L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026 L'Italo-Americano O n S a t u r d a y , O c t o b e r 2 4 , 2026, Minister o f C u l t u r e A l e s s a n d r o Giuli announced that Mon- r e a l e h a d b e e n n a m e d Italian Book Capital for 2027. The town, part of the Metropolitan City of Palermo, prevailed over several other distinguished candidates with a proposal titled Monreale legge il mondo (Monreale Reads the World). The recog- nition comes with €500,000 (approximately $558,000) to help the municipal adminis- tration put its cultural pro- gram into practice. Giuli spoke of writing as a means of building relation- ships and encouraging dia- logue, explaining that a book finds its purpose in the com- munity that reads and shares it. He praised the idea of cul- tural programs that begin w i t h b o o k s a n d r e t u r n t o them, bringing together peo- ple from neighboring com- munities and making reading an activity in which everyone c a n p a r t i c i p a t e . T h e announcement brought pride and satisfaction to Mayor Alberto Arcidiacono and his administration, but it was also welcome news for Sicily as a whole. Agrigento was Italian Capital of Culture in 2025, and Gibellina is Italian Capital of Contemporary Art in 2026; Monreale's new dis- tinction continues a remark- able sequence of recognition for the island. U n d e r s e c r e t a r y o f State for Culture Pietro Cannella, himself Sicilian, praised Monreale as a town whose extraordinary histori- cal and artistic heritage pro- vides a foundation for future cultural initiatives. He placed p a r t i c u l a r e m p h a s i s o n involving young people and on using books to encourage participation and dialogue between generations and cul- t u r e s . H e a l s o p o i n t e d t o 2 0 2 7 , d e s c r i b e d i n h i s r e m a r k s a s t h e E u r o p e a n Year of the Normans, as an opportunity to connect the town's past with its cultural ambitions. There is an interesting ear- l i e r c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n Monreale and the written word. On March 30, 2017, during its annual assembly, the Order of Journalists o f S i c i l y i n a u g u r a t e d a library established through donations from writers, jour- nalists and other supporters. Among the contributors were lawyer Franco Guarnera, who d o n a t e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3,000 volumes, some dating back to the nineteenth centu- r y , a n d l a w y e r P i e r l u i g i Pirandello and his wife Gio- vanna Carlino, descendants of Luigi and Fausto Pirandel- lo, who gave books and art catalogs. Monreale's then mayor, Piero Capizzi, attend- ed the ceremony and pre- sented an art catalog and a plaque bearing the town's coat of arms. In gratitude for Guarnera's exceptional dona- tion, the Order gave him a c o m m e m o r a t i v e p l a q u e depicting an open book. The Book Capital title is a n o t h e r d i s t i n c t i o n f o r a town already famous for its cathedral and its extraordi- nary mosaics. In 2015, the cathedral was inscribed o n U N E S C O ' s W o r l d Heritage List together with t h e A r a b - N o r m a n m o n u - ments of Palermo and the Cathedral of Cefalù, while in 2 0 2 4 P r e s i d e n t S e r g i o Mattarella formally granted Monreale the status of a city. There is, however, far more to Monreale's history than the monument that brings so many visitors through its streets. A c c o r d i n g t o s o m e sources, an agricultural set- tlement called Balharā exist- ed in the area during Islamic rule, and the name has also been linked to Palermo's Bal- larò market. Monreale devel- oped as an urban center on the slopes of Monte Caputo under the Normans, especial- ly after William II of Sicily commissioned the cathedral and its adjoining buildings. A familiar story, which we dis- c u s s e d i n o u r J a n u a r y 9 , 2025 article, attributes the foundation to a devotional vision experienced by the king. The historical explana- tion is more practical: the cathedral helped the Norman monarchy strengthen its reli- gious and territorial authori- ty close to Palermo, where c o n t r o l w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y important. A document dated 1183 r e c o r d s t h e n a m e M o n s Regalis, or Royal Mountain, and on February 5 of that year Pope Lucius III elevated Santa Maria la Nuova to a metropolitan archdiocese. In 1 2 2 0 F r e d e r i c k I I o f Swabia, the celebrated Stu- por Mundi, confirmed privi- leges and customs already enjoyed by Monreale's inhab- itants. The conflicts between the Angevins and Aragonese in the thirteenth and four- teenth centuries brought dif- ficult years for the archbish- opric, but it later recovered its authority and became a powerful ecclesiastical lord- ship. The archbishop gov- erned religious affairs while also exercising civil and judi- cial powers, so his influence extended well beyond the cathedral. That arrangement lasted until the Sicilian Constitution of 1812 abolished feudalism, bringing the archbishop's temporal authority to an end, although his spiritual role and administration of church property continued. Mon- reale was then drawn into the political upheavals of the nineteenth century. During the Sicilian uprisings of 1820, a fire damaged the municipal palace and destroyed some civil and judicial records. In April 1860, residents rose against Bourbon troops, as Rosolino Pilo sought to prepare the way for Garibal- d i ' s a d v a n c e o n P a l e r m o . With the subsequent unifica- t i o n o f I t a l y , M o n r e a l e entered the administrative system of the new kingdom. For much of the twentieth century and into the twenty- first, the cathedral remained the principal focus of the t o w n ' s c u l t u r a l i d e n t i t y , u n d e r s t a n d a b l y g i v e n i t s exceptional importance. But the opening of a Multimedia Museum in 2025 suggested a desire to present more of Monreale's heritage, and the Book Capital award gives that effort a new direction. Cul- tural events and reading ini- tiatives are already being planned, with the intention o f c a r r y i n g t h e m b e y o n d 2027 rather than allowing the program to end when another town inherits the title. The municipal adminis- tration hopes to make them a permanent feature of local life, giving residents opportu- nities to participate through- out the year and encouraging visitors to discover aspects of Monreale that might other- wise be overshadowed by its famous cathedral. The chal- l e n g e w i l l b e t o t u r n t h e enthusiasm surrounding the announcement into some- thing that continues long after the celebrations are over. And Monreale has other stories worth telling, includ- ing a rather ingenious one a b o u t p u b l i c t r a n s p o r t . Between 1900 and 1946, a t r a m c o n n e c t e d t h e t o w n with Piazza Bologni in Paler- mo, but climbing from the plain to Monreale posed a considerable engineering problem. On a particularly s t e e p s t r e t c h , t h e s y s t e m used funicular traction to help the tram uphill. That practical solution belongs to a different chapter of local history, though it is a useful reminder that the city of Nor- man mosaics has never been defined entirely by its cathe- dral. TERESA DI FRESCO A new chapter for Monreale as the city is named Italian Book Capital for 2027 LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE A view of the historic town of Monreale, near Palermo, Sicily, renowned for its Norman heritage and its magnificent cathedral, one of the finest examples of Arab-Norman architecture on the island (Photo: Philippehalle / Dreamstime); inset: the Benedictine cloister of the Cathedral (Photo: Fabrizio Robba / Dreamstime)

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