History
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Etymology[edit]
There is no agreement about the etymology of the name "Alcamo". According to some scholars, it is derived from caccamu, a dialectal word referring to the plant Citrullus colocynthis.
Prehistory[edit]
Though there is little information about it, there are evidences that territory of Alcamo was inhabited in prehistoric times; in one of the most ancient sites, near Molinello (a country district), remains have been discovered dating back to the Mesolithic, approximately 9,000–6,000 BCE, with others dating back to the Neolithic found during the archaeological excavations by Paolo Orsi (1899) and the marquis Antonio De Gregorio (1917) near the river Fiume Freddo. An axe from the Neolithic is kept at the Museo archeologico regionale Paolo Orsi of Syracuse.
Longuro and Longarico[edit]
Lycophron describes an inhabited centre called "Longuro" on Mount Bonifato. Supposedly, this settlement was founded by Greeks who had escaped from the destruction of the town of Troy.
During the Roman period, the inhabitants of Longuro moved to Longaricum at the foot of the mountain to farm the surrounding area. The settlement's name appears in the Itinerary of Antoninus Pius (Italian: Itinerario di Antonino Pio) from in the 3rd century AD and coincides with the Latin name of Longuro.
It is possible that the two hillocks appearing on the gonfalon of Alcamo represent the two towns of Longaricum and Longuro.[citation needed]
Origins[edit]
The first document mentioning Alcamo dates from 1154, in a paper written by the Berber geographer Idrisi, who was given this task by Roger II of Sicily in order to get a collection of geographic maps. From over a mile away, the writer describes the position of Alcamo viewed from the Castle of Calatubo (visible today from the town) and defines it as a hamlet or a group of houses with rich soil and a flourishing market.
Medieval age[edit]
Arab fountain of Alcamo
Alcamo was divided into four hamlets named San Vito, San Leonardo, Sant'Ippolito and San Nicolò del Vauso. but a series of revolts between 1221 and 1243 led Frederick II to move most of the population to a colony at Lucera, while Christians from Bonifato came to inhabit the town. The poet Ciullo or Cielo d'Alcamo was born in the town.
In 1340 Raimondo Peralta acquired the feud and barony of Alcamo from Peter II of Aragon. The barony passed to his son Guglielmo Peralta Sclafani, called "Guglielmone", then to the Ventimiglia family (up to 1397), Giaimo de Prades (1407), the Cabrera family, the Speciale family, Pietro Balsamo prince of Roccafiorita (1618) and finally to Giuseppe Alvarez (1777).
By the 14th century Alcamo had several thousand inhabitants; many immigrated from different parts of Sicily and Italy (in particular Pisa, Amalfi, Bologna, Calabria and Liguria), and some also from Spain. During this period, Antonello da Messina moved to Alcamo for three years (around 1438–1441) to learn tanning techniques from the tanner master Guglielmo Adragna di Alcamo; the town was an important pole of development for commerce and handicraft. There was a considerable wheat and wine trade with nearby towns, with artisans such as bakers, blacksmiths, tanners and weavers. During this century Alcamo was an important centre for wheat storage and sorting. In the same period Giacomo Adragna transcribed Commentarii in Persium and Pietro d'Alcamo many works from the library of San Martino.
Modern age[edit]
Porta Palermo in a print of 1900
Around 1500, Alcamo was under the jurisdiction of captain of justice Ferdinando Vega, who fought against raiding Turkish pirates. The town was surrounded by defensive embattled walls provided with four gates:
Porta Palermo (afterwards called Porta Saccari), at the end of the present Via Rossotti;
Porta Corleone, at the end of the present Via Commendatore Navarra;
Porta di Gesù, opposite the church of Saint Mary of Jesus, next to the Franciscan friary;
Porta Trapani (later called Porta del Collegio), at the beginning of Via Commendatore Navarra.
During this period, the town was divided into four-quarters, each one associated with the name of the main church in its area:
San Giacomo de la Spada
San Calogero
San Francesco d'Assisi (or "Terra nuova")
Maggiore Chiesa.
The division between these quarters coincided with the main streets of the town, now the present Corso 6 Aprile and Via Rossotti and its continuation Via dei Baroni Emanuele di San Giuseppe (called incorrectly "Via Barone di San Giuseppe").
In 1535, with the visit of the emperor Charles V coming back from Tunisia, the old Porta Trapani was closed and four gates were opened:
new Porta Trapani, near the beginning of the present Corso 6 Aprile (that was called "Corso Imperiale");
new Porta Palermo (initially called Porta San Francesco), at the end of today's Corso 6 Aprile;
Porta Stella, at the corner between Via Stella and Piazza Ciullo; this name derives from the name of the Church of Our Lady of the Star (Italian: Madonna della Stella), near there;
Porta Nuova, between the present Discesa al Santuario and Piazza della Libertà.
The Sanctuary of Madonna of Miracles
During the 16th century education in Alcamo improved with the construction of new schools and employment of expert teachers, in particular the poet and scholar Sebastiano Bagolino (1562–1604). In 1547 the Madonna appeared to some women of the people and an image of Madonna Fons Misericordiae was discovered and worshipped as "Our Lady of Miracles".
In the late 16th century, the population was decimated by an infectious disease. The victims were buried in the cemetery of Saint Ippolito.
In 1667 Mariano Ballo ordered the construction of a theatre, called "teatro Ferrigno". It was later demolished, but rebuilt during the 1960s when it was named "cine-teatro Euro", later "Teatro Cielo d'Alcamo".
Map of Alcamo in a painting of 1725
During the 18th century, pestilence and popular rebellions occurred in Alcamo again. On the other hand, this age was important for art because of the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption (1699), designed by the architects Angelo Italia and Giuseppe Diamante. Its interior was decorated with 38 frescoes from 1736 to 1737 by the Flemish painter Guglielmo Borremans. In the same period the Church of Saint Olivia was renovated, Saint Paul and Bartholomew's Church was rebuilt (1689), and the Church of the Holy Crucifix (or saint Francis of Paola) was completed (1699) together with the monumental church of College some decades later in 1767.
Between 1752 and 1780, Ignazio De Blasi, an Alcamese nobleman, wrote the first book on Alcamo's history, entitled Discorso storico della opulenta città di Alcamo situata a piè del Monte Bonifato, e dell'antichissima città di Longarico ossia Lacarico, dopo detta Alcamo, su di esso monte.
The population of the town gradually recovered from earlier pestilence and had increased to 13,000 by 1798.
Contemporary age[edit]
In 1812, Alcamo's feudal status was abolished and the town became a direct royal possession.
The archpriests Stefano Triolo Galifi and Giuseppe Virgilio, together with the baron Felice Pastore, were members of the Sicilian Parliament as representatives of Alcamo. In 1820, during a revolt, there were different murders, sacks, releases of criminals from prison and a fire in the municipal archives. In 1829 many people died of cholera.
In 1843 the construction of the present town hall started, on land owned by baron Felice Pastore.
On 6 April 1860, Stefano and Giuseppe Triolo let the Italian Tricolour wave on the town hall, creating groups of volunteers to help Giuseppe Garibaldi in the battle of Calatafimi, and from Alcamo some edicts on Victor Emmanuel II's behalf were issued. Some time later Francesco Crispi prepared the constitution for lands set free. To commemorate this event, Corso Imperiale was named Corso 6 Aprile.
In 1860, during the Unification of Italy the brothers Triolo of Sant'Anna and Giuseppe Coppola of Monte San Giuliano enlisted many citizens to fight with the "Garibaldians".
The Great War Memorial (1915–1918), inaugurated in 1929
At the end of the 19th century, in 1897, public lighting was inaugurated in Alcamo during the traditional feast of Our Lady of Miracles. Giuseppe Rizzo, a priest, founded the "Cassa Rurale e Artigiana Don Rizzo" bank in 1902.
At the beginning of the 20th century (1901–1911) the number of citizens in Alcamo diminished abruptly, partially because of the emigration of a recorded 36,718 Sicilians abroad, in particular to the United States, although an unreliable census makes the figure questionable. In the same period cultivation in the territory of Alcamo were affected by phylloxera, and two banks ("Cooperativa" and "Segestana") went bankrupt with subsequent economic difficulties for its citizens.
Events linked to the Mafia, such as the murder of Gaspare Cottone, a carter (1899) and the death of the 19-years-old Benedetto Guastella during an armed conflict with carabinieri in 1900 became notable.
As the Mafia took power in the districts of Trapani and Alcamo, the commissary Cesare Mori intervened with a series of arrests and charges against the suspects and finally they arrested brothers Vincenzo and Michele Tedesco and Baldassare Adragna, considered the heads of the gangs in Trapani's territory.
Façade of the cinema-theatre Marconi; today a congress centre
During the First World War, four hundred citizens from Alcamo died. The following period was characterized by poverty caused by monetary inflation and banditry. In 1918 about five hundred people died from Spanish flu. In the Second World War 213 citizens from Alcamo died or were lost. In 1927, Don Vincenzo Giovenco (1880–1954) operated and opened the first cinema in Alcamo, "Cinema Marconi". It closed less than ten years after opening after a fire.
The entrance to Società Generale Elettrica della Sicilia (SGES) in Alcamo (in the '40s)
The foundation of Società Elettrotecnica Palermitana, whose name was changed to Società Generale Electrica della Sicilia (SGES), which installed an electric workroom in the district of Saint Augustine in Alcamo, dates back to the 1920s. Jobs inside the company were sought after: it was the only firm in Trapani Province which had a health insurance fund and granted holidays. The electric workroom existed until 1963, when it was acquired by Enel and demolished. During the years in which SGES operated, there was an improvement in the electric services in Alcamo's territory, contributed to by the construction of several artificial lakes.
During the Italian Fascism period, citizens asked the government to appoint Alcamo as the capital of the province (1930), but this request was denied.
The old theatre Ferrigno in Alcamo (early 20th century)
On 19 August 1937, fascist leader Benito Mussolini visited the town, crossing Corso 6 Aprile in an open car and parading through the crowd of his supporters. The visit marked the inauguration of the railway line between Trapani and Alcamo, completed in the same year. Some weeks later, prince Umberto visited Alcamo.
On 21 July 1943 American troops entered Alcamo without any opposition, freeing the town from Italian Fascism.
On 18 December 1944, with economic and social disruption, the citizens rose up, occupied the town hall and set its archives on fire.
Since 1960 the town has expanded, particularly at the foot of Mount Bonifato, with the construction of Viale Europa, a main street in Alcamo.
From the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s there was a bloody Mafia war between the Greco clan (related to the Rimi family) and members of the emergent Mafia of Corleone, led by Vincenzo Milazzo in the territory of Alcamo. Vincenzo Milazzo received orders from Totò Riina to eliminate members of the old Mafia (in particular the member of the clan Greco) and put only his trusted men in command.
The threat to the Greco clan from the Cosa Nostra led to five years of bloody conflict and resulted in tens of victims. The new Corleone Mafia prevailed, but came at the cost of a large number of its members' lives.
During the same period of armed clashes between the Mafia families, the biggest heroin refinery in Sicily was discovered at contrada Virgini in Alcamo. (1985)
The Church of Jesus Christ the Redeemer
While the crimes of the Mafia went on and tens of people disappeared as victims of "lupara bianca", there was a religious revival which led to the birth of several Catholic associations such as Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo, Neocatechumenal Way and the movement of Comunione e Liberazione. From the latter came the parish community of the Church of Jesus Christ the Redeemer, originating in the district of Sant'Anna (2006). This religious revival was followed by a new interest in the town's old traditions, mentioned in the works of Roberto Calia and Carlo Cataldo, historians from Alcamo. Carlo Cataldo has been recognized several times both for his historical works and for his dialectal poems of Alcamo's folklore.
The Cuba delle rose after its restoration
In the 21st century there was a renovation of Alcamo's architecture, thanks to the restoration of some important historical buildings such as the Castle of the Counts of Modica, the Theatre Cielo d'Alcamo, the Cine-Theatre Marconi, the Ex Jesuits' College, the Cuba delle rose (in 2013), the church of College (in 2014), the façade of Badia Nuova (in 2014) and the old Arab fountain (in 2016). Restoration of the Castle of Calatubo is planned with the support of Fondo Ambiente Italiano; its chapel and the path leading to the castle have already been cleaned by the volunteers' association "Salviamo il Castello di Calatubo" (in 2015).
Urban areas have been improved, including the restoration of Piazza Ciullo by the architect Gae Aulenti (1996) and the construction of an underground car park in Piazza Bagolino, together with the creation of the near suburban park San Francesco.
Environmentally, Alcamo has been considered an example to be followed for the results between 2010 and 2013 in the waste sorting (raccolta differenziata).
