Gela (
Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the
Autonomous Region
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy ...
of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the
Province of Caltanissetta
The Province of Caltanissetta ( it, provincia di Caltanissetta; scn, pruvincia di Nissa or ; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Caltanissetta'') is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilia ...
and is the only in Italy with a population and area that exceed those of
the provincial capital.
Gela was founded in 698 BC by Greek colonists from
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
and
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
; it was an influential ''
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
'' in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
in the 7th and 6th centuries BC and became one of the most powerful cities until the 5th c. BC.
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
, the famous playwright, lived here and died in 456 BC. In 1943, during the
Invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
, the
Allied forces made their first landing on the island at Gela.
[La Monte, John L. & Lewis, Winston B. ''The Sicilian Campaign, 10 July17 August 1943'' (1993) United States Government Printing Office pp.56-96]
History
Ancient era
![Horse's head](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Horse%27s_head.jpg)
Archaeology has shown that the acropolis of Gela was occupied during the Copper Age in the 4th millennium BC and during the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC.
Gela was founded around 688 BC by colonists from
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
and
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
, 45 years after the founding 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 ...
. Archaeology has shown that they chose to settle on the northern slope of the Molino a Vento extending for more than 400 m towards the west up to Castelluccio.
The city was named after the
river Gela, the name of which derives from ''gela'', the Sicilian-dialect word for "winter frost".
According to
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
, the city was founded by
Antiphemus Antiphemus ( grc, Ἀντίφημος) was a man from ancient Greece from Rhodes who was the founder of Gela, around 690 BCE. The colony was composed of Rhodians and Cretans, the latter led by Entimus the Cretan, the former chiefly from Lindus, and ...
and Entimus.
Gela immediately had violent clashes with the
Sicani
The Sicani (Ancient Greek Σῐκᾱνοί ''Sikānoí'') or Sicanians were one of three ancient peoples of Sicily present at the time of Phoenician and Greek colonization. The Sicani dwelt east of the Elymians and west of the Sicels, having, ac ...
of the area: Antiphemus waged a war against the city of
Omphace Omphace or Omphake ( grc, Ὀμφάκη) was an ancient Sicanian town in the Greek territory of Gela, and is one of very few cities we know from literary sources to have been in this territory.
Various scholars have identified modern Butera as anci ...
, not far from Gela. The Gelans won and defeated the city, also taking away a statue that was said to have been made by the mythical sculptor Daedalus.
The Temple of
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
Lindia, protector of the city, was built on the acropolis over the protohistoric remains in the 7th century BC, This was then incorporated into a second temple in the 6th century, also dedicated to Athena.
The Greeks established many colonies in
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
and for many centuries they had a major influence on the area. Gela flourished and the expansionist policy of the tyrants of Gela, in particular
Cleander and especially
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
, led to the city founding a series of satellite colonies, including
Akragas
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of ...
(Agrigento), and also managed to subdue several cities: Kallipolis (according to some, today's
Giarre
Giarre ( scn, Giarri) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily. The town is located about southeast of Palermo and around north of Catania.
Geography
Giarre is bounded by the municipalities of Acireale, Mascali ...
),
Leontini (Lentini),
Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...
(Giardini-Naxos) and
Zancle
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...
(Messina). Only
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 ...
, with the help of her former colonizing city
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...
and
Corcyra
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
managed to escape. When
Kamarina, a Syracusan colony, rebelled in 492 BC, Hippocrates intervened to wage war against Syracuse. After defeating the Syracusan army at the Heloros river, Hippocrates besieged the city but was persuaded to retreat in exchange for possession of Camarina. Hippocrates died in 491 BC in a battle against the
Siculi
The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, wikt:Σικελοί, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic people, Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the na ...
, the native Sicilian people.
Hippocrates was succeeded by
Gelon
Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, and first of the Deinomenid rulers.
Early life
Gelon was the son o ...
, who in 484 BC conquered Syracuse and moved his seat of government there. His brother
Hiero was given control over Gela.
When
Theron of Agrigento conquered
Himera
Himera (Greek language, Greek: ), was a large and important ancient Greece, ancient Greek city, situated on the north coast of Sicily at the mouth of the river of the same name (the modern Imera Settentrionale), between Panormus (modern Palermo) ...
and a
Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage.
It can also refer to:
* Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921
* Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...
army disembarked in Sicily to counter him, he asked for help from Gela and Syracuse. Gelo and Hiero were victorious in the subsequent
battle of Himera, in which the Carthaginian leader Hamilcar died.
After the death of Gelon in 478 BC, Hiero moved to Syracuse, leaving Gela to Polyzelos. Many of the ''Geloi'' returned from Syracuse in this period and the city regained some of its power.
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
died in this city in 456 BC.
In 425 BC during the Sicilian wars, Gela was an ally of Syracuse, while Kamarina was on the opposing side although they were traditional allies. They concluded an armistice in the late summer. Since a bilateral peace was unlikely to last if the rest of the island remained at war, the two cities invited all the belligerents to convene and discuss peace terms. The cities not only sent ambassadors but also granted them unusually broad power to conduct diplomacy. In 424 BC at the
Congress of Gela
The Congress of Gela was a diplomatic meeting between a number of Sicilian cities in 424 BC. It brought a temporary halt to several years of warfare between cities on the island. At the conference, the Sicilian cities agreed to a Syracusan prop ...
, the Sicilian cities made peace on the basis of "Sicily for the Sicilians".
Gela fought the Sicilian League that pushed back the
Athenian
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
attempt to conquer the island in 415 BC (see
Sicilian Expedition
The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place from 415–413 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens on one side and Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth on the other. The expedition ended in a devast ...
).
In 406 BC, the Carthaginians conquered Agrigento and destroyed it. Gela asked for the help of
Dionysius I of Syracuse
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder ( 432 – 367 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Gr ...
but Dionysius did not arrive and, after heroic deeds, the following year, Gela was ruined and its treasures sacked. The survivors took refuge in Syracuse. In 397 BC, they returned in Gela and joined
Dionysius II in his struggle for freedom from the invaders and in 383 BC their independence was acknowledged.
Timoleon
Timoleon (Ancient Greek language, Greek: wikt:Τιμολέων, Τιμολέων), son of Timodemus, of Ancient Corinth, Corinth (c. 411–337 BC) was a Greek statesman and general.
As a brilliant general, a champion of Greece against Anci ...
rebuilt the city walls in 338 BC after the destruction by the Carthaginians. The Acropolis lost its sacred character and was populated with houses arranged on the flanks of the hill. The monumental area of the city was moved to Capo Soprano.
Under
Agathocles Agathocles (Greek: ) is a Greek name, the most famous of which is Agathocles of Syracuse, the tyrant of Syracuse. The name is derived from , ''agathos'', i.e. "good" and , ''kleos'', i.e. "glory".
Other personalities named Agathocles:
*Agathocles, ...
(317-289 BC), the city again suffered internal strife between the people and the ''aristoi'' (aristocrats). When the Carthaginians arrived in 311 BC, they met little resistance and captured the city with the help of the ''aristoi''. The acropolis site at Molino a Vento was then definitively abandoned.
In 282 BC
Phintias of Agrigento ruthlessly destroyed Gela to crush its power forever and transferred its population to his new city of Phintias next to present-day
Licata
Licata (, ; grc, Φιντίας, whence la, Phintias or ''Plintis''), formerly also Alicata (), is a city and ''comune'' located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient ''Himera''), about midway between Agr ...
. This assertion, however, seems to be refuted by a careful reading of the sources that name the
Mamertines
The Mamertines ( la, Mamertini, "sons of Mars", el, Μαμερτῖνοι) were mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles (361–289 BC), Tyrant of Syracuse and self-proclaimed King of Sicily. ...
as the real destroyers of the city, five years earlier.
Roman, Byzantine and mediaeval ages
The city subsequently disappeared from the chronicles. Under Roman rule, a small settlement, which is mentioned by
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
,
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
, and
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, still existed. Later it was a minor Byzantine center. Under the Arabs, it was known as the "City of Columns".
A later city called "Terranova", by which name it remained known until 1928, was founded in 1233 by
Frederick II. The new settlement was located west of ancient Gela, and was provided with a castle and a line of walls. Terranova, also known as Heracles, was a royal possession until 1369, when King
Frederick III of Aragon gave it to
Manfredi III Chiaramonte Manfredi III Chiaramonte (died November 1391) was a Sicilian nobleman.
Of French origins, he was given the County of Modica, then one of the most powerful fiefs in the Kingdom of Sicily, in 1377. He was also made lord of Trapani, Agrigento, Bivona ...
. In 1401, however, after the treason of
Andrea Chiaramonte
Andrea Chiaramonte (???? – 1 June 1392) was a representative of the Sicilian nobility in the 14th century.
Andrea Chiaramonte was given the County of Modica, which included the municipalities of Modica, Ragusa, Scicli, Pozzallo, Ispica, Chia ...
, the city was confiscated and was assigned to several Aragonese feudataries. In 1530, the title of Marquis of Terranova was created for Giovanni Tagliavia Aragona, and in 1561, his son Carlo obtained the title of Duke. The Terranova Aragona held the city until 1640, when the marriage of Giovanna Tagliavia Aragona and Ettore Pignatelli give the possession to the Pignatelli, who held the fiefdom until 1812.
Modern era
![Gela - Sicily](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Gela_-_Sicily.jpg)
Terranova was renamed Terranova di Sicilia, and in 1927, it was renamed Gela.
In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, during the during the initial assault on 9 July 1943 of the
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
, the
U.S. 1st Infantry Division
The 1st Infantry Division is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was offi ...
and the
82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
The 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was a part of the 2nd Armored Division, and was activated July 15, 1940, at Fort Benning, Georgia, for World War II. The organization was made up of trained men, from cavalry and reconnaissance units. T ...
landed on the beaches of Gela, which were strongly defended by the
Livorno Division. The
Allied forces repelled an Italian and German armored
counter-attack at Gela.
The
U.S. Army Engineers built several advanced landing airfields, which was used by the
Twelfth Air Force
The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
The command is the air component to U ...
during the
Italian Campaign, in the area around the city.
After the war, a large oil refinery was built in Gela's territory as a part of
Eni's industrial expansion plan in South Italy. The refinery was intended to help the region's economy but instead it caused significant damage to the area's visual appearance and touristic appeal and in 2014, the refinery was closed down.
Geography
![Gela](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Gela.jpg)
Gela is situated on the
Mediterranean coast
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the eas ...
at the estuary of
Gela river on the south-western side of Sicily. The bounding municipalities are
Acate
Acate ( Sicilian: ''Acati'' or ''Vischiri'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the south of Sicily, Italy, part of the province of Ragusa. It is located in the Dirillo River valley, from Ragusa.
Until 1938 it was called Biscari, and its hist ...
,
Butera
Butera ( Sicilian: ''Vutera'') is an Italian town and a ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southern part of the island of Sicily. It is bounded by the ''comuni'' of Gela, Licata, Mazzarino, Ravanusa and Riesi. It has a populatio ...
,
Caltagirone
Caltagirone (; scn, Caltaggiruni ; Latin: ''Calata Hieronis'') is an inland city and ''comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administ ...
,
Mazzarino and
Niscemi
Niscemi is a little town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy. It has a population of 27,558. It is located not far from Gela and Caltagirone and 90 km from Catania.
Etymology
The name Niscemi is derived from the ...
. Its ''
frazione
A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...
'' (municipal parish) is the coastal village of
Manfria
Manfria is an Italian village and the only civil parish (''frazione'') of the municipality of Gela, in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. In 2001 its population was 387.
History
Around 340 BC, in Sicilian pottery, one of the 3 groups of works ...
.
In
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
, Gela gives its name to the
Gelasian
The Gelasian is an age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest or lowest subdivision of the Quaternary Period/System and Pleistocene Epoch/Series. It spans ...
Age of the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
Epoch.
Climate
Gela has a borderline
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''BSk'') and a
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(Köppen: ''Csa''), and receives just enough precipitation to avoid being classified as semi-arid.
Winters are mild and rainy while summers are dry and warm, though cooler than inland locations owing to the temperature-moderating effects of the sea.
Main sights
![Torre di Manfria (Gela)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Torre_di_Manfria_%28Gela%29.jpg)
* Greek Acropolis.
* The Regional Archeological Museum.
* The archeological site of Capo Soprano with the Timolean walls (city walls) named after
Timoleon
Timoleon (Ancient Greek language, Greek: wikt:Τιμολέων, Τιμολέων), son of Timodemus, of Ancient Corinth, Corinth (c. 411–337 BC) was a Greek statesman and general.
As a brilliant general, a champion of Greece against Anci ...
(4th century BC), located within a large park between the modern city and the coast. It was probably an ancient necropolis. Its many fine
Attic vases
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...
are now in various museums.
*''Zona sacra'', including the basements of three Greek temples, the oldest of which has an
Doric column
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...
. Remains of an archaic (7th-6th centuries BC) emporium have also been excavated.
* The Cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Virgin Assunta, was rebuilt in 1766-1794 over a pre-existing small church of Madonna della Platea. It has two orders façade with Doric and Ionic semi-columns. The interior, with a nave and two aisles, houses a wood with the ''Transit of the Virgin'' by Deodato Guidaccia and other 18th centuries canvasses.
*
San Francesco d'Assisi church: refurbished in the 17th century with a painted wooden roof and housing an altarpiece depicting the ''Deposition'' by
Vito D'Anna
Vito D'Anna (14 October 1718 – 13 October 1769) was an Italian painter, considered the most prominent painter of Palermitan rococo and one of the most important artists of Sicily.
Biography
He was the father of Alessandro D'Anna, the brother- ...
* The ''Castelluccio'' ("Small Castle"), built in the early 13th century. It is located from the city.
*Natural Reserve of Biviere di Gela, including a coastal lake surrounded by dunes.
* Manfria, with a typical beach with Mediterranean dune landscape, and the ''Torre di Manfria'' ("Manfria Tower").
Archaeology
![Bagni greci](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Bagni_greci.jpeg)
There are three main archaeological areas that can be visited today: Capo Soprano, the Acropolis and the site of Bosco Littorio.
At Capo Soprano is the best preserved example in the world of Greek military architecture: the (Timolean) city walls. The length unearthed (almost 400 m) dates to the 4th century BC. The feature that makes them unique is the large squared blocks in Calcarenite 3 m high in the lower part and a thick layer of raw or sun-dried clay bricks above which were perfectly preserved. The upper layer was probably added as a quick solution after news of the imminent invasion of the Carthaginians. At some points the walls externally reached a height of almost 10 m. They are considered to be one of the most important discoveries of classical archeology of the twentieth century as they are testimony of the importance that the ancient Greeks gave to defensive design and engineering as they were designed by an architect down to the smallest detail, with devices and structures intended for specific purposes such as protection from weather and towers, stairs, walkways, drains, buttresses. Inside the walls the military district was brought to light with buildings of clay bricks. Not far away, a large residential area of the same era was discovered.
The Acropolis extends between the mouth of the Gela and the Pasqualello valley and contains the ruins of houses, shops, temples and the
Hippodamian
Hippodamus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Μιλήσιος, ''Hippodamos ho Milesios''; 498 – 408 BC) was an ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosopher, who is considered to b ...
road system (with the ''
plateia
Plateia or Platia (''πλατεία'') is the Greek word for town square. Most Greek and Cypriot cities have several town squares which are a point of reference in travelling and guiding. In traditional societies like villages and provincial commu ...
'' and the ''
stenopoi''). The sacred area extended to the north: today only the bases of three temples are visible. Of the largest, temple C or Athenaion, a Doric-style column (almost 8 m high) remains standing and is one of the city's symbols. Until 405 BC the acropolis housed the most important sacred buildings of Gela but after the destruction by the Carthaginians, houses were built over the acropolis after the rise to power of Timoleon.
In the Bosco Littorio, south of the Acropolis, the extensive emporium (VII-VI century BC) complex near the port at mouth of the river has been recently brought to light and restored. The emporium included workshops, warehouses and shops.
A grandiose Hellenistic villa has been found in via Romagnoli (predio Iacona).
The
Greek baths of Gela
The Greek Baths of Gela are ancient baths which were discovered in 1957, near the Ospizio di Mendicità on via Europa, Capo Soprano, which date to the Hellenistic period. Like the rest of the city, the baths were demolished in 282 BC after the ...
in via Europa are unique in Sicily and consist of two rooms; the one located to the north west consists of two groups of bathtubs connected by a wastewater system that surrounds a central space. The bathtubs that make up the first of the two groups are arranged in a horseshoe and have a particular shape. While only two seats of this first group have been lost, those of the second group are all missing the upper half (perhaps never completed). The material used for the tubs was an agglomeration of terracotta fragments and sandstone debris while some seats are entirely in terracotta.
Among recent discoveries in the area are:
* the oldest Greek wreck (500 BC), unique of its kind, which will be exhibited in the Museum of Navigation
* in 2009 a fourth ancient boat near the mouth of the Dirillo, an underwater archaeological site on the coast of the Bulala district. The 3 other boats are in the Museum of Ancient Navigation.
* foundations of two other Greek temples: the first, very large, next to the crypts of the Mother Church; the second near the new multi-storey car park in via Istria.
* a monumental villa from the Hellenistic period on the Capo Soprano promontory with a view of the gulf
In 2019, a
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
containing an intact skeleton was discovered at Gela. Some weeks later, a short distance away, a ceramic water jug containing the bones of a newborn baby and parts of a large animal's skeleton was discovered. Archaeologists said the place was certainly a Greek necropolis.
Twin towns
Gela is
twinned with:
*
Eleusina
Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
*
Wittingen
Wittingen () is a town in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is about northeast of Gifhorn, and southeast of Uelzen.
Division of the town
Wittingen consists of 27 districts:
History
The earliest identified record of Wittin ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
*
Nordkapp
), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation)
Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
Sports
Football
Gela has got a football team;
S.S.D. Città di Gela. Their football stadium is
. This team was founded in 1975 and re-founded in 2006 and 2011. Their best performance in Italian football was the 12th position in the group B of the
2010–11 Lega Pro Prima Divisione
The 2010–11 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season was the thirty-third football league season of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the third since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro.
It will be divided into two ...
.
Notable people
*
Gelo
Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, and first of the Deinomenid rulers.
Early life
Gelon was the son o ...
*
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
*
Archestratus
Archestratus ( grc-gre, Ἀρχέστρατος ''Archestratos'') was an ancient Greek poet of Gela or Syracuse, in Sicily, who wrote some time in the mid 4th century BCE, and was known as "the Daedalus of tasty dishes". His humorous didactic po ...
*
Polyzalus
See also
*
Gela Calcio
Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of Cal ...
*
Gela railway station
Gela is the main railway station of the Italian city of Gela, in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. It is owned by the ''Ferrovie dello Stato'', the national rail company of Italy.
History
The current station was inaugurated in 1977, substitut ...
*
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
References
External links
*
Gela official website*
Gelacittadimare.it*
*
Piccolo, Salvatore. ''Gela.'' World History Encyclopedia.
{{authority control
Coastal towns in Sicily
Municipalities of the Province of Caltanissetta
Ancient cities in Sicily
688 BC
13th-century establishments in the Kingdom of Sicily
Dorian colonies in Magna Graecia
Ancient Rhodes
7th-century BC establishments in Italy
Greek city-states
Archaeological sites in Sicily