It is the Sicilian city closest to Africa, from which it is less than 200 km from the Tunisian coast.

The history of Mazara del Vallo is closely linked to its geographical position, being the tip of Sicily closest to the African coast, but its origins are prior to the birth of maritime navigation, the first human settlements in the Mazara area date back to the upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.
many peoples passed through here: the Phoenicians, Syracusans, Carthaginians and the Romans. Then vandals, Goths, Byzantines, Arabs and Berbers and finally the Normans.
precisely because of this succession of dominations, the architecture of the city is very varied, the old historic center, once enclosed within the Norman walls, includes numerous monumental churches, some dating back to the 11th century. The oldest part has the typical features of the neighborhoods with an Islamic urban layout typical of the medinas, called Kasbah, with its narrow and winding alleys, it represents one of the very few remaining architectural testimonies of the Arab presence in Sicily and Italy.