Porto Empedocle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Porto Empedocle
coat of arms
Porto Empedocle (Italy)
Porto Empedocle
Country Italy
region Sicily
Free community consortium Agrigento  (AG)
Local name Portu Empèdocli / Marina
Coordinates 37 ° 18 '  N , 13 ° 32'  E Coordinates: 37 ° 17 '40 "  N , 13 ° 31' 38"  E
height 2  m slm
surface 23.99 km²
Residents 16,300 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 679 inhabitants / km²
Post Code 92014
prefix 0922
ISTAT number 084028
Popular name Empedoclini
Patron saint San Gerlando
Website Porto Empedocle

The municipality of Porto Empedocle [empɛdokle] lies in the region of Sicily in Italy and is part of the Free Church consortium Agrigento .

Porto Empedocle

Location and dates

Porto Empedocle is six kilometers southwest of Agrigento and is the starting point for shipping to the Pelagic Islands . The inhabitants mainly work in agriculture, fish processing or industry. The harbor (formerly: Molo di Girgenti ) is protected by a pier built from the remains of ancient temples . 16,300 people live here on 23.99 square kilometers (as of December 31, 2019).

The neighboring municipalities are Agrigento and Realmonte .

history

The city is named after the Greek philosopher Empedocles . In the 15th century there was a grain loading area here. Emperor Charles V ordered the construction of a tower to protect the grain harvest in the fields. The tower was later converted into a prison and is now a social and cultural center. After the harbor wall was completed in 1763, trade grew.

The current municipality of Porto Empedocle was established in 1853. At that time the municipality was called Molo di Girgenti . Ten years later the community was given its current name. The name is reminiscent of the philosopher Empedocles , who was born in Agrigento.

The most important fictional character Andrea Camilleris, Commissario Salvo Montalbano, is internationally regarded as the epitome of the Sicilian way of life and imaginative criminalistics. In April 2003 the municipality of Porto Empedocle changed its official name to Porto Empedocle Vigàta . However, this was reversed in early 2009. Vigàta is the name of the fictional city where the crime novels Camilleris take place. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in May 2011 about an intended complete renaming of Camilleri's hometown in Vigàta.

Buildings

  • Parish Church of Maria SS del Buon Consiglio
  • Birthplace of the writer and Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello in the Contrada Caos district in the direction of Agrigento; here the writer was buried under a pine tree. The pine tree no longer stands today.

Personalities

Special events

Porto Empedocle hit the international headlines in July 2004 when the German rescue ship Cap Anamur entered the port with 37 African refugees on board. The ship was confiscated and parts of the ship's crew were taken into police custody for four days.

Web links

Commons : Porto Empedocle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ Lemma Empedocle in the Dizionario di pronuncia italiana ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (DiPI) online. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / venus.unive.it
  3. ↑ Writer becomes namesake - A city as it is written , article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from May 20, 2011