Augusta (, archaically ''Agosta''; ;

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and , Medieval: ''Augusta'') is a town and in the province of Syracuse, located on the eastern coast of

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. ...

(southern

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 city is one of the main harbours in

, especially for

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied pet ...

( Sonatrach and others as part of the complex Augusta-Priolo) which are in its vicinity.

Geography

The city is situated in the province of Syracuse and faces the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

. The old town is an island, made in the 16th century by cutting an

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

, now connected to the Sicilian mainland by two bridges. One bridge was built around the 12th or 13th century as part of the Frederick II of Swabia Viaduct. And the other, older bridge was built when the city was founded and is called the Porta Spagnola. Augusta is currently home to two ports.

History

Founded 27 centuries ago,

Megara Hyblaea Megara Hyblaea () – perhaps identical with Hybla Major – is an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia in Sicily, situated near Augusta, Sicily, Augusta on the east coast, north-northwest of Syracuse, Italy, Syracuse, Italy, ...

is one of the oldest Greek colonies of Sicily. It was destroyed by its rival Syracuse, was raised from its ruins, then taken by the Romans together with Syracuse during the Second Punic War. It remains an archaeological site, a testimony of the organization of a Greek colony of the Archaic period. Upon the ruins of one of its suburbs, Xiphonia, the city of Augusta was founded in 1232 by

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (, , , ; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...

. After the Angevin domination, it became part of Aragonese Sicily and, from 1362, it was a fief of Guglielmo Raimondo II Moncada. It returned to be a royal possession (under Spain) in 1560, and was extensively fortified to counter Turkish pirates. In 1675 its harbor was the site of a naval battle between the Dutch-Spanish and the French fleets. The town suffered a major earthquake and tsunami in

1693 Events January–March * January 11 – The Mount Etna volcano erupts in Italy, causing a devastating earthquake that kills 60,000 people in Sicily and Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Sout ...

. During World War II Augusta was a hotbed of anti-Mussolini sentiment and anti-fascist sentiment more generally, as was all of Sicily. Because of the strongarm tactics that the Mussolini regime used to subdue Sicily, the fascist regime was very unpopular on the island, including in Augusta. When British and American forces arrived in Sicily, the Sicilians did not regard them as conquering invaders but rather greeted them as "emancipators come to lift the evil burden of fascism from their shoulders." All across Sicily the invading forces were greeted with relief and often with unbridled enthusiasm. During

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the combined British and American effort to dislodge fascist forces from Sicily, the plan was for British forces under General Montgomery to capture Augusta during the first few days of the operation. This part of the operation went entirely according to plan and Augusta was captured on July 13, 1943, by the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was cr ...

, led by Britain's General Montgomery. Almost immediately thereafter British forces began moving north towards

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

.Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, July–August 1943 by Carlo D'este, pg. 310, 312, 325

Main sights

*Castello Svevo (Hohenstaufen Castle, built c. 1232). It has a square plan of a side length, with eight towers * Capo Santa Croce Lighthouse *Church of Anime Sante del Purgatorio (S. Nicolò). The Baroque façade is attributed to Filippo Juvarra *Church of Carmine *Church of Cristo Re *Church of Maria Santissima Assunta (Augusta) *Church of Maria Santissima del Soccorso *Church of Sacro Cuore *Church of San Domenico (13th century). The façade is in Neoclassical style *Church of San Francesco di Paola *Church of San Giuseppe *Church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie *Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso *Church of San Sebastiano *Church of Sant'Andrea *Church of Santa Lucia *Convent of the Dominican Fathers *Eremo Adonai *Forti Garsia e Vittoria *Hangar dirigibili Augusta *Kursaal Augusto *Porta Spagnola * Ricetta di Malta * Porta Spagnola (17th century) *Torre Avalos

Notable people

* Emanuele d'Astorga, composer *

Orso Mario Corbino Orso Mario Corbino (30 April 1876 – 23 January 1937) was an Italian physicist and politician. He is noted for his studies of the influence of external magnetic fields on the motion of electrons in metals and he discovered the Corbino effect. ...

, physicist * Epicarmo Corbino, economist * , organist, pianist and composer * Rosario Fiorello, showman * Beppe Fiorello, actor * Alfredo Maria Garsia, Bishop of Caltanissetta * Marcello Guagliardo Giordani, opera singer (tenor) * Giovanni Lavaggi, Formula 1 driver * Roy Paci, musician * Antonio Scaduto, canoeist * Riccardo Schicchi, director * , writer

References

External links

Augusta port facilities

Augusta Boston Club

{{authority control Populated coastal places in Italy