Riesi

Riesi
Country	Italy
region	Sicily
Free community consortium	Caltanissetta (CL)
Local name	Riesi
Coordinates	37 ° 17 ' N , 14 ° 5' E Coordinates: 37 ° 17 '0 " N , 14 ° 5' 0" E
height	330 m slm
surface	66 km²
Residents	11,110 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	168 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	93016
prefix	0934
ISTAT number	085015
Popular name	Riesini
Patron saint	Madonna della catena
Website	Riesi

View of Riesi

Riesi [ ɾieːzi ] is a town in Caltanissetta consortium of municipalities outside the region Sicily in Italy with 11,110 inhabitants (December 31, 2019).

Location and dates

Riesi is 23 kilometers south of Caltanissetta . The residents mainly work in agriculture.

The neighboring communities are Barrafranca ( EN ) (14 km), Butera (14 km), Mazzarino (11.5 km), Pietraperzia (EN) (15.5 km), Ravanusa ( AG ) (10 km) and Sommatino (10 km ).

history

The place was founded in the 13th century. In the Arab period , the area of today's city was called "abandoned place". The meaning of the current name of the city is "wasteland".

Until the eighties of the twentieth century, many of the city's residents were employed in the nearby Trabbia and Tallarita sulfur mines. The great poverty of the population, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was exploited by the administrators of the mines. Many families had to let their children work as debt slaves in the mines in order to survive. A large monument at the entrance to the village reminds us of the suffering of the men, women and children who had to walk the hour-long walk to the mines every morning and evening.

In 1961, the Waldensian pastor Tullio Vinay founded the Diakoniezentrum Servizio Cristiano to fight poverty. At the beginning, the most important priorities were the elimination of illiteracy among children and young people, and later initiatives to improve agriculture and further training opportunities. Today the Waldensian church in Riesi runs a kindergarten, a primary school, a guest house, a family counseling center and operates agriculture.

In 2001 the writer Ralph Giordano , whose grandfather, the conductor Rocco Giordano was born in Riesi, was made an honorary citizen (cittadino onorario) of the city.

Politics and Social

Riesi suffers greatly from organized crime. Every year people die from conflicts within the Mafia ; arson often takes place. In the spring of 2006, President Giorgio Napolitano removed the mayor and the city council from office because of proven links to organized crime - something similar had happened several times in the past few decades. Thereafter, the city was administered provisionally by the regional government in Palermo until there were new elections for the city council in June 2008, which the current mayor Salvatore Buttigè won in a runoff election.

The great poverty until after the Second World War and the equally difficult social situation until today forced many Riesiner to emigrate. In addition to the major cities in Italy, Belgium and Sweden were popular destinations. Many Riesini still leave their homeland after graduating from school to begin an apprenticeship in a large Italian city. That is why the actual population of Riesi is far below the stated figure: In 2014, 11,676 people were officially registered in Riesi, and 7,091 Riesins lived abroad.

economy

Since the decline of the sulfur industry, the city has lived from agriculture . There are olives , almonds , wheat , fruit , artichokes and other vegetables grown. There is a cooperative and two private oil mills . The wine cooperative of the surrounding villages is based in Riesi, where it operates a wine press . There is also a small goldsmith factory and small mechanical engineering companies in Riesi .

religion

Waldensian Church Riesi

The population is traditionally Catholic. In the 19th century, the Waldensian Church , an old Northern Italian Protestant movement, gained strong influence through missionary activity in Sicily. In the meantime, more than half of the residents of Riesi described themselves as "Waldensians", although they continued to attend the Catholic Sunday service. Then the sent Curia , the religious congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco to the island to retrieve the population to Catholicism. Today there is only a small Waldensian community of around 60 active community members with their families in the city. Returning emigrants brought new denominations to the city, so today there are two Pentecostal churches and one Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall .

Buildings

Parish church of Madonna Santissima della Catena , built in the first half of the 17th century
San Giuseppe Church , built in the 19th century
Building ensemble Monte degli Ulivi of the facilities of the Diakoniezentrum Servizio Cristiano of the Waldensian Church , built 1963–1966, the architect was Leonardo Ricci

Festivals

Easter celebrations, especially on Good Friday with passion plays , processions and a folk festival
Patron feast of the Holy Madonna della Catena on the second Sunday in September with procession and folk festival
Patron feast of St. Giovanni Bosco with processions in January

Web links

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

Individual evidence

↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
↑ Gioacchino Schicchi: Ecco la Sicilia che emigra: Enna e Agrigento si "svuotano" ( Memento of October 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (This is how Sicily emigrates: Enna and Agrigento "empty themselves"). La Sicilia, October 9, 2014, p. 6. (Version from the Internet archive)

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

[2] Gioacchino Schicchi: Ecco la Sicilia che emigra: Enna e Agrigento si "svuotano" ( Memento of October 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (This is how Sicily emigrates: Enna and Agrigento "empty themselves"). La Sicilia, October 9, 2014, p. 6. (Version from the Internet archive)