Aspra, Sicily

{{Infobox Italian comune , name = Aspra , official_name = Città di Bagheria , native_name = , image_skyline = Barques de pêche sur la plage d' Aspra (1).jpg , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_caption = Fishing boats in Aspra , image_shield = Bagheria-Stemma.png , shield_alt = , image_map = , map_alt = , map_caption = , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , coordinates = {{coord, 38, 06, 13, N, 13, 29, 56, E, display=inline,title , coordinates_footnotes = , region =

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. ...

, province =

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 ...

(PA) , frazioni = Aspra , mayor_party = , mayor = Vincenzo Giuseppe Lo Meo , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = , population_footnotes = , population_total = , population_as_of = , pop_density_footnotes = , population_demonym = Aspresi (''Asparuoti'' in Sicilian) , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 0-10 , twin1 = , twin1_country = , saint = Maria S. Addolorata , day = September 14 , postal_code = 90011 , area_code = 091 , website = {{URL, https://web.archive.org/web/20121209012646/http://www.ilgiornalediaspra.net:80/ , footnotes = Aspra (''Aspira'' in Sicilian) is a town in the ''

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 ...

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Bagheria Bagheria (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre. Etymology According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sicilian ''Baarìa'') or ...

in the

Province of Palermo The province of Palermo (; Sicilian: ''pruvincia di Palermu'') was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Palermo. On 4 August 2015, it was replaced by the Metropolitan City o ...

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 ...

. The first traces of the town are thought to belong to the period of Arabic domination in Sicily, as it is suspected that the name comes from the Arabic حجر («stone»). Aspra was in fact, for generations, used to cave out blocks of calcarenite (light stone, of medium strength and easy to work in the big open sky caves locally called "pirriere"). The territory of Aspra goes from the Montagna d'Aspra, which is the name of the mountain near the town with the tops of Monte Irice (284 m), Cozzo San Pietro (345 m) and Cozzo Tondo. The mountain extends in a promontory (Capo Mongerbino). Continuing towards Esto est, passing Mongerbino, is possible to reach

Porticello Porticello is a fishing port in Sicily, Italy, located between Palermo and Cefalu. It is a frazione or village within the township of Santa Flavia. The village is dominated by the remains of the Punic civilization city of Solunto, one of t ...

(locality of the town

Santa Flavia Santa Flavia (known as Solunto until 1880) is a town in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. Overview The town is situated between the Gulf of Palermo and the town and hot springs known as Termini Imerese, on the Tyrrhenian ...

). West Aspra ends following the profile of the river Eleuterio. Aspra was part of the land of the nobility of Marquis of Sant'Isidoro of which now remain a villa and the land of the Church of Aspra (originally his own private chapel but later donated to the town, the other portion of this is partially used as municipal offices). Notable are the alfrescos by Renato Guttuso in the church, the seaside (lungomare), and "u rittufilu" (a straight road extending from the Corso Butera of

). Fishing is the primary economic activity of the town, with local anchovies being exported worldwide. Cities and towns in Sicily Bagheria