Erice Cable Car
Aerial link between Trapani and Monte Erice.
The Erice Cable Car links Casa Santa with Erice’s historic centre, following a route first established by Sicily’s first aerial cableway in 1956.
Key facts
Site type:
Comune:
Transport
Erice
District:
Casa Santa
Plans for a cable car connecting Trapani with Erice date to 1927, although construction did not begin until after the Second World War. The original system opened in 1956, becoming the first aerial cableway built in Sicily. It connected the growing settlement of Casa Santa below Monte Erice with the historic town on the summit.
The first cableway remained in service until the 1970s. After its closure, the route was without a cable-car service for more than two decades, while parts of the former upper station and its machinery survived near the historic centre.
A completely renewed system opened on 8 July 2005. The present installation is an automatic monocable gondola running for just over three kilometres between Casa Santa and Erice. Its eight-seat cabins have a design capacity of approximately 1,000 passengers per hour, with the journey taking around ten minutes.
Operated by Funierice Service S.r.l., jointly owned by the Comune di Erice and the Libero Consorzio Comunale di Trapani, the cable car forms part of the local transport network and continues a connection between the coastal urban area and Monte Erice first established in the 1950s.
Photo: Pavel Dudek, Alamy
Explore further
The present cable car is the latest stage in a transport project with origins almost a century ago. Its history includes the first aerial cableway in Sicily, a fatal accident during construction, decades without a service and the continuing maintenance of the modern installation.
The first cableway
Proposals for an aerial connection between Trapani and Erice were being considered by 1927, but the project was not realised until the post-war period.
The original cable car opened in 1956 and was the first aerial cableway constructed in Sicily. Its lower station served Casa Santa, while the upper station stood close to Erice’s historic centre. The line remained in operation until the 1970s.
The 1954 construction accident
Construction of the first cableway was marked by a fatal accident. In 1954 a landslide at the worksite killed four workers: Mario Simonte, aged 34; Giuseppe Bellia, 17; Salvatore Ganci, 32; and Angelo Amato, 26.
The accident continues to be commemorated locally. Proposals have also been made to dedicate the surviving former upper station to the four workers.
The former upper station
After the original cable car ceased operating, much of its infrastructure was abandoned. The former upper station nevertheless survived, together with elements of the original mechanical and electrical equipment, including parts of the drive system and auxiliary machinery.
These remains have subsequently been recognised locally as evidence of industrial archaeology, and proposals have been made to restore the building and reuse it as a museum and information centre.
The modern cable car
Following more than two decades without a cable-car service, a new system was authorised for public operation in July 2005 and inaugurated on 8 July.
The replacement was substantially redesigned rather than simply restoring the earlier installation. It operates as an automatic monocable gondola, with cabins seating up to eight passengers and a design capacity of around 1,000 passengers per hour.
Although the modern system broadly follows the alignment of the earlier cableway, the original installation had been dismantled several decades before its construction.
Maintenance and renewal
Like other cableway systems, the Erice installation is subject to periodic technical inspections and major scheduled maintenance.
In 2024 the Comune di Erice began the system’s compulsory twenty-year general overhaul, supported by a maintenance contract valued at approximately €3.8 million. The programme includes phased works and inspections intended to allow the service to continue between periods of intervention.
A separate programme begun in 2025 provides for the refurbishment of the cable car’s 42 eight-seat cabins, with the work scheduled in phases through 2026.
Sources & further reading
Explore the historical, technical and official sources used to document the development of the Trapani–Erice cable car, from the original 1950s installation to the present system.