Salemi
Salemi is a town and comune in northwestern Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the province of Trapani. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
History
Salemi is where Giuseppe Garibaldi announced the annexation of Sicily on May 14, 1860, as part of the Expedition of the Thousand, briefly making the town his headquarters after his landing at Marsala two days earlier.From Alicia to Salemi
Located on the slopes of Monte delle Rose Mazzaro between the river and the river Grande, the town is situated on the site of the ancient city Elima of Halyciae.Theatre of the continuous wars between Selinunte and Segesta, Salemi, probably due to their common origin, has always been allied with Segesta.
In 272 BC, Salemi was conquered by the Romans and declared a free city and free from taxes for its voluntary submission.
In the fifth century, like the rest of Sicily, Salemi fell under the dominion of the Vandals, and then under that of the Goths.
In 535, it was conquered by the Byzantine Belisarius, the general of Justinian.
In 827, Salemi fell under the control of the Arabs, and the area prospered. It was during this time that the name Salemi seems to have originated. In this regard, there are several theories about the origin of the name: one theory is attributed in honor of "Saleiman", son of the commander who conquered Alicia, that resulting from "rooms" for the presence of the salty river which makes the brackish waters that run through the city; another theory is that Salemi is derived from the meaning of "Salam" and that is a healthy and safe city, and "Salem", which means peace. The urban center was structured then, and remains in the same configuration today. In terms of agriculture, the Arabs introduced many new crops to Salemi and the surrounding areas: oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, asparagus, artichokes, cotton, eggplant and spices such as saffron, cloves and cinnamon.
In 1077, and then in later Norman times, the town experienced a remarkable development. During this period, the castle was built.
In 1194, it came under the domination of the Swabians.
In 1266, the death of Frederick II, began the Angevin period, which reduced the amount of the population in poverty.
In 1296, Frederick III of Aragon had Salemi downgraded to a feudal city.
In 1392, Salemi became an independent municipality.
In 1441, on December 11, in the castle of Salemi a confederation made up of Salemi, Trapani, Mazara, Monte San Giuliano and by the barons of Castelvetrano and Partanna was formed which undertook the defense, and bore the costs, of the Queen White and Royal House of Aragon. Salemi was, therefore, more fortified and garrisoned during the raids of the Turks.
In 1735, with the coronation of Charles III of Spain as King of Sicily on June 30, the Bourbon rule began.
First capital of Italy
In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi, after landing at Marsala, headed to Salemi, where on May 14, he was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the population. With the help of Baron Joseph Triolo of Sant'Anna di Alcamo, who had joined him with a band of picciotti, he assumed control in the name of Victor Emmanuel II King of Italy.In the Town Hall Square, called the "dictatorship" in celebration of the event, a plaque recalls that on that date Giuseppe Garibaldi arrived in Salemi declaring himself dictator of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, "Sicilians! I led a band of warriors flocked to the heroic cry of Sicily, the rest of the battles of Lombardy. We are with you! Seek only the liberation of our land. All together, the work will be easy and short. To arms then!"
On that occasion, the Hero of Two Worlds hoisted, by himself, on top of the cylindrical tower of the Norman - Swabian castle of Salemi, the flag proclaiming Salemi the first capital of Italy;, a title it held for one day.
Precisely in Salemi was promulgated one of the first laws of the unified nation, thus giving the city the honor of being the first capital of liberated Italy. Salemi, therefore, stands to Turin as the act of conception to birth.
Garibaldi and celebrations
In 1982, on the occasion of the celebration in Salemi of the centenary of the death of Garibaldi, the route taken by the general, Italian patriot and leader was represented symbolically and with the participation of Prime Minister Bettino Craxi.On May 11, 2010, the Head of State Giorgio Napolitano visited Salemi, Calatafimi and Marsala on the occasion of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Italy.
Count of Salemi
On December 1, 1889, King Umberto I, as a sign of affection towards his brother Amedeo of Savoy and his second wife Maria Letizia Bonaparte, gave his infant grandson Umberto the title of "Count of Salemi." The younger Umberto, however, died in 1918 without having children and, consequently, the title was not assigned to any descendant.Disaster and earthquake of 1968
The town of Salemi has suffered various natural disasters in the course of its history. In 1270, the area was hit by an epidemic of plague spread by soldiers who were returning from an expedition in Tunisia. Several homes were burned and destroyed to try to eradicate the disease. From this event arose the request made by the people of the town to have their own patron saint: Saint Nicholas of Bari.In 1542, an invasion of locusts caused serious damage to agricultural crops and a severe famine. Many citizens invoked the intercession of Saint Blaise.
In 1740, a landslide spilled over into the convent of the Franciscan Third Order of the Rose of the mountain as well as the convent of the Capuchin Friars.
In 1968, in the night between January 14 and 15, the city was badly hit by a strong earthquake that destroyed many towns in the Valle del Belice. In the aftermath of the earthquake, land was donated to Salemi Gibellina on which was subsequently built the town of "New Gibellina." Following the earthquake the political authorities of Salemi called upon architects to design and redesign the structure of the municipality, opting for the reconstruction of the town according to a new style. For these reasons, the urban development has led to a shift towards the downstream part of the hill which was called precisely "new country" and now is, with the "Cappuccini", one of the areas and neighborhoods with higher population density.
The old town is characterized by a system diagram Arabic, with clearly articulated dead ends, leading to increasingly segregated courtyards and staircases particularly on steep cliffs. Following the earthquake, the village in the central area, although not completely disrupted, remained abandoned for several years because of limited rebuilding and a choice to decentralize the new town in other districts. Structure, however, maintained the orthogonality of the monumental complex of the Jesuit College and by a dense corollary of patrician houses and numerous churches.
In an elevated position and strategically dominant stands the Castle, erected or at least altered by Frederick II in the thirteenth century, on the basis of an ancient Greco-Roman fortress later used by the Arabs and Normans, trapezoidal with three towers and two square and a circular plan.
On the site where stood the ancient medieval mother church, dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels and probably built over a mosque and a temple of Venus, in 1615 began the construction of the Cathedral, designed by the architect Mariano Palermo Smiriglio and completed in 1761, at least with regard to the longitudinal body, as from this date their work began to expand the old apse. The 1968 earthquake did not cause the collapse of part of an aisle, the neglect of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of the time reduced it to an imposing ruin. Partially recovered, with a plan of action of the Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza, now arouse special attraction the remains of the "Madrice" Alicia in front of the square on which stands the castle. During the international conference called Squares of Europe, Squares for Europe the Alicia square was included among the 60 good examples of implementation, planning and urban redevelopment in the world.
Religion
Between the Jewish Quarter of the Giudecca and Salemi's Islamic Rabato, Salemi's architecture reflects its diverse history, with influences from all three major monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.Traditions and festivals
Saint Nicholas of Bari
Legend has it that to cope with the plague that destroyed Salemi in 1270, the people Salemi began asking the Church for a patron saint. For these reasons, in 1290 the people made a formal request to Pope Nicholas IV, and the Church decided that the inhabitants should choose their protector. So they chose to draw names from a can, containing the name of all the saints, in order to choose the patron saint of Salemi. The first extraction was the name of Saint Nicholas of Bari. Not finding any link, they opted for a second extraction after which he was again Saint Nicholas. The extraction was performed again and "miraculously" confirmed for the third time. In his honor, he devoted himself a fair. It is said, also, that through the intercession of the saint together with Our Lady, Saint Francis in San Biagio and the town of Salemi was saved from cholera that God wanted scagliarvi in the course of 1740. In the central Freedom Square a statue was erected to thank the saint for having protected the city from the earthquake of 1794.In 1987, on the occasion of the ninth centenary of the transfer of the relics of the saint from Myra in Bari, during a pilgrimage of Salemi in Bari, after S. Mass celebrated by the city's assistant pastor Don Giuseppe Maniscalco on the tomb of Saint Nicholas, patron as a gift to the inhabitants offered a scented oil and a few drops on the marble of the tomb was completely absorbed, stirring devout awe among onlookers. Quell'ampolla is kept in the treasury of the Basilica of Bari as a sign of reverence to the saint who continues to exist after seven centuries after its proclamation as Patron of Salemi.