Montedoro (
Sicilian: ''Muntidoru'') is a ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' (municipality) 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 ...
in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
region
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, located about southeast of
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
and about west 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 ...
. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,751 and an area of .
[All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute ]Istat
The Italian National Institute of Statistics ( it, Istituto nazionale di statistica; Istat) is the main producer of official statistics in Italy. Its activities include the census of population, economic censuses and a number of social, economic ...
.
Montedoro borders the following municipalities:
Bompensiere,
Canicattì
Canicattì (; scn, Caniattì) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento. In 2016, it had a population of 35,698.
Histo ...
,
Mussomeli
Mussomeli (''Mussumeli'' in Sicilian) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy.
History
Mussomeli is claimed to have been founded in the 14th century by Manfredo III Chiaramonte with the name Manfredi, but later ...
,
Racalmuto
Racalmuto ( scn, Racalmutu; from the Arabic ''raḥl mawt'', "village of death" or ''raḥl Ḥammūd'', " Hammoud's village") is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian Autonomous Region of Sicily, located about ...
,
Serradifalco
Serradifalco ( Sicilian: ''Serradifarcu'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy.
History
Serradifalco (from ''Serra del Falcone'', "Mountain of the Falcon") was founded in the Kingdom of Sicily, in a feudal ...
.
History
The location of Montedoro has been inhabited by
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 ...
and then by
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 ...
. There are stone cave tombs ("tombe a forno") in the districts of Monte Ottavio, Mulinello, Palombaro, Fontana Grande and Fra Diego. A tomb in Tholos, called "Gruttu di li rimitu", on Mount Ottavio, testifies to the Mycenaean presence.
In the "Marcello" district have been found finds of pottery, bricks and various objects of feminine decoration, ceramic from Arezzo.
From the Berbers and the Arabs the locality was called "El Minzar" (which means panorama) and its stream "Ued dur" (river that surrounds).
In 1232 Frederick II granted the Minzarum to the bishop Ursone of Agrigento.
On March 29, 1635 Prince Don Diego Aragona Cortez Tagliavia obtained the concession to establish a village on the feudal lands ("licentia populandi") and founded Montedoro in the fiefdom Balatazza.
For about two centuries the area has based its economy on mining work. From 1815 to 1975 in the territory of Montedoro, several sulfur mines were cultivated: Nadurello, Stazzone Sociale, Grottazze, Gibellini. From 1957 to 1980 in the vicinity of Montedoro there was the cultivation of potash salts.
The rise and fall of the sulfur market in 1896 began emigration flows to the United States of America, principally to the coal mining area centered around
Pittston, Pennsylvania
Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th an ...
, and from 1946 to the European countries and industrial cities of northern Italy.
Today the area has an economy mainly consisting of agriculture and the service sector. Its main crops are: almond, olive trees and vineyards. The local confectionery is also renowned.
Demographic evolution
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Culture
StarGeocenter, includes a Planetarium, Astronomical Observatory, Museum of Sulfur Mines, and House Museums.
* Nuova Teatro Comunale, the new community theater
Notable People
* Giuseppe Bufalino, president of the province and of the CRI, preside higher institutes.
*
Russell Bufalino
Russell Alfred Bufalino (; born Rosario Alfredo Bufalino, ; September 29, 1903 – February 25, 1994) was an Italian-American mobster who became the crime boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Italian-American Mafia crime family known as the ...
, former boss of the
Bufalino crime family
The Bufalino crime family,''Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: Traditional and Non-Traditional''. Pennsylvania Crime Concession. April 15, 1988 also known as the Pittston crime family,Devico, Peter J. ''The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture o ...
.
* Louise Hamilton Caico, writer and photographer
* Giuseppe Guarino (1827-1897), archbishop of Syracuse, cardinal archbishop of Messina.
*
John C. Montana, Italian-American gangster and politician
* Salvatore Paruzzo , bishop of Ourinhos.
* Angelo Petix, writer.
* Salvatore Piccillo, priest, professor of philosophy, director of the Scarabelli Library.
* Angelo Rizzo (1926-2009), bishop of Ragusa.
* Giovanni Rizzo (1890-1980), archbishop of Rossano.
* Angelo Tulumello, priest, Jesuit, publicist.
* Calogero Volpe (1910-1976), doctor, specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, radiologist, constituent, deputy and undersecretary of state, president Ente Zolfi Italiani, mayor of Montedoro.
Sister Cities
*
Saint-Nicolas, Liège
Saint-Nicolas (; wa, Sint-Nicolai-dlé-Lidje) is a municipality of Wallonia located ine the province of Liège, Belgium.
It is effectively a part of the greater Liège conurbation stretching west from Liège city centre towards Liège Airport. ...
*
Vaulx-en-Velin
Vaulx-en-Velin () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is located to its northeast, on the river Rhône.
History
The rivers, including th ...
*
Meyzieu
Meyzieu (; frp, Mêsiô) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is a large suburb of Lyon, situated 13 km east of the city centre on the left bank of the Rhône. Before 1967, it was part of t ...
References
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Sicily