Philosophy
Rakalia is a place designed to return to pure lifestyles, blending an authentic approach of tradition and territory with a vision of ethical, sustainable and contemporary hospitality, in perfect symbiosis with the rhythms of nature. A place to rediscover the beauty of simple things and find yourself.
The term rakalia [ra-ka-lì-a] comes from the Arabic rahl, place of stay. It indicates a place for a stopover and dates back to the time of the first Arab settlement in western Sicily. Rakalia is a toponym of Arab ancestry of the sixteenth century. The name, in the form heraclia, has been known since 1131.
THE LOCATION
Located in the heart of the ancient lands of Marsala, RAKALIA was created in one of the most evocative points of Western Sicily, in the area where the ancient Carthaginian city of Lilibeo was built, today the archaeological area of Capo Boeo (Lilybaeum for the Romans). RAKALIA overlooks the Oriented Nature Reserve “Isole dello Stagnone di Marsala”, where the ancient Phoenician city of Mozia was built, among lush vineyards rich where the smell of salt lingers, between changing colours mirrored by the water and windmills.
A few miles from RAKALIA, you can appreciate the marvellous crystal clear waters of the Egadi Islands archipelago, the largest marine reserve in Europe.
(AMP).
For centuries, its geographical position has made RAKALIA an ideal starting point for visiting the entire western Sicily. Trapani’s “Vincenzo Florio” airport is located just 10 km from the hotel.
THE TERRITORY
Marsala, poetic and historical, strong in its archaeological and environmental character, preserves testimonies scattered throughout a geographically special territory, where nature expresses itself in all its characteristics. Embraced by the Mediterranean Sea, Marsala is contemporary Sicily without clichés, in perfect harmony with the territory and its authentic traditions.
DISCOVER RAKALIA THROUGH
ARCHITECTURE
RAKALIA encompasses an area of more than 10,000 square meters, surrounded by extraordinary Mediterranean vegetation. Built in an area full of history and ancient historical and cultural significance, RAKALIA is characterized by the rural stone and lime plaster architecture typical of the territory, reconceptualised in a contemporary key. A sensitive design – aimed at the essential – highlights the harmony of contrasts in a project filled with stylistic references to the past yet able to evolve into the future through precise ethical and sustainable choices.
A new minimalism that expresses itself through the essential and gives space to furnishings, objects, works of art and materials of natural origin, sustainable and recycled.
A pastiche of architecture, design and art that mixes new languages of aesthetics, functionality, culture and research by upcycled creators from the region and all over the world.
Each environment at RAKALIA is designed with the orientation of the Sun and the Wind in mind. With the paths also created in the outdoor spaces, the unique spectacle of light that changes every hour until sunset can be enjoyed in a continuous flow. The best happens in the open air, to the rhythm of the seasons and of nature, in spaces that, freed from geometric conventions, focus on subtraction A precise desire to bring the outside inside, to incorporate and recall Nature within the built environment.
The water in the 30-metre infinity pool has the best beneficial properties of salt from the salt pans of the Stagnone di Marsala. A unique panorama in which to admire the entire coast of western Sicily and the archipelagos of the Egadi islands and the Stagnone islands, a natural crossroads of history, cultures and peoples.
THE INFINITY POOL AT RAKALIA
THE GARDEN
A contemporary garden with ancient scents of native flora, the result of a skilled garden design that utilises orientation to not directly expose ‘Rakalia Garden’ to the wind that moves, all around, the imperfect beauty of the uncontaminated Mediterranean shrubland.
The garden at Rakalia merges and intertwines in a chromatic and olfactory explosion that stimulates the five senses. Characterizing the aesthetics, are the tall wind rose palm and the warmth of the Sicilian yellow ciara, ancient stone of the territory.
THE WINE LIBRARY
Set in an environment excavated directly into the ciara, a historically functional place for the storage of wine in order to maintain the right temperature and humidity of the product. The Rakalia Wine Library is a tribute to the centuries-old oenological culture of the areas of Trapani – the largest vineyard province in Europe – and of Marsala, ‘The City of Wine’.
Called the ‘Wine Library’, the Rakalia Winery is in fact the result of a passionate search for predominantly Sicilian labels. Among the fortified wines, digestives and meditation wines, Marsala wine for tasting or meditation is celebrated as an irreplaceable protagonist.
Rakalia Rooftop is the ideal place to enjoy one of the most extraordinary views of the sun, among salt dunes, windmills and crystal clear sea: the sunset of Marsala, awarded fourth place among the most beautiful sunsets in the world.
The Terrace at Rakalia
Our contemporary Sicily
The beauty found in the imperfection of simple and authentic things is what guides our traveller, who loves experiencing contemporary Sicily without clichés, in perfect harmony with the territory and its authentic traditions.
