Sperlinga
Sperlinga is a comune in the province of Enna, in the central part of Sicily. Sperlinga is about 750 m above sea level. It is on a hill on the southern slopes of the Nebrodi mountains,[1] about 47 km north of Enna. It has a number of dwellings.[1] The village has a large medieval castle, dating from Norman times.
| Comune di Sperlinga | |
_-_Castello.jpg) | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Province | Enna (EN) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Saverio di Marco |
| Area | |
| • Total | 58 km2 (22 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 750 m (2,460 ft) |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Total | 819 |
| • Density | 14.12/km2 (36.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 94010 |
| Patron saint | John the Baptist |
| Saint day | 24 June |
| Website | www |
In 2014 the population was 819 people.[2] The main activity in the area is farming.
History
The village is first mentioned (as "Sperlingua") in a document belonging to the Norman Count Roger from 1082.[3]:542 The castle is first mentioned in 1113.[4]
It is believed that Sperlinga did not take part in the Sicilian Vespers, the bloody uprising against the Angevin French rulers of Sicily in 1282. The village may have offered them protection. There was an inscription over a door in the castle which read quod Siculis placuit sola Sperlinga negavit,[4], meaning "what pleased the Sicilians, only Sperlinga denied".
From about 1360 Sperlinga was ruled by the Ventimiglia family.[3]:542 In 1597 it was sold for 30,834 ounces of gold to Giovanni Natoli. [3]:542 Natoli was granted a licentia populandi or "licence to populate" by the king of Sicily, Philip II of Spain,[4] and was made Prince of Sperlinga in 1627.[3]:542 His son Francesco sold Sperlinga in 1656 to Giovanni Stefano Oneto, but kept the princely title. Oneto was made Duke of Sperlinga in 1666 by Charles II of Spain.[3]:542
During the Allied invasion of Sicily, in the Second World War, Allied forces moved past Sperlinga to envelop Nicosia, a few kilometres to the south. They met strong resistance. After a show of force by American tanks, the Axis forces withdrew from Sperlinga and Nicosia during the night of 27 July 1943. Units of the American 16th Infantry Regiment entered Sperlinga the next morning.[5]
Gallery
View of the village
The castle
Entrance to the castle
Caves seen from the castle
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sperlinga (in Italian). Enciclopedie on line. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Accessed October 2015.
- ↑ Bilancio demografico anno 2014 e popolazione residente al 31 dicembre: Comune: Sperlinga (in Italian). Rome: ISTAT. Accessed October 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Vito Maria Amico, Gioacchino Di Marzo (translator) (1858). Dizionario topografico della Sicilia (in Italian). Palermo: Pietro Morvillo.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Nicola Leone (2010). Siculo-Norman art Islamic culture in medieval Sicily. Vienna: Museum With No Frontiers (Museum Ohne Grenzen). ISBN 9783902782052. (unpaginated).
- ↑ Garland and Smith, "Chapter XVI The Drive to the East", Sicily and the Surrender of Italy, US Army in World War II, p. 314
Other websites
Media related to Sperlinga at Wikimedia Commons