Piazza Armerina

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian. (January 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at [[:it:Piazza Armerina]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|it|Piazza Armerina}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Comune in Sicily, Italy

Coat of arms

Location of Piazza Armerina

37°23′N 14°22′E / 37.383°N 14.367°E / 37.383; 14.367CountryItalyRegionSicilyProvinceEnna (EN)FrazioniAzzolina, Farrugio, Floristella, Grottacalda, Ileano, Polleri, Santa Croce, SerrafinaGovernment

• MayorNino CammarataArea

^[1]

• Total302 km² (117 sq mi)Elevation

697 m (2,287 ft)Population

(30 November 2017)^[2]

• Total21,768 • Density72/km² (190/sq mi)DemonymPiazzesiTime zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal code

94015

Dialing code0935Patron saintMaria Santissima della VittoriaSaint dayAugust 15WebsiteOfficial website

Piazza Armerina (Gallo-Italic of Sicily: Ciazza; Sicilian: Chiazza) is a comune in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy.

History

The city of Piazza (as it was called before 1862) developed during the Norman domination in Sicily (11th century), when Lombards settled the central and eastern part of Sicily.

The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The city flourished during Roman times, as shown by the large mosaics at the patrician Villa Romana del Casale.

Remains, artefacts of old settlements and a necropolis from the 8th century BC were found in the territory of the commune.

Boris Giuliano (1930-1979) was born in Piazza Armerina.

Main sights

The town is famous chiefly for its monumental Roman villa with its exceptional mosaics in the Villa Romana del Casale, about 3 kilometres (2 miles) to the southwest.

It also has a range of significant architecture dating from medieval through the 18th century. The medieval history of the city is manifest in some of its houses, which show Norman or Gothic architecture. The main landmarks include a range of architectural styles:

Piazza Armerina Cathedral: church was built atop the 15th-century foundations of a former church, from which the bell tower was taken and reused; completed during 17th and 18th centuries.^[3] Also original to the 15th-century church are the Catalan-Gothic style windows on the left side. The dome dates from 1768. The façade has a notable portal with spiral columns by Leonardo De Luca. The interior, with a single large nave, houses the Madonna della Vittoria (Madonna of the Victory). The Byzantine icon is traditionally associated with the banner donated by the Pope to Roger I of Sicily during the Council of Melfi. The cathedral has an unusual two-sided crucifix by an unknown artist. The Diocesan Museum holds reliquaries, articles of silverware, monstrances and other religious art works.^[4]
Palazzo Trigona: palace of the wealthy family who commissioned the nearby cathedrachurch.
San Rocco: church of Fundrò with a carved tufa portal.
Palazzo di Città (1613), characterized by a fresco ceiling by Salvatore Martorana.
Aragonese Castle (1392–96). It is square in shape, with square towers.
San Giovanni Evangelista: 14th-century church with interior frescoes by Guglielmo Borremans and assistants.
Sant'Anna: 18th century church with Baroque sinuous façade inspired by the buildings of Borromini.
The church of St. Martin of Tours: church completed in 1163.
Santa Maria di Gesù: 16th century church now abandoned.
Garibaldi Theatre.
Commenda Dei Cavalieri Di Malta (1150) Old Church, run by the Knights of Malta from 1150, now a national monument, at Piazza Umberto 1.

Outside the city is the ancient church of the Priorato di Sant'Andrea (1096), founded by Count Simon of Butera, a nephew of Roger I of Sicily. It has important medieval frescoes.

Culture

Piazza Armerina holds an annual Palio dei Normanni, a re-enactment in costume of the entrance of the Norman Count Roger I to the city. It takes place on 12–14 August.

Language

Piazza Armerina is one of the so-called "Lombard" communes of Sicily, as its dialect differs notably from that of the neighbouring region. This is due to the destruction of the old Piazza by king William I of Sicily, and the subsequent repopulation by William II (according to other scholars, during the slightly later age of Frederick II) with colonists coming from northern Italy (then collectively called "Lombardy"), especially from Monferrato and Piacenza.

References

^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^ Piazza Armerina
^ Mauceri, Enrico (1906). "Armerina Piazza". L'Arte (in Italian). 9: 14–17.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Piazza Armerina". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 575.