Alcamo Marina

Alcamo Marina
Hamlet
Alcamo Marina’s beach
Coordinates: 38°01′41″N 12°56′13″E / 38.028°N 12.937°E / 38.028; 12.937Coordinates: 38°01′41″N 12°56′13″E / 38.028°N 12.937°E / 38.028; 12.937
Country	Italy
Region	Sicily
Province	Trapani
Elevation	52 m (171 ft)
Time zone	+1
Area code(s)	0924

Alcamo Marina is a seaside resort in the north-western part of Sicily and in the town territory of Alcamo. It is situated 6 km far from it, about 5 km from the small town of Castellammare del Golfo, 16 km from the village of Scopello, and 49 km from the famous seaside resort of San Vito Lo Capo. Alcamo Marina is characterized by a very fine, golden sand beach about 7 km long, absolutely free (except for some little tracts that people can cross near hotels, lidos, etc.).

During the summer season Alcamo Marina is very populated: in fact there are a lot of holiday houses (both near the beach and on the hills overlooking it), a hotel and various bed and breakfast.

The territory of Alcamo Marina is bounded by the stream Finocchio on the east (near Balestrate), the river San Bartolomeo on the west (near Castellammare del Golfo), the Tyrrhenian Sea on the north and Alcamo on the south. Going from east towards west, the territory of Alcamo Marina is subdivided into different "zones":

The streams Giovenco, Placati and Stellino cross this territory from south northwards.

Alcamo Marina is crossed by the railway Palermo-Trapani, which runs near the beach. The railway bounds a narrow strip more downhill, nearer to the sea which is called "sotto linea" (that is "below the railway"), while the biggest part of Alcamo Marina’s territory is situated above the railway and is called "sopra linea"(that is "above the railway"). Pedestrians can cross the railway through different flyovers and subways, while cars and motorbikes can cross it through level crossings and an underpass near the Battigia zone.

The construction of its first buildings was related to its being a location for tuna fishing.

At first sight the area of Alcamo Marina looks like a huge "wood of houses" leaning on the long and near beach and on the fragile hills lying behind made of recent limestones and sandstones.

At the end of the fifties and beginning of the sixties, as happened with the "sack of Palermo", this area was actually sacrificed to a big property speculation and to unauthorized building, with consequences which did not delay to arrive. In fact, in addition to the damage done because of the non-exploitation of this area for touristic purposes, there were also the environmental deterioration produced by the striking urban migration and the structural damages arising for the existing buildings, above all in those which had been built on the slopes with a high risk of hydrogeological instability, already showing widespread signs of structural failure which oblige the owners to frequent and expensive works to make their houses safe.