Ciaculli
Ciaculli ( "Ciacuddi" in Palermitan reading) is a rural district ( Borgata di campagna ) of Palermo . The place on the southeastern outskirts has about 9550 inhabitants. Ciaculli is particularly notorious for the fact that the powerful Greco mafia clan ruled the area around this town for a long time.
Origin of name
The name Ciaculli has changed over the centuries. It is believed to derive from the Sicilian term "ciachi" , which refers to the cobblestones that characterized the sidewalk of the streets of the village until the beginning of the 20th century . These limestones came from Monte Grifone. They were also called "ciacuzzi" , small stones. Hence the current name Ciaculli, or “Ciacuddi” in the Sicilian dialect . The inhabitants are called "Ciacuddari" .
location
It belongs to the II. District ( II. Circoscrizione (Palermo) ), Frazione Ciaculli. Together with the immediate neighboring municipality of Croceverde-Giardini , it forms number 9 of the Unità di primo livello di Palermo . Many characteristics of a typical Sicilian village have been preserved in Ciaculli to this day . In the north, the municipality is separated by the A19 motorway and the Brancaccio industrial area , and in the east it borders the small village of Croceverde-Giardini. The mountain slopes of Monte Grifone join in the south and Gibilrossa , a town in the municipality of Misilmeri, in the southeast . A little further to the northeast, the agricultural area of the municipality of Ciaculli borders on the municipality of the town of Villabate .
Ciaculli consists mainly of residential houses and buildings used for agriculture and is embedded in the so-called Conca d'Oro , the agricultural green area of the metropolitan region of Palermo. Ciaculli essentially consists of the main street of the same name, which branches off at an intersection from which the SP 37 leads, which climbs up Monte Grifone on a winding path with many viewpoints and connects Palermo with the neighboring municipality of Belmonte Mezzagno. In Ciaculli there are still a number of old farmhouses, or properties of large landowners, and warehouses covered with characteristic roof tiles (Sicilian Malaseni) from the 18th and 19th centuries . In the 1980s , many citrus groves were destroyed to make way for public housing, which resulted in an overall increase in the community's population. In the upper southeast part of the parish, the old residences of the long-established residents are still intact, and citrus fruits are still grown in their gardens. In the limestone cave of San Ciro, not far from Ciaculli, bones of mammals from the Quaternary were found. Including a pygmy elephant species.
design type
The residential core of the community develops along the narrow agricultural routes that have served since the early 18th century to connect the patronage houses of the wealthy landowners with the rest of the Conca d'Oro. At that time the urban structure was not yet recognizable. Significant evidence of the origin of the farming village is its main street, Via Ciaculli, where the features of the old country road have almost been preserved. Even today, Via Ciaculli is characterized by the high surrounding walls of the property, which are only interrupted by gates and entrance gates to the citrus groves. Today's picture is partially falsified by renovation work. The properties are enclosed by fences, which are called "Firriati" there. Today only those who still have a protective function are preserved on the public roads. The first houses were built near these streets. In 1897 the local mother church was opened in Ciaculli, which was dedicated to the Most Holy Crucifix (Santissimo Crocifisso). The feast of the Most High Cross (Festa del Santissimo Crocifisso) is celebrated every year in September.
history
Giuseppe Garibaldi camped during his “procession of a thousand” (Corso dei Mille) between Ciaculli and the hamlet of Misilmeri, to see how he could best conquer Palermo. He is said to have said to Nino Bixio, “Nino, domani a Palermo! - Nino, tomorrow we are in Palermo! ” . An obelisk was erected on a hill, which still reminds of the "train of the thousand" through this landscape.
1946 / 1947 a bloody Mafia feud occurred between two factions of the Greco-clans of the villages Ciaculli and Croce Verde Giardini. It culminated in a shootout between the two Greco clans in the piazza of Ciaculli on September 17, 1947. Antonina and Rosalia Greco, widow and daughter of a previously murdered Ciaculli boss, had watched the spectacle on the balcony. When they saw that one of their enemies was just injured, they went down and killed him with kitchen knives . On June 30, 1963 , the Ciaculli massacre (Strage di Ciaculli) took place, in which seven Carabinieri were killed in a bomb attack by the Cosa Nostra. An Alfa Romeo Giulietta exploded, so that the massacre was also known as the "Giulietta massacre".
The clan of the powerful mafia boss Michele Greco also lived in Ciaculli . The chairman of the Cupola was always deeply connected to his home hamlet. Greco lived here with his family on his estate on a citrus plantation called Fondo Favarella, just north of Croceverde. His festivals and hunting parties also took place here. In 2005 , the 25,000 square meter lemon grove was confiscated by Paolo Greco and converted into a “garden of remembrance”, which was to commemorate the many victims of violence by the Mafia . In 2011 the Unci Sicilia opened a kind of chronicler group chaired by the journalist Leone Zingales, the ANM (National Association of Magistrates) and the “Giovanni e Francesca Falcone” foundation. On May 23, 2012, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Capaci massacre, Prime Minister Mario Monti, Education Minister Francesco Profumo and Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri visited the memorial site.
economy
The municipality's economy has always been characterized by agriculture. This mainly included the citrus fruits . Precisely because of its sheltered and hilly location, the area of Ciaculli represents the last extensive agricultural area of the municipality of Palermo, even if the area has been severely affected by uncontrolled and arbitrary illegal building activity in the last few decades, which has already damaged the region irreparably and in part has created severe hydrogeological instability. Until a few decades ago, the area around Ciaculli still had the original features of the historic rural landscape of the Conca d'Oro. The famous “Mandarino Tardivo di Ciaculli - the late Ciaculli mandarine” (Mediterranean mandarin - Citrus deliciosa), which was introduced to all export markets for tropical fruits, is cultivated here. This variety is widely marketed at agricultural fairs and exhibitions. Ciaculli jam and rosolio, a sweet liqueur made from green, unripe mandarins and honey from zagara blossoms, are made from this type of mandarin. Ciaculli and Croceverde-Giardini are the only places on earth where this type of mandarin grows. Other important fruits are oranges, lemons and the Japanese loquat, which ripens from late April to mid-June and then has to be harvested. Many of the fields have gradients of up to 50% and are therefore difficult to manage. In 1999 the Consorzio del Tardivo was founded, which today unites around ninety local producers. The aim is to promote all initiatives for the protection, improvement and development of high-quality agricultural land in the Conca d'Oro, which today has been almost completely degraded by construction activity.
swell
Notes individual evidence
- ↑ John Dickie: Cosa Nostra. The history of the mafia. Fischer, Frankfurt 2006, ISBN 3-10-013906-2 . - Book about the Cosa Nostra from the beginning to 2006 p. 206
- ↑ John Dickie: Cosa Nostra. The history of the mafia. Fischer, Frankfurt 2006, ISBN 3-10-013906-2 . - Book about the Cosa Nostra from the beginning until 2006
literature
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 4 ′ 34 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 22 ″ E