The Lagoon Reserve of the Stagnone of Marsala is a magical place, out of time, ranked first in the special Expo ranking of the 2014 census. An evocative natural landscape, breathtaking, of rare beauty for its colors, the scents, for the slow rhythms of the sea waves that gently lull the small fishing boats, for the emotions that arouse the sunsets, for its white salt pans with windmills. Because of his story. The Reserve takes its name from the "Stagnone", a lagoon that stretches from Punta Alga to San Teodoro and also includes four islands: Mozia, Isola Grande or Lunga, Schola and Santa Maria. It is the largest in Sicily and is characterized by very shallow waters. The Stagnone Nature Reserve extends from the north coast of Marsala, overlooking the Egadi archipelago, and continuing to the city of Trapani. The Stagnone in antiquity, especially in the Phoenician era, was a strategically important place for the presence of Mozia, an influential and safe Phoenician trading center for trade between East and West. The period of splendour of the Stagnone ended with the Roman conquest and remained in silence until the dawn of the modern age. In fact, with a considerable leap of centuries, the Stagnone returned to have an important function at the time of the Spanish domination, in the fifteenth century, when the salt pans were built along its coast and when the fishing activity increased. The salt pans are still one of the peculiarities of the Stagnone Reserve and can be visited. As well as the impressive windmills that came and are used for pumping water and grinding salt. Among the characteristics that make the Reserve unique, however, there is also the presence of numerous species of fish (bream, bass, mullet, eels, bream, cuttlefish, octopus, crustaceans and so on). The warm waters of the Lagoon and the shallow depths of its seabed make the Stagnone, in fact, an ideal habitat for spawning and for fish repopulation, also protected by the regulation of the Reserve which provides for the prohibition of hunting and underwater fishing and with nets. Even the sport fishing (through lines and pots), although it is allowed, is properly regulated. But the Stagnone is also a small paradise for fans of ornithology. At certain times of the year several species of migratory birds, thimble riders, wild ducks, herons and white or pink flamingos, here nest or stop during their migrations. The Stagnone Reserve also hosts a lush vegetation typical of the Mediterranean brackish marshes: the dwarf palm, rushes and salicornie.