ?casalia inhabitata? to its possessions: they were very fertil because the Arab peasants already tilled them. Looking at Giovanni Majorana's notarial register up in, since 1297 we have had exact directions about some places belonging to Valderice's possessions, such as ?Fontis de Ficu?, which is called "Fico" today; ?Fontia de Johanne Gucio?, which is Giancuzzo;, ?Segii inferioris et superioris?, which is Seggio;, ?Lenciarum?, which is Lenzi, ?Lingiaselle?, which is Linciasella, ?Ragusie?, which is Ragosia, ?Sybeni?, which is Uscibeni. This is also proved by the presence of some churches which had been built during the Norman period (the only surviving is the one at S. Andrea, even though it has been re-built and it is wider). When there was the outbreak of the ? Vespri War ?, in Erice, an anti-Angevin revolt broke out, too. In Bonagia the Spanish fleet won and threatened the French fleet which had anchored to Trapani harbour, convincing them to go away forever. In that period (1458) the Bonagia harbour opened. During the "Borboni"'s dominion, the moving from the top of the mount to the plain increased. It was a consequence of the edict about the censorship of the patrimonial lands, Frederick I Borbone had made it on 13 January 1789 and effected it in 1791. Ad Only the social class living thanks to the private income of the fields still stayed in Erice. They were not directly connected to the hard work since they were the landowners, the clergy and the humanistic middle class. Erice began to have again villages and farm houses (like during the arabian domination), but it needed a larger and larger presence of rural population. The rural villages of S. Vito, Custonaci, Crocci, Lenzi, Buseto and later the village of S. Marco with 413 inhabitants were born on the South East side of Erice. Later another village was born on the East side of Erice: it was in the "Paparella" area, which was called in such a way because of the pools rich of mallards. Between the top of the mount, where there was the magnates- power, and the large surrounding country which was far from the civil life, there was a strong geographical, social and religious separation. The countries were neglected and ignored: so the first socialist ideas spread over. The inhabitants didn't live in the Ragosia hill, but in the valley along the road that from Fico led to Immacolata and Cubastacca. There people became more and more numerous. In the Erice country, the only workers' party was created in S. Marco in Autumn 1983. It was founded by Leonardo Ferrante, a coachbuilder in whose shop the eighteen year old Sebastiano Bonfiglio was working. He was supported by Giacomo Montalto, who was an exponent of the middle class. The party in S. Marco didn't live a lot, because of Crispi's government in the first days of Jenuary 1894. In winter 1898, the socialist leaders led the popular revolt against the economic crisis and also led the first peasant-strike in the Erice countries (1901). In such a way there was a slow development of the peasant motion. In S. Marco, in 1902, the Cooperative of S. Marco was founded: it had 518 members. On January 28th 1955, Paparella and its surroundings villages (Bonagia, S. Andrea, Crocevie, Misericordia, Ragosia, Fico, Casalbianco..)joined together to create the new district of Paparella-S. Marco. Later it was called Valderice.
It was a natural fort and a remarkable Mediterranean centre. When the Romans captured Sicily and the African coast, the mount (that's the Sican-italic meaning of the word Eryx), lost its strategic importance. As a consequence, its depopulation began and the near plan,where once the temple's herd postured, got an advantage. During the Byzantine dominion, the possessions were shared and an open order of farm houses began. Those houses developed much more with the Arabs who improved agricolture by using new plants and techniques. Further, they facilitated the little propetry thanks to some fiscal tax allowances. The population moved to the top again and the rural villages impoverished, even though they had been very important for the agricolture for two centuries. On the contrary, Erice became a notable centre, once again. These facts are largely expressed in Ibn Jubair's travel book: he was an Arab from Spain and when he was coming back from La Mecca, he stayed four months (December 1184-March 1185) in Trapani. Then he went to Valencia by a Genoanian ship.
The villages situated at the foot of the mount were joined by the ? Royal Road ?, which was an ansphalt road that from Bonagia and S. Andrea led up to the Ragosia hill ;. From one branch it led up to top of Erice passing by Giancuzzo's Fountain(? (Johanne Gucio)?), another branch led towards Lenzi and Fico lands. In Bonagia, tunning fish nets had been houled in for ages. It had been the most productive and the richest tunning fish system of nets in Trapani, for the first twenty years in the XVII century. Mr Cordici and Mr Carvini also wrote about marbles: ? ...It's worth taking note in our mind and in history of a lot of stones ? in Crocevie, such as ?the aquiline stones ? and the ?etedi stones?, About them Plinio also wrote something ;. In Casalbianco ? a marble quarry is supposed to be a very rare thing ?. Cordici wrote that the quarry had been ? used again ?, but when Carvini wrote about it, the cave was already ? even less yelding ?. In Casalbianco, the marble was a calcareous alabaster with a skin colour and it was very easy to work by the graver. It was especially used to sculpture ? naked little statues and very beautiful crucifieds in a fllourishing and bright colour as the skin one and it seems that it only needs the voice. Tommaso Natale plained the census and the Viceroy Caramonico took it in 1789. It was taken in the Illuminism Age, when the economic thought was based on the concept of free and total property. In order to make the State's letters useful, Natale decided to share them according to the economic capacity. In such a way, only six families got a third of the shares. Several of them, were rich breeders who had the control of the administration and of course, the same intake in the census. The largest one which was at Rocca Giglio consisted of about 285 hectares with ? ploughed lands and a lot of trees ?, ? large buildings and wells ?. It bordered ? on the Giovanni Oddo's properties and the others? which were inheritanges of Pietro Salerno from S.Giuliano Mount.