Sambuca di Sicilia
Encyclopedia
Sambuca di Sicilia is a comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Agrigento
Province of Agrigento
Agrigento is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. It has an area of 3,042 km², and a total population of 454,370...

 in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, located about 68 km southwest of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

 and about 89 km northwest of Agrigento
Agrigento
Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden...

. As of 31 December 2010, it had a population of 6207 and an area of 95.88 km².

Sambuca di Sicilia borders the following municipalities: Bisacquino
Bisacquino
Bisacquino is a town and comune in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. It is located 82 kmfrom Agrigento and currently has approximately 5,215 inhabitants. The small town rises on an inner hill zone and is 663 metres above sea-level...

, Caltabellotta
Caltabellotta
Caltabellotta is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 60 km south of Palermo and about 45 km northwest of Agrigento.-History:...

, Contessa Entellina
Contessa Entellina
Contessa Entellina is a small comune of 1,981 inhabitants in the province of Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy...

, Giuliana, Menfi
Menfi
Menfi is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 70 km southwest of Palermo and about 60 km northwest of Agrigento....

, Santa Margherita di Belice
Santa Margherita di Belice
Santa Margherita di Belice is a town in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region of Sicily.It rises in south-west Sicily, 400 metres above sea level, near to where the borders of the Province of Agrigento, Province of Trapani and Province of Palermo meet...

, Sciacca
Sciacca
Sciacca , also Schiacca, is a town and comune in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily...

.

History

The origins of the name are uncertain. The main assumptions: Sambuca as a Greek musical instrument in the shape of a harp or the implantation of the old town. Sambuca from the elderberry plants, widespread in antiquity in the valley of Lake Orange. Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including Open Doors and Il giorno della civetta .- Biography :Sciascia was born in Racalmuto, Sicily...

 breaks down the current name Sambuca in as-Sabuqah and interprets it as a "remote place". Vincenzo Navarro decreed that "Sambuca", "Zabut" is nothing but an "Arpette" and until 1928 the town was called Sambuca Zabut. in 1928, Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

 removed Zabut and added "of Sicily".

Sambuca, was founded by the Arabs around 830, a few years after their landing in Sicily and was called Zabuth (in remembrance of the same name Zabut Al-Arab emir who had built a castle at that place) and built the slopes of Mount Genuardo, between the rivers Belice and Sosius, 350 meters above sea level Zabut Al-Maghrebi was a follower of the ascetic Ibn Mankud Conqueror 's "Burning Warrior of faith," Lord of the independent Kabyle of Trapani
Trapani
Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.-History:...

, Marsala
Marsala
Marsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island...

, Sciacca
Sciacca
Sciacca , also Schiacca, is a town and comune in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily...

.
Zabut was inhabited by Muslim population until the thirteenth century until was conquered by Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

.
From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, Sambuca experienced vicissitudes of prosperity and plagues, prosperity and misery, splendor and earthquakes. Despite all Sambuca progressed. The court passed the Roman family Barberini and new neighborhoods were built, widened the city wall were built palaces and baronial mansions, churches, monasteries, convents. The Land of Sambuca was promoted from Barony to Marquess
Marquess
A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...

 with the privilege of Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

 (Madrid 15 November 1570). The Marquess of Sambuca, the 16 September 1666, passed to Beccadelli family from Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 risen to the rank of princes of the Principality
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....

 of Camporeale.
Sambuca in the nineteenth century is rich with culture. In those years it formed an enlightened middle class, which the animator Vincent Navarro was more qualified as a medical time out, writer, poet and patriot.

Geografy

Sambuca di Sicilia is located at 37°39′2"N 13°6′42"E. The city has a total area of 37 square miles (95.88 km²). The territory of Sambuca di Sicilia is located in the South-West of Sicily, 42.25 miles (68 km) far from Palermo , about 21 miles (34 km) far from the archaeological park of Selinunte
Selinunte
Selinunte is an ancient Greek archaeological site on the south coast of Sicily, southern Italy, between the valleys of the rivers Belice and Modione in the province of Trapani. The archaeological site contains five temples centered on an acropolis...

, and about 13 miles (21 km) far from Menfi
Menfi
Menfi is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 70 km southwest of Palermo and about 60 km northwest of Agrigento....

, that has beaches still pristine and the Blue Flag beach
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...

 for its sea.
Perched on a hill, the town of Sambuca di Sicilia is surrounded in the North-East from hills and woods, including the towering peak of Mount Genuardo (3305 feet - 1.180 m), in the South-West by the valleys of the river Carboj that form the reservoir of Lake Arancio. The beautiful woods surrounding the town are full of local legends and myths.

Tourism and culture

So many styles are intertwined and Sambuca has witnessed many times, and preserves the signs. On Adranon mountain there is the archaeological complex of the 4th century BC and the old Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 house in the holiday area of Adragna. 19th century palaces and baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 facades blend with the old town of Arab descent whose most vivid expressions are: setti vaneddi (seven Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

 alleyways), the Mother church and the Belvedere
Belvedere
-General use:* Belvédère , an alcohol related company based in Beaune, France* Belvedere , architectural term for a structure designed to incorporate a view* Earl of Belvedere, an Irish peerage from 1756 to 1814...

 terrace, the remains of the ancient castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 of the Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

.
Highlights include the 17th century palace Panitteri (home of the ethno-anthropological museum), the palace of Arpa (town hall) and the palace Ciaccio, the Carmine church with the Antonello Gagini
Antonello Gagini
Antonello Gagini was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance, mainly active in Sicily and Calabria.Antonello was a member of a family of sculptors and artisans, originally from Northern Italy, but active throughout Italy, including Genoa, Florence, and Rome. The family includes his father, Domenico...

's marble statue of the Madonna dell'Udienza (Holy Mary of Audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...

) and the church of St. Michael Archangel with its wooden equestrian statue of St. George, patron Saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of Sambuca di Sicilia, slaying the dragon.

Sign of a population-conscious culture, is the Municipal Theatre "L'Idea" and the Institution Gianbecchina. Outside the center, are the ancient towers of Pandolfina and Cellaro, the Mazzallakkar fort which emerge only in the summer months when the lake level is lowered.

Sister City

Winter Haven, Florida
Winter Haven, Florida
Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,487 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 estimates, the city had a population of 32,577, making it the second most populated city in Polk County...

, USA (1984), on the occasion of the Water Ski World Cup performed on the lago Arancio
Lago Arancio
Lago Arancio is a lake in the Province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. The reservoir is located on the territory of the municipalities of Sambuca di Sicilia, Santa Margherita di Belice and Sciacca....

, in Sambuca di Sicilia, Italy. Both cities are in fact involved to this sport.

External links




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