L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano T ucked away in the province of Enna, b e t w e e n t h e N e b r o d i a n d Madonie moun- tains in the heart of inland Sicily, lies a village that bor- ders Gangi (in the province of Palermo) and Nicosia (in the province of Enna). Its name is Sperlinga, home to fewer than 700 residents. The name – Sperrënga in Gallo-Sicilian and Spilliňga in Sicilian – d e r i v e s f r o m t h e G r e e k spelonca, meaning "cave." And fittingly so: the village, r e c o g n i s e d a m o n g I t a l y ' s Most Beautiful Villages and often described as a "royal r o c k - h e w n d w e l l i n g , " i s carved into an enormous sed- imentary outcrop. The sur- rounding area is dotted with numerous caves dug directly into the soft sandstone. A r c h a e o l o g i c a l e v i - dence shows that this terri- tory and its cave dwellings were inhabited as far back as four thousand years ago. The first historical reference, how- ever, appears in 1082 in a c h a r t e r i s s u e d b y C o u n t Roger. Soon after, the area was colonised by Lombard settlers, either from northern Italy or from Lombard com- munities already established in Sicily. The legacy of that colonisation endures in the l o c a l d i a l e c t , a v a r i a n t o f Gallo-Italic known as Sicilian Gallo-Italic, still spoken today not only in Sperlinga but in several other Sicilian towns that trace their origins to migrants from the provinces of Novara, Asti, and Alessan- dria. A 1239 document refers to Sperlinga as a castrum – a fortified settlement with cas- tle structures. The village's identity has long been shaped by the noble families who owned the castle and its sur- r o u n d i n g f i e f d o m : V e n - timiglia, Natoli, Rosso, and Oneto. Among them, Prince Natoli notably expanded the village and commissioned the C h u r c h o f S a i n t J o h n t h e Baptist outside the castle walls. The first parish records date back to 1612. In 1658, his son Francesco Natoli Maniaci transferred ownership of the castle and fief to the Oneto family, granting them the title o f D u k e s o f S p e r l i n g a – though the Natolis retained the title of Princes of Sperlin- ga. Over the centuries, Sper- linga caught the eye of sever- a l p r o m i n e n t v i s i t o r s . I n 1776, French painter Jean- Pierre Houël included a view of the town in his Voyage pit- toresque. Two years later, fel- l o w a r t i s t J e a n C l a u d e Richard de Saint-Non also visited and painted a scene of the village. Artistic attention continued into the 20th cen- tury. In July 1943, celebrated p h o t o j o u r n a l i s t R o b e r t C a p a — b o r n E n d r e E r n ö Friedmann and later a natu- r a l i s e d A m e r i c a n — t o o k a photograph in Sperlinga that became an emblem of the Allied landings in Sicily. The image was published in Life m a g a z i n e a n d w e n t o n t o become a symbol of wartime r e p o r t a g e . I n 1 9 5 5 , t h e renowned anthropologist, writer, and photographer Fosco Maraini – father of author Dacia Maraini – pho- tographed the town for the Alinari archive, the world's oldest photographic collec- tion. Each year on August 16, the district of "Balzo" – with its carved, overlapping alley- ways that form a veritable rock-hewn village – comes alive with the Sagra del Tortone. During this cele- bration, visitors are invited to taste a variety of local delica- cies, all rooted in Sperlinga's culinary traditions. The star of the event is the tortone, a t y p i c a l a n d m u c h - l o v e d sweet: deep-fried, dusted with sugar and cinnamon, and perfect for nibbling while strolling past artisan work- s h o p s l i n i n g t h e v i l l a g e streets. As visitors explore, a h i s t o r i c a l p a r a d e w i n d s through the town, culminat- ing in the crowning of the D a m a d e i C a s t e l l i d i Sicilia, the Lady of the Cas- tles of Sicily. In the days leading up to Ferragosto, the town's neigh- bourhoods, each represented by their own Lady, compete i n a s e r i e s o f t r a d i t i o n a l games. The Lady who scores the highest is named Castel- l a n a o f S p e r l i n g a . O n A u g u s t 1 6 , s h e p a r a d e s through the village alongside the other winning Castellane f r o m S i c i l y ' s G a l l o - I t a l i c towns, all dressed in histori- cal costume. Every partici- pant in the procession wears traditional attire, and the Dama dei Paesi Gallo-Italici – Lady of the Gallo-Italic towns – is chosen by a spe- cial jury. The festivities con- tinue well into the evening in Castle Square with music, dancing, theatrical reenact- ments of historical events, and, of course, a grand fire- works display. Beyond these traditions, parades, and the celebration of its patron saint, Saint John t h e B a p t i s t , o n J u n e 2 4 , Sperlinga is home to one of I t a l y ' s m o s t u n u s u a l fortresses: a rare example of a castle partly carved into t h e r o c k a n d p a r t l y b u i l t using the very stone excavat- ed on site. The oldest parts of the structure date back to between the 12th and 8th c e n t u r i e s B C , b e f o r e t h e arrival of the pre-Greek Siculi peoples, and specifically to around the year 1080. Over the centuries, ownership of the castle passed between several noble families: the V e n t i m i g l i a c o u n t s , t h e Natoli princes of Sperlinga, the Oneto dukes, and finally Baron Nunzio Nicosia. In 1 9 7 3 , t h e h e i r s o f B a r o n Nicosia donated the castle to the municipality of Sperlinga. A t t h e e n t r a n c e o f t h e f o r t r e s s , c a r v e d i n t o t h e pointed arch, stands a Latin inscription: "Quod Siculis p l a c u i t , s o l a S p e r l i n g a negavit" – "What pleased the S i c i l i a n s , o n l y S p e r l i n g a denied." The phrase refers to the Sicilian Vespers uprising o f 1 2 8 2 , w h e n t h e e n t i r e i s l a n d r e v o l t e d a g a i n s t Angevin rule. According to tradition, Sperlinga alone remained loyal to the French crown, with a garrison of Angevin soldiers holding out in the castle for over a year. The inscription itself was added later, in the late 16th century, as a retrospective symbol of the town's singular stance in Sicilian history. Since prehistoric times, t h e r o c k y c l i f f s t h a t n o w t o w e r a b o v e t h e v i l l a g e s e r v e d a s s h e l t e r — c r u d e refuges carved directly into t h e s t o n e . T o d a y , t h o s e ancient hideaways have been t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o h o m e s , complete with doors, win- dows, and even the occasion- a l b a l c o n y . T h e f e w t h a t escaped modern urban devel- opment—untouched by roads and concrete—stand as the last silent witnesses of the ancient peoples who once l i v e d t h e r e . W a n d e r i n g through the castle's rooms, hollowed out of sandstone, one breathes an atmosphere steeped in antiquity—a sense of prehistory, of a people who s e t t l e d t h e r e a t h o u s a n d years before Christ, and who enjoyed a landscape likely far more unspoiled and breath- taking than today's. T h e r e m u s t o n c e h a v e been a drawbridge, leading into the heart of the strong- hold. Traces of human inge- nuity are still visible: the rock-hewn spaces were trans- formed into stables, complete with farriers' workshops and metalworking stations, stor- age rooms for food supplies, water cisterns, and even a prison. In one circular cham- ber, twelve small niches are carved into the walls—possi- bly a place of worship, or, according to another theory, part of an ancient timekeep- ing system. A steep staircase carved into the rock leads up to the tower, from which the view stretches out in a dra- matic, sweeping panorama. But the caves don't end there. The entire cliffside of the castle facing the village is riddled with openings that, though they resemble natural f o r m a t i o n s , a r e i n f a c t ancient artificial caves—exca- vated by human hands in t i m e s s o d i s t a n t t h e y ' v e slipped into legend. To visit Sperlinga and its castle is to step out of time. The entire site is a testament to the enduring relationship b e t w e e n h u m a n k i n d a n d nature—a place where even in the most remote of eras, people used their ingenuity not to conquer the environ- m e n t , b u t t o a d a p t i t thoughtfully to their needs, always in harmony with the land that sustained them. Sperlinga: a Medieval stronghold frozen in time TERESA DI FRESCO Sperlinga is built on bare rock (Photo: Anna Suslina/Dreamstime); bottom left, Sperlinga and its castle (Photo: Elitesamurai7100/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES EVENTS

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