Valle del Belice
The area
Valle del Belice is a predominantly hilly area located in western Sicily and ideally constituted by the hydrographic basin of the Belìce river.
The area is rich of stunning landscapes and natural beauties. Agriculture represents the main productive activity in the area, which is well-known for the delicious typical products. All this factors have a strong tourist attraction for people from Italy and all over the world.
Like all of Sicily, Valle del Belice area has experienced various colonizations over the centuries.
The Sicans, the Phoenicians, the Greeks and later the Romans, the Normans, the Arabs and the Spaniards took turns on the territory.
The main economic resource of this land has always been agri-food and in particular the cultivation of the olive tree and the production of olive oil.
A bit of history
Nocellara del Belice variety olive tree history is 2,700 years old, since the settlement of the Greeks and the birth of Selinunte, a Greek colony of the seventh century BC.
The inhabitants of Selinunte cultivated olive trees and colonized neighboring territories in search of fertile lands. As evidenced by the millstones found near Temple E, dating back to the fifth century BC, they were able to produced olive oil and marketed it.
La Nuciddara
Nocellara del Belice ( Nuciddara in Sicilian) dominates the cultivars in Valle del Belice, in figures almost 95% out of the olive groves of the total. This is a rare example of high specialization at a European level.
The area of greatest concentration of Nocellara variety includes the municipalities of Castelvetrano, Partanna, Campobello di Mazara, Santa Ninfa, Poggioreale and Salaparuta for a total area of about 420 square kilometers.
