Mussomeli (''Mussumeli'' in Sicilian) is a town and ''

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 ...

'' in the province of Caltanissetta,

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

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 ...

History

Mussomeli is claimed to have been founded in the 14th century by Manfredo III Chiaramonte with the name Manfredi, but later the current name, of Latin or Arab origin, was imposed. In 1549 it became a county under the

Lanza Lanza may refer to: People Surname * Adam Lanza (1992–2012), American spree killer and perpetrator of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting * Alcides Lanza (born 1929), Canadian composer * Andrew Lanza (born 1964), New York State senato ...

family.

Culture

A feast is held every September for the Madonna of the Miracles. A similar feast is held simultaneously in

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, which has a large number of Mussomeli émigrés and their descendants.

Diaspora

Many townspeople emigrated to the UK, to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, Surrey where the Madonna dei Miracoli (Madonna of Miracles) is celebrated every July. This created a depopulation problem in the town, and as of 2021 the town is seeking foreign purchasers of the empty houses in central Mussomeli.

People linked to Mussomeli

*Don Francesco Langela (1598-1679) *Don Giuseppe Langela, majon in 1625 and in 1648 *

Paolo Emiliani Giudici Paolo Emiliani Giudici (13 June 1812 – 8 September 1872), Italian writer, was born in the small town of Mussomeli, in central Sicily, Italy. Biography Paolo initially was educated by tutors, until entering the Dominican convent of San Zita in ...

(1812-1872), writer and literary critic *Salvatore Frangiamore (1853-1915) painter *

Giuseppe Sorge Giuseppe Sorge (1857–1937) was an Italian historian, prefect and director of the public security. He was born in Sutera, Sicily. Biography He came from a rich and distinguished family of Mussomeli. Son of Carmelo Sorce (1820–1896), admini ...

(1857-1937), historian, prefect and director of the public security *

Giuseppe Genco Russo Giuseppe Genco Russo (26 January 1893 – 18 March 1976) was an Italian mafioso, the boss of Mussomeli in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. Genco Russo, also known as "Zi Peppi Jencu", was an uncouth, sly, semi-literate thug with excellen ...

(1893-1976), mafioso *

Santo Sorge Santo Sorge (Mussomeli, January 11, 1908 – New York, May, 1972) was a Sicilian Mafioso living in the United States. His exact role has never been very clear; he was one of the great 'unknowns' of the Sicilian and American Mafia. He was one of th ...

(1908-1972), mafioso *Domenico Canalella (1914-1978), priest and Italian translator *

Salvatore Cardinale Salvatore Cardinale (born 20 June 1948) is an Italian politician. Biography Graduated in law in 1972, he practiced the profession of lawyer at the court and the Court of Appeal of Caltanissetta and began political life in the youth movement of t ...

(1948), Italian politician *Roberto Mistretta (1963), journalist and poet

Main sights

*The Chiaramonte Castle ''Castello Mafredonico'', built in 1370 in Norman-Gothic style. It stands on a high crag, elevation , outside the town. It has large halls, dungeons and torture cells, and a chapel with a precious alabaster depicting the ''Madonna dell Catena'' (1516). Near the castle are the ruins of a Greek-Italic village. *The ''Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli'' (Church of Our Lady of the Miracles) *The ''Chiesa Madre of San Ludovico'' (14th century). It was restored along Baroque lines in the 17th century. *The Renaissance church of ''San Francesco''. *The 17th ''Palazzo Trabìa'', with a noteworthy art gallery. *The church of St. Anthony (16th century)

References

External links

History and traditions of Mussomeli "MUSSOMELI LIVE"
{{authority control Cities and towns in Sicily Populated places established in the 14th century 14th-century establishments in Italy