Alcamo (Italian pronunciation: [alˈkaːmo]; Sicilian: Àrcamu, [ˈaɾkamʊ], or Àlcamu) is the fourth-largest town and commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants.

Nowadays the town territory includes an area of 130,79 square kilometres and is the second municipality as for population density in the province of Trapani, after Erice.

[2] Alcamo is bounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea on the north, Balestrate and Partinico on the east, Camporeale on the south and Calatafimi-Segesta and Castellammare del Golfo on the west.

[8] Though there is little information about it, there are evidences that territory of Alcamo was inhabited even in prehistoric times; in one of the most ancient sites, near "contrada" Molinello (a country district), they discovered archaeological findings dating back to the Mesolithic, approximately 9,000–6,000 BC[9] and other very old ones dating back to the Neolithic during the archaeological excavations done by the archaeologist Paolo Orsi (1899) and the marquis Antonio De Gregorio (1917) near the river Fiume Freddo.

From a distance longer than a mile, the writer describes the position of Alcamo viewed from the Castle of Calatubo (visible even today from the town territory) and defines it as a hamlet or a group of houses with rich soil and a flourishing market.

[15] but a series of revolts between 1221 and 1243 led King Frederick II to move most of the population[16] to a colony at Lucera, while Christians from Bonifato came to inhabit the town.

[17] In the 14th century Alcamo had several thousands of inhabitants[19] and hundreds of them had immigrated from different parts of Sicily and Italy (in particular: Pisa, Amalfi, Bologna, Calabria, Liguria), and some also from Spain.

[20] In the same period the writer Giacomo Adragna transcribed the Commentarii in Persium and Pietro d'Alcamo many works from the library of San Martino.

In 1535, in coincidence with the visit of the emperor Charles V, coming back from Tunisia, the old Porta Trapani was closed and four gates were opened:[22] During the 16th century there was a development in education in Alcamo because of the construction of new schools and the activity of expert teachers, in particular the poet and scholar Sebastiano Bagolino (1562–1604).

[27] On the other hand, this age was important for art because of the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption (1699), designed by the architects Angelo Italia and Giuseppe Diamante.

[24] The archpriests Stefano Triolo Galifi and Giuseppe Virgilio, together with the baron Felice Pastore were members of the Sicilian Parliament as representatives of Alcamo.

[24] During the Unification of Italy the brothers Triolo of Sant'Anna and Giuseppe Coppola of Monte San Giuliano enlisted many citizens to fight with the Garibaldians in 1860.

[34] In the same period the cultivations in the territory of Alcamo were affected by phylloxera and two banks ("Cooperativa" and "Segestana") went bankrupt with subsequent economic difficulties for its citizens.

[35] There were also some events linked to the Mafia, such as the murder of Gaspare Cottone, a carter (1899)[32] and the death of the 19-years-old Benedetto Guastella during a fire conflict with carabinieri in 1900.

[32] As the Mafia had taken power in the districts of Trapani and Alcamo,[32] the commissary Cesare Mori intervened with a series of arrests and charges against the material executors of the crimes occurred in the area[32] and finally they arrested Vincenzo and Michele Tedesco, brothers, and Baldassare Adragna, considered the heads of the gangs in Trapani's territory.

[37] During the years in which SGES operated, there was an improvement of the electric services in Alcamo's territory, owing also to the realization of several artificial lakes.

[30] On 19 August 1937 the fascist leader Benito Mussolini visited the town, crossing Corso 6 Aprile by an open car and parading through the crowd of his supporters.

[30] Since 1960 the town planning system has been greatly expanding, particularly at the foot of Mount Bonifato with the construction of Viale Europa, which is one of the most important street in Alcamo.

During the same period, in which there were armed clashes between the Mafia families, at contrada Virgini in Alcamo, they discovered the biggest heroin refinery in Sicily.

While the crimes of the Mafia went on and tens of people disappeared as victims of "lupara bianca",[41] there was a religious revival which led to the birth of several Catholic associations such as Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo, Neocatechumenal Way and the movement of Comunione e Liberazione.

[42] This religious revival was followed by a new interest into the town's old traditions, mentioned in the works of Roberto Calia and Carlo Cataldo, historians from Alcamo.

The interest in environment is also associated with that in the territory, in fact, after the adhesion to the initiative "Rifiuti Zero" (Zero Rubbish), Alcamo has been considered an example to be followed for the results got between 2010 and 2013 in the field of waste sorting (raccolta differenziata).

[45] The Coat of arms of Alcamo used since the kingdom of Frederick II of Swabia is a black flying Eagle, crowned by Gold in a Silver range, with three hills below and two Golden Oaks.

From the cultural point of view, in the following centuries Alcamo saw the rise of activities connected with arts such as the construction of churches and buildings, first in the baroque and then Renaissance style, with the coming of several artists of international level: painters (like Guglielmo Borremans and the very talented Pietro Novelli from Monreale), sculptors (Antonello Gagini and Giacomo Serpotta) and other various artists who embellished the town's image.

During the feasts in Alcamo there are often streets entertainers and pedlars selling sweets, dried fruit and different objects in their stands called "baracchelle".

The most popular and practised sport in Alcamo, as in most Italian towns, has always been soccer; the greatest team is the Alcamo team, which was in the past a protagonist in some football seasons in League C (Italian Serie C), for its victories against Bari and Crotone, and in League D. Apart various regional trophies, it has won the Coppa Italia Dilettanti in 1996 and the subsequent Supercoppa Italiana Dilettanti.

Alcamo is also the principal centre of the Costa Gaia International Trophy, a youth football kermess in which a lot of titled teams take part and where many great players of the bigger championships have been the protagonists.

There is a private swimpool open to public use (La Fenice) where young boys (who have won National prizes) train regularly.