Villalba (
Sicilian: ''Villarba'') 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) in the
Province of Caltanissetta
The Province of Caltanissetta ( it, provincia di Caltanissetta; scn, pruvincia di Nissa or ; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Caltanissetta'') is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilia ...
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 northwest of
Caltanissetta
Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''.
In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th ...
, about southeast of
Palermo and 68 km from
Agrigento
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...
. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,852 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 ...
. It rises over an internal hilly area, 620 meters above sea-level.
The name Villalba has Spanish origins, and it means "the white city" because of town's white houses. Villalba is known for the cultivation of cereals, grapes, vegetables, tomatoes, and lentils. The Sagra del Pomodoro (tomato festival) is held every year in the month of August.
Villalba borders the following municipalities:
Cammarata
Cammarata is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Agrigento on the eponymous mountain, which has an elevation above sea level in a territor ...
,
Castellana Sicula
Castellana Sicula ( Sicilian: ''Castiddana'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo.
Castellana Sicula borders the following municipalities: Petrali ...
,
Marianopoli
Marianopoli ( Sicilian: ''Manchi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Caltanissetta.
Marianopoli borders the following munici ...
,
Mussomeli
Mussomeli (''Mussumeli'' in Sicilian) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy.
History
Mussomeli is claimed to have been founded in the 14th century by Manfredo III Chiaramonte with the name Manfredi, but late ...
,
Petralia Sottana
Petralia Sottana ( scn, Pitralìa Suttana) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in the island of Sicily, Southern Italy. The main characters in Emanuele Crialese's 2006 film of Sicilian immigration to America, ''Nuovomon ...
,
Polizzi Generosa
Polizzi Generosa ( Sicilian: ''Pulizzi'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. The town sits in the hills at above sea level.
History
The site of Polizzi shows signs of human o ...
,
Vallelunga Pratameno
Vallelunga Pratameno ( Sicilian: ''Vaddilonga'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Caltanissetta.
Vallelunga Pratameno borde ...
.
History
Since the 17th century, the
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
was owned by the Miccichè family. In 1751, it was acquired by Nicolò Palmieri Calafato, who also obtained the approval to populate the area. The first houses were constructed in 1763.
During the 18th century the town experienced a remarkable urban and architectural growth. There are various important monuments, such as the Chiesa Madre built in 1700, and the Chiesa della Concezione erected in 1795, preserving a statue by artist
Filippo Quattrocchi
Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...
(first half of the 18th century). Noteworthy is the Palace of baron Nicolò Palmieri Morillo, built during the 18th century.
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:6000
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:3353
bar:1871 from: 0 till:3580
bar:1881 from: 0 till:4181
bar:1901 from: 0 till:3426
bar:1911 from: 0 till:4113
bar:1921 from: 0 till:3505
bar:1931 from: 0 till:3924
bar:1936 from: 0 till:4392
bar:1951 from: 0 till:4932
bar:1961 from: 0 till:3737
bar:1971 from: 0 till:2408
bar:1981 from: 0 till:2307
bar:1991 from: 0 till:2152
bar:2001 from: 0 till:1916
PlotData=
bar:1861 at:3353 fontsize:XS text: 3353 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1871 at:3580 fontsize:XS text: 3580 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1881 at:4181 fontsize:XS text: 4181 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1901 at:3426 fontsize:XS text: 3426 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1911 at:4113 fontsize:XS text: 4113 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1921 at:3505 fontsize:XS text: 3505 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1931 at:3924 fontsize:XS text: 3924 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1936 at:4392 fontsize:XS text: 4392 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1951 at:4932 fontsize:XS text: 4932 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1961 at:3737 fontsize:XS text: 3737 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1971 at:2408 fontsize:XS text: 2408 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1981 at:2307 fontsize:XS text: 2307 shift:(-8,5)
bar:1991 at:2152 fontsize:XS text: 2152 shift:(-8,5)
bar:2001 at:1916 fontsize:XS text: 1916 shift:(-8,5)
TextData=
fontsize:S pos:(20,20)
text:Data from ISTAT
Notable people from Villalba
*
Don Nicolò Vincenzo Palmeri
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
* Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation)
The Don is a river in Russia and the fifth-longest river in Europe.
Don River or ...
Baron of Michiche Marquis Villalba d. 1914 NYC, NY) http://milioto.com/roots/historyOFvillalba.htm
*
Angelo Bruno
Angelo Bruno (born Angelo Annaloro; ; (May 21, 1910 – March 21, 1980) was a Sicilian-American mobster, notable for being boss of the Philadelphia crime family for two decades until his assassination. Bruno was known as "the Gentle Don" due to ...
(1910–80), Sicilian-American mobster born in Villalba who ran the
Philadelphia crime family
The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Philadelphia Mafia, the Philly Mob or Philly Mafia, the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia, or Bruno-Scarfo family is an Italian-American Mafia family based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed and ...
for two decades.
*
Michele Pantaleone (1911–2002), journalist and expert on the
Sicilian Mafia and one of the first to shed light on the links between organized crime and political power.
*
Joe Plumeri
Joseph J. Plumeri II (born July 7, 1943) is vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors. He was the chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings (Willis), a New York Stock Exchange-listed insurance broker, until July 2013. The company has 1 ...
(born 1944), the Chairman & CEO of
Willis Group Holdings and the owner of the
Trenton Thunder
The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.
From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the ...
, is the descendant of grandparents who emigrated to the U.S. from Villalba
*
Patricia F. Russo
Patricia F. Russo (born June 12, 1952, in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American businessperson. Russo is most widely known for having served as chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies, and its successor, Alcatel-Lucent, a large communication ...
Pat Russo (born June 12, 1952 in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American businessperson most widely known for having served as chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies and its successor, Alcatel-Lucent, a large communications equipment manufacturer. She currently serves on the board of directors of HP, General Motors, Merck & Co. and ALCOA, Inc. She serves as Chairman of the nonprofit organization Partnership at Drugfree.org Forbes magazine rated Russo as the tenth on its list of the most powerful women in 2006. Pat's great-grandparents and grandparents emigrated from Villalba to the United States.
*
Calogero Vizzini
Calogero "Don Calò" Vizzini (; 24 July 1877 – 10 July 1954) was a Sicilian Mafia boss of Villalba in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. Vizzini was considered to be one of the most influential and legendary Mafia bosses of Sicily after ...
(1877–1954),
Mafia boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...
considered to be one of the most influential bosses after World War II until his death. In the media he was often depicted as the "boss of bosses"–though such a position does not officially exist in the structure of
Cosa Nostra
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...
.
References
External links
*
Comune di Villalba*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villalba (Cl)
Cities and towns in Sicily
Populated places established in 1751
1751 establishments in Italy