Marsala Marsala, beginning the process of Italian unification. On 11 May 1943, in the lead-up to the World War II Allied invasion of Sicily, an Allied bombardment of the town permanently damaged its Baroque centre and claimed many victims: "Marsala Wiped Off the Map" titled the New York Times on 13 May 1943. The archaeological area of Marsala has been investigated both through excavations and topographic studies. Lilybaeum, the ancient town, took up a rectangular area on Capo Boeo, a low and rocky promontory sloping gently down towards the sea. The urban layout of the town can be dated back to
Marsala renamed "Marsa ʿAlī" "ʿAlī's harbour" or maybe, "Marsa ʿāliyy", "Big harbour", for the width of the ancient harbour, placed near Punta d'Alga. Another possible derivation is "Marsa Allāh", "God's harbour". Another theory is that "Marsala" comes from "mare salis", "salt pans by the sea" from the presence of salt pans along the whole northern coast, although mention of this theory cannot be found in contemporary references and the installation of the bigger salt ponds on the group of islands composing the contemporary single island "Isola Lunga" was made just during the 19th century. Since the end of the 11th century,