Terrasini is a international touristic centre most popular in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. It is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the island of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Data

Terrasini is located west of Palermo at the motorway between

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , 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 province. The ...

and

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

, between the mountains and the Gulf of Castellammare near the Palermo International Airport. Terrasini's population works mainly in fishing and tourism. Bounding communes are: Carini, Cinisi, San Vito Lo Capo, Balestrate, Partinico and Trappeto.

History

The name Terrasini probably derives from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

"terra sinus" = "land at the gulf" (the Gulf of Castellamare) or from "terra sinorum" = "land of the bays" due to the strongly curved coastline with a large number of larger and smaller bays. The name was first cited for the region in a letter from the archive of the abbey San Martino delle Scale near Monreale of 24 November 1350 as "terras vocatas li Terrasini". The grottoes in the area of Terrasini were inhabited already in the late

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

times. On different sites, tracks of Roman settlers were found. The origin of the town goes back to the late medieval times to a small settlement (called Favarotta) of agricultural workers on the large-scale landed property of the family "La Grua Talamanca" from Carini. In the 17th century, fishermen settled at the coast. When the former feudal property was left to the agricultural workers for cultivation, a flourishing agriculture developed around the fishers' village. Modern Terrasini was founded 24 October 1836, when King Ferdinand II issued a decree that the village Favarotta, then considered part of neighboring Cinisi, should be merged with adjoining Terrasini as a single community.

Sights

Culture

*Chiesa Madre "Maria SS delle Grazie", (18th century, facade of 1901) *Chiesa "Maria SS della Provvidenza" *Chiesa "Maria SS del Rosario" *Chiesa "S Rosalia", (18th century) *Palazzo Grua, (18th century), now seat of the town administration *Palazzo Cataldi, (18th century), now seat of the town library *Palazzo Aumale, built in the 19th century as a winery by Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale, the son of king Louis-Philippe of France, now comprising the three sections of the Museo Civico: **Museo del Caretto (ethno-anthropological section) **Antiquarium (archeological section) **Museum of history of nature *Old watchtowers along the coast: Torre Alba (16th century), Torre di Capo Rama (15th century), Torre Toledo or Paternella (16th century) *Villa Fassini *Fishers and tourists port

Nature

*Grotta Perciata, a large grotto in the cliffs *Cala Rossa (red bay, due to the red colour of the rocks) *Natural Park (Riserva Naturale) Capo Rama

Festivals

*Festa di li schietti (on Easter Sunday) *Festa di San Pietro (end of June) *Festa di Maria Santissima delle Grazie (4 September) *Estate Terrasinense (June - September): Season of theater and concert performances throughout the town

Gallery

Image:Terrasini-bjs-1.jpg, Piazza Duomo with Chiesa Madre image:Terrasini-bjs-4.jpg, Palazzo Aumale Image:Terrasini-bjs-6.jpg, Port Image:Terrasini-bjs-8.jpg, Seaside Image:Torre-Alba-bjs.jpg, Torre Alba Image:Landscape-Sicilia-bjs-1.jpg, Calarossa Bay Image:Landscape-Sicilia-bjs-4.jpg, Cliffs with Grottoes Image:Torre-Capo-Rama-bjs.jpg, Torre di Capo Rama Image:Spiaggia Praiola, Terrasini.jpg, Seaside

References

External links

Terrasini on line
(official site in Italian)
Terrasini

Photo Album Terrasini
{{authority control Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo