Carini

Carini
Country	Italy
region	Sicily
Metropolitan city	Palermo (PA)
Local name	Carini
Coordinates	38 ° 8 ′ N , 13 ° 11 ′ E Coordinates: 38 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ N , 13 ° 11 ′ 0 ″ E
height	170 m slm
surface	76 km²
Residents	39,185 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	516 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	90044
prefix	091
ISTAT number	082021
Popular name	Carinesi
Patron saint	SS Crocifisso
Website	Carini

Carini is a municipality in the metropolitan city of Palermo in the Sicily region in Italy with 39,185 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

Location and dates

Carini is 25 kilometers west of Palermo . The residents mainly work in agriculture and industry.

The main town is located on a hill, the hamlet of Villagrazia is between the state road SS 113 and the coast. Two junctions (Carini and Villagrazia di Carini) allow access to the A29 . The railway line Palermo-Trapani the FS operates the Carini train station. In the eastern part of the municipality there is the Carini Torre Ciachea stop in the industrial area. In the western part of the municipality is the Piraineto train station, where the double-track line to the Falcone Borsellino Palermo International Airport branches off.

The neighboring municipalities are Capaci , Cinisi , Giardinello , Monreale , Montelepre , Partinico , Terrasini and Torretta .

history

The ancient Hykkara , built in 415 BC , stood where Carini is today . Was destroyed. Carini is attested as a diocese seat under Gregory the Great . The last news about a bishop of Carini - John - comes from the Council of Nikaia in 787. The city was destroyed again around 1000 by Arabs and then rebuilt. The fortified part of Carini is attested under the Normans and mentioned by al-Idrisi , the geographer Rogers II , as a fortified place already in Arab times . Structural remains can still be seen in the second gate of today's fort, which dates back to a renovation in the 15th century. A good part of the walls are Norman too. From 1283 the families Abate, Chiaramonte and La Grua can be proven as owners of the fort and the fief.

The Baroness of Carini

The historical figure of Laura Lanza, wife of Baron Vincenzo La Grua Talamanca, who was murdered by her father, Cesare Lanza, Count of Mussomeli , and by her husband on the grounds of honor, because of adultery with a childhood friend, was murdered in 1563.

The story of the Baronessa has been processed in popular culture in canti popolari, the well-known historian Luigi Natoli (alias William Galt) has dealt with the subject, and in 1975 the Italian state television RAI produced a television film.

Information board of the catacomb

The catacombs

In the district of Villagrazia di Carini, an early Christian catacomb is currently being archaeologically researched, probably the largest in Sicily. The discovery took place in the 19th century, but no further explorations had been carried out. The investigations under the direction of Prof. Rosa Maria Carra Bonacasa from the University of Palermo are still ongoing. Partial use apparently also in the Middle Ages and early modern times is likely, for example as a warehouse and depot. In the year 1873 an early Christian mosaic was found in the contrada San Nicola, possibly belonging to an early Christian basilica , which was not excavated at the time.

Buildings

Ceiling in the great hall

Castle: of Arab-Norman origin, rebuilt by the Chiaramonte in the 14th century, is in its current form mainly from the 16th century. Today owned by the municipality, it is mainly used for cultural events.

Parish Church (Madrice), a late 18th century building with older individual pieces

above Carini, on the road to Montelepre, the Villa Belvedere, built by the barons La Grua in the 16th century. Acquired and expanded by the Franciscan conventuals from 1953. In 1983, the Archbishop of Monreale, Salvatore Cassisa , raised the church to the status of a santuario mariano-kolbiano .

literature

Luigi Natoli: La Baronessa di Carini . Palermo (Tascabili Flaccovio) ISBN 88-7804-409-1
Giuseppe Bellafiore: La civiltà artistica della Sicilia dalla preistoria ad oggi . Firenze: Le Monnier 1963, p. 58f.

Remarks

↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
↑ On the state of knowledge at the end of the 19th century, cf. Joseph Führer - Victor Schultze : The early Christian tombs of Sicily , Berlin 1907, pp. 236–238.

Web links

Commons : Carini - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.

[2] On the state of knowledge at the end of the 19th century, cf. Joseph Führer - Victor Schultze : The early Christian tombs of Sicily , Berlin 1907, pp. 236–238.