Sciara (''Xara'' in Sicilian; ) 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) near the

Metropolitan City of Palermo The Metropolitan City of Palermo ( it, Città metropolitana di Palermo; scn, Cità metrupulitana di Palermu) is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. It replaced the Province of Palermo and comprises the city o ...

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 ...

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,788 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 ...

. Sciara borders the following municipalities:

Aliminusa Aliminusa ( Sicilian: ''Larminusa'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Sicily region, Southern Italy, located about southeast of Palermo. Aliminusa borders the following municipalities: Caccamo, Cerda, ...

Caccamo Caccamo (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Càccamu'') is a town and ''comune'' located on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily in the Metropolitan City of Palermo. History The official founding of Caccamo was not until 1093, when the No ...

Cerda Cerda is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Sicily region, Southern Italy, located about southeast of Palermo. Cerda borders the following municipalities: Aliminusa, Collesano, Sciara, Scillato, Sclafan ...

Termini Imerese Termini Imerese (; scn, Tèrmini ) , grc, Θερμαὶ αἱ Ἱμερᾶαι , grc, Θερμαὶ Ἱμέραι , or grc, Θερμὰ (Ἱμεραῖα) ; la, Thermae Himerenses; literally "Himera's hot springs". is a town of the Metropo ...

. Sciara is a small farming town. The main crops are tomatoes, artichokes and olives. Many houses are empty because of emigration to the north of Italy, Germany and the United States during the 1970s, 1980s, etc., due to poor economic conditions. Many emigrants still own their land and houses in Sciara and are proud of their town.

History

Sciara was founded in 1671 by Prince Filippo

Notarbartolo Notarbartolo is one of the main aristocratic families of the Sicilian nobility. Originated in the Middle Ages, it gave to the island numerous personalities who have made a significant contribution to its social, political, intellectual and artisti ...

, under formal authorization by royal decree of

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War o ...

issued on 13 November 1671. Sciara was one of the over 30 fiefdoms owned by the House of

. In 1860 the

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

collapsed: peasants from Sciara chased away the gabellotti, occupied the land and distributed it among themselves.

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:1537 bar:1871 from: 0 till:1763 bar:1881 from: 0 till:2094 bar:1901 from: 0 till:2220 bar:1911 from: 0 till:2255 bar:1921 from: 0 till:2214 bar:1931 from: 0 till:2090 bar:1936 from: 0 till:2449 bar:1951 from: 0 till:2801 bar:1961 from: 0 till:3029 bar:1971 from: 0 till:2612 bar:1981 from: 0 till:2668 bar:1991 from: 0 till:2730 bar:2001 from: 0 till:2718 PlotData= bar:1861 at:1537 fontsize:XS text: 1537 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:1763 fontsize:XS text: 1763 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:2094 fontsize:XS text: 2094 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:2220 fontsize:XS text: 2220 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:2255 fontsize:XS text: 2255 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:2214 fontsize:XS text: 2214 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:2090 fontsize:XS text: 2090 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:2449 fontsize:XS text: 2449 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:2801 fontsize:XS text: 2801 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:3029 fontsize:XS text: 3029 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:2612 fontsize:XS text: 2612 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:2668 fontsize:XS text: 2668 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:2730 fontsize:XS text: 2730 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:2718 fontsize:XS text: 2718 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

References

Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo {{Sicily-geo-stub