Santa Ninfa 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 ...
'' in the
province of Trapani
Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, southern
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
Santa Ninfa was founded in 1605 by Luigi Arias Giardina who, with approval of King
Philip III of Spain
Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621.
A member of the House of Habsburg, ...
, began to urbanize the country with roads and civil and religious buildings. The town is dedicated to a putative saint, venerated also in
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...
,
Santa Ninfa or Nympha
The town was built with concentric roads that converge in the central square (Liberty Square). Over the years, buildings were built such as the Baronial Palace (Palazzo Baronale), the Hospital, the Church of St. Ursula, St. Anne's Church and the Convent of the Third Order of St. Francis, the Mother Church (Chiesa Madre which is the Cathedral of the country) and the prisons.
In 1615, after the founding of the Arcipretura of Santa Ninfa, the country was declared a baronial fief. From that moment on, and in the following centuries, the estate passed from family to family, enriching the country with more and more new buildings.
Santa Ninfa experienced a large emigration since the early 20th century: many inhabitants of the land left the country for the United States of America, Canada and Venezuela.
Belice earthquake
On January 15, 1968 the country of Santa Ninfa was hit by the disastrous earthquake of Belice. The quake was of the 9th grade on the Mercalli's Intensity Scale, and caused collapses in the entire country.
References
Municipalities of the Province of Trapani
{{Sicily-geo-stub