HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , 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 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 S ...
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, Cypru ...
; 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 Gree ...
, the famous playwright, lived here and died in 456 BC. In 1943, during the Invasion of Sicily, 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

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 S ...
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, Cypru ...
, 45 years after the founding of Syracuse. 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 ...
, 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 Entimus. Gela immediately had violent clashes with the Sicani 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 a ...
, 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; the ...
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 o ...
, led to the city founding a series of satellite colonies, including Akragas (Agrigento), and also managed to subdue several cities: Kallipolis (according to some, today's Giarre), Leontini (Lentini), Naxos (Giardini-Naxos) and Zancle (Messina). Only Syracuse, 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 ...
and Corcyra 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 native Sicilian people. Hippocrates was succeeded by Gelon, 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 and a Carthaginian 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 Gree ...
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 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 city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
attempt to conquer the island in 415 BC (see Sicilian Expedition). 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 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 (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. 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. A ...
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 est ...
, and Strabo, 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. In 1401, however, after the treason of Andrea Chiaramonte, 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

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, 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 Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy (192 ...
, 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 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
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 ...
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 Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...
'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 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 e ...
at the estuary of
Gela river The Gela river is located in Sicily. It originates from the Disueri lake and, after about 59 kilometers, flows into the Strait of Sicily of the Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by t ...
on the south-western side of Sicily. The bounding municipalities are Acate,
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 popu ...
,
Caltagirone Caltagirone (; scn, Caltaggiruni ; Latin: ''Calata Hieronis'') is an inland city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, southern Italy, about southwest of Catania. It is the fifth most populou ...
, Mazzarino and Niscemi. 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. 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 Ea ...
, Gela gives its name to the
Gelasian The Gelasian is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest or lowest subdivision of the Quaternary Period/System and Pleistocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between 2.58 Ma (million ye ...
Age of the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological 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 finally confirmed ...
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- ...
( Köppen: ''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

* Greek Acropolis. * The Regional Archeological Museum. * The archeological site of Capo Soprano with the Timolean walls (city walls) named after Timoleon (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 ...
. 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

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 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 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 Gre ...
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 Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with: * Eleusina,
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 wit ...
* Wittingen,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
*
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 of ...
,
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 S.S.D. Città di Gela, commonly known as just Gela, is an Football in Italy, Italian association football club, based in Gela, Sicily. History The club was founded in 1975 and refounded in 2006 and 2011. Gela played 2005–2006 in Serie C1/B, b ...
. Their football stadium is Stadio Vincenzo Presti. 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 ...
*
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 Gree ...
* Archestratus * Polyzalus


See also

* Gela Calcio * Gela railway station *
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; the ...


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