Manfria is an Italian village and the only civil parish (''

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 ...

'') of the municipality of

Gela 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 ...

, in 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 ...

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

. In 2001 its population was 387.

History

Around 340 BC, in Sicilian pottery, one of the 3 groups of workshops specialized in red-figure style was named " Lentini-Manfria Group" and was active in

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 ...

and Gela. Manfria, named after the homonym medieval coastal tower, grew in the second half of the 20th century. It received the official status of ''frazione'' after a municipal law of 24 January 2006.

Geography

Manfria is a sea resort located 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 ...

, 12 km-far from Gela and 27 from

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 ...

. It is composed by two inhabited areas, Manfria (western area) and Lido Manfria, in the east. The village is separated from

Marina di Butera A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, a ''frazione'' of

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 ...

, by the course of the river Comunelli.

Tower of Manfria

The Tower of Manfria (''Torre di Manfria'', also named "Sferracavallo") is located upon a hill between the western area and Lido. It was part of a net of Sicilian coastal

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s, built following the project of the Florentine architect

Camillo Camilliani Camillo Camilliani ( fl. 1574–1603) was an Italian architect, military engineer and sculptor. He is mostly known for the design of watchtowers and other fortifications around the coasts of Sicily. Life Camillani was born in Florence sometime ...

.Article on sicilyweb.it
/ref> File:Torre di Manfria (Gela).jpg, Torre di Manfria (1) File:Torre di manfria123.jpg, Torre di Manfria (2)

References

External links

{{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Caltanissetta Gela