Augusta (, archaically ''Agosta''; scn, Austa ;

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and la, Megara Hyblaea, Medieval: ''Augusta'') is a town and in the province of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, located on the eastern coast of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

(southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). The city is one of the main harbours in

, especially for

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

(

Sonatrach Sonatrach ( ar, سوناطراك; french: Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is ...

and others as part of the complex

Augusta-Priolo The petrochemical complex of Augusta-Priolo (called ''Polo petrolchimico siracusano'' in Italian) is a vast industrialized coastal area in eastern Sicily including the territory of the municipalities of Augusta, Priolo Gargallo and Melilli. Main ...

) which are in its vicinity.

Geography

The city is situated in the province of

and faces the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

. The old town is an island, made in the 16th century by cutting an

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

and is connected to the mainland by two bridges. One bridge was built recently (Viaduct Frederick II of Swabia) and the other was built when the city was founded and is called the Porta Spagnola. Augusta is home to two ports.

History

Founded 27 centuries ago,

Megara Hyblaea Megara Hyblaea ( grc, Μέγαρα Ὑβλαία) – perhaps identical with Hybla Major – is an ancient Greek colony in Sicily, situated near Augusta on the east coast, north-northwest of Syracuse, Italy, on the deep bay formed by the Xiph ...

is one of the oldest Greek colonies of Sicily. It was destroyed by its rival Syracuse, was raised from its ruins, then taken by the Romans together with Syracuse during the Second Punic War. It remains an archaeological site, a testimony of the organization of a Greek colony of the Archaic period. Upon the ruins of one of its suburbs, Xiphonia, the city of Augusta was founded in 1232 by

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusa ...

. After the Angevin domination, it became part of Aragonese Sicily and, from 1362, it was a fief of

Guglielmo Raimondo II Moncada Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada Alagona, conte di Agosta (died 1348) was a 14th-century nobleman and soldier. Life He was the son of the Catalan nobleman Guglielmo Raimondo di Moncada, from the family of the barons of Aitona, and his wife Lucchina ...

. It returned to be a royal possession (under Spain) in 1560, and was extensively fortified to counter Turkish pirates. In 1675 its harbor was the site of a

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...

between the Dutch-Spanish and the French fleets. The town suffered a major earthquake and tsunami in

1693 Events January–March * January 11 – 1693 Sicily earthquake: Mount Etna erupts, causing a devastating earthquake that affects parts of Sicily and Malta. * January 22 – A total lunar eclipse is visible across North and South Ameri ...

. During World War II Augusta was a hotbed of anti-Mussolini sentiment and anti-fascist sentiment more generally, as was all of Sicily. Because of the strongarm tactics that the Mussolini regime used to subdue Sicily, the fascist regime was very unpopular on the island, including in Augusta. When British and American forces arrived in Sicily, the Sicilians did not regard them as conquering invaders but rather greeted them as "emancipators come to lift the evil burden of fascism from their shoulders." All across Sicily the invading forces were greeted with relief and often with unbridled enthusiasm. During

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the combined British and American effort to dislodge fascist forces from Sicily, the plan was for British forces under

General Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...

to capture Augusta during the first few days of the operation. This part of the operation went entirely according to plan and Augusta was captured on July 13, 1943, by the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces, ...

, led by Britain's

. Almost immediately thereafter British forces began moving north towards

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

.Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, July–August 1943 by Carlo D'este, pg. 310, 312, 325

Main sights

*Castello Svevo (Hohenstaufen Castle, built c. 1232). It has a square plan of a side length, with eight towers * Capo Santa Croce Lighthouse *Church of Anime Sante del Purgatorio (S. Nicolò). The Baroque façade is attributed to

Filippo Juvarra Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...

*Church of Carmine *Church of Cristo Re *Church of Maria Santissima Assunta (Augusta) *Church of Maria Santissima del Soccorso *Church of Sacro Cuore *Church of San Domenico (13th century). The façade is in Neoclassical style *Church of San Francesco di Paola *Church of San Giuseppe *Church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie *Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso *Church of San Sebastiano *Church of Sant'Andrea *Church of Santa Lucia *Convent of the Dominican Fathers *Eremo Adonai *Forti Garsia e Vittoria *Hangar dirigibili Augusta *Kursaal Augusto *Porta Spagnola * Ricetta di Malta * Porta Spagnola (17th century) *Torre Avalos

Notable people

Emanuele d'Astorga Emanuele Gioacchino Cesare Rincon, baron of Astorga (20 March 16801757, by one report) was an Italian composer known mainly for his ''Stabat Mater''. Biography He was born on 20 March 1680Hans Volkmann, ''Emanuele d'Astorga'', Leipzig 1911, p. ...

, composer *

Orso Mario Corbino Orso Mario Corbino (30 April 1876, Augusta – 23 January 1937, Rome) was an Italian physicist and politician. His younger brother was Epicarmo Corbino. He served as the minister for education in 1921 and as the minister for economy in 1921. H ...

, physicist *

Epicarmo Corbino Epicarmo Corbino (1890–1984) was an Italian academic and economist who served briefly as the minister of industry and the minister of treasury in the 1940s. Biography Corbino was born in Augusta, Sicily, in 1890. He was the brother of Orso M ...

, economist * Giuseppe Di Mare (composer), organist, pianist and composer *

Rosario Fiorello Rosario Tindaro Fiorello (born 16 May 1960), known just as Fiorello, is an Italian comedian, singer, radio, and television presenter. Career Fiorello was born in Catania, Sicily, and raised in Augusta, Sicily. He began his career working in tour ...

, showman *

Beppe Fiorello Giuseppe Fiorello, also known as Beppe Fiorello or Fiorellino (born 12 March 1969), is an Italian actor. Career Fiorello was born in Catania, Sicily, the youngest of four children. His elder brother is the noted television and radio personal ...

, actor *

Alfredo Maria Garsia Alfredo Maria Garsia (14 January 1928, Augusta, Sicily - 4 June 2004, Augusta, Sicily) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and bishop. Life He was ordained priest on 1 July 1951. Pope Paul VI appointed him bishop of Caltanissetta on 21 December 1 ...

, Bishop of

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''. In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th l ...

* Marcello Guagliardo Giordani, opera singer (tenor) *

Giovanni Lavaggi Giovanni Lavaggi (born 18 February 1958) is an Italian racing driver. Despite Lavaggi being a nobleman by background, he couldn’t count on personal financial resources; therefore he started racing only at the age of 26. Nevertheless, he manag ...

, Formula 1 driver *

Roy Paci Rosario (Roy) Paci (born September 16, 1969 in Augusta) is an Italian trumpeter, singer, composer and arranger. Music and career Born in Sicily, Paci started playing the piano as a young child and picked up the trumpet at age 10. By 13, he w ...

, musician *

Antonio Scaduto Antonio Scaduto (born 1 December 1977) is an Italian sprint canoer who has competed since the early 2000s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the K-2 1000 m event at Beijing in 2008. Scaduto also won a bronze medal in t ...

, canoeist *

Riccardo Schicchi Riccardo Schicchi (; Augusta, Sicily, 12 March 1953 – Rome, 9 December 2012) was an Italian pornographer. He graduated from art school with a specialization in photography, Schicchi began by being a photographer for a magazine named '' Epoca'' ...

, director * Chiara Strazzulla, writer

References

External links

Augusta NewsAugusta port facilities

Augusta Boston Club

{{authority control Municipalities of the Province of Syracuse Populated coastal places in Italy