Sperlinga 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 ...

in the

province of Enna Enna ( it, Provincia di Enna; Sicilian: ''Pruvincia di Enna''; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Enna'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. It was created in 1927, out of parts of the Provinces of Caltanise ...

, in the central part of the island of

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

, in southern Italy. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia I Borghi più belli d'Italia is an association of small Italian towns of historical interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the , with the aim of preserving and maintaining villages of quality herit ...

("the prettiest villages in Italy").

Geography

Sperlinga is at about above sea level, on a hill on the southern slopes of the

Nebrodi The Nebrodi ( scn, Munti Nèbbrudi; it, Monti Nebrodi, ; la, Nebrōdēs montēs) is a mountain range that runs along the north east of Sicily. Together with the Madonie and the Peloritani, they form the Sicilian Apennines. The mountains run ...

mountains. It has a number of

troglodyte A troglodyte is a human cave dweller, from the Greek 'hole, mouse-hole' and 'go in, dive in'. Troglodyte and derived forms may also refer to: Historiography * ''Troglodytae'' or ''Troglodyti'', an ancient group of people from the African Red ...

dwellings. The village is dominated by a large mediaeval castle, dating from late

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times. At the end of 2014 the population was 819 people, in 344 families.

History

The village is first mentioned (as "Sperlingua") in a privilege of the Norman Count Roger from 1082. The first information on the castle is from 1113, and the earliest direct reference to it from 1239. Sperlinga reputedly did not participate in the

Sicilian Vespers The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of S ...

, the bloody uprising against the

Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...

French rulers of Sicily in 1282, and may have offered them protection. An inscription over a door of the castle formerly read , or roughly "what pleased the Sicilians, only Sperlinga denied". From about 1360 Sperlinga was held by the

Ventimiglia family The Ventimiglia were a noble family of Liguria, now in Italy. Descendants of the family held positions and titles of nobility in Sicily in Mediaeval times and later. Members of the family * Giovanni I Ventimiglia (1383–1475), eighth count o ...

. In 1597 it was sold for 30,834 ounces of gold to Giovanni Natoli, who was granted a ''licentia populandi'' or "licence to populate" by the king of Sicily,

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, and was made Prince of Sperlinga in 1627. His son Francesco sold Sperlinga in 1656 to Giovanni Stefano Oneto, but retained the princely title. Oneto was made Duke of Sperlinga in 1666 by

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 ...

. During the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

, in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces under General

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

, including American infantry and tank units and

Moroccan Goumier The Moroccan Goumiers (french: Les Goumiers Marocains) were indigenous Moroccan soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. While nominally in the service of the Sultan of Morocco, they s ...

s, moved past Sperlinga to

envelop Envelopment is the military tactic of seizing objectives in the enemy's rear with the goal of destroying specific enemy forces and denying them the ability to withdraw. Rather than attacking an enemy head-on as in a frontal assault an envelopment ...

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

, a few kilometres to the south. They met strong resistance. After a show of force by American tanks, the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

forces withdrew from Sperlinga and Nicosia during the night of 27 July 1943. Units of the American 16th Infantry Regiment entered Sperlinga the next morning.

Economy

The principal economic activities of Sperlinga are

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperlinga Municipalities of the Province of Enna Hilltowns in Sicily