Salemi History
Salemi (Zip Code 91018) is a town in South-Western Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the province of Trapani. Salemi enjoys a lovely position surrounded by the vineyards that are so typical a feature of the Trapani region. The municipality has about 12,200 inhabitants and its area is 18.160 hectares; the density of population is of 66 inhabitants per square kilometre. Salemi rises on a hill area and is 446 metres above the sea-level.
This is the anciant Halicyae, of Sican or Elymian origin, an ally of Segesta in the war against Siracusa and, under the Romans, one of the five free and immune cities of Sicily. In the Middle Ages, the Arabs extended its defensive and urban stuctures; the name of the town dates to this period: salam, in Arabic, means 'health and safety'. Under the Aragonese, it was disputed by the most powerful families of the Sicilian nobility (Ventimiglia, Alagona, Moncada), but soon freed itself from them and became a city of the royal domain. During the Expedition of the Thousand, on 14 May 1860, three days after the landing at Marsala, Garibaldi issued the declaration from the Castle of Salemi in which he assumed the title of "Dictator of Sicily" in the name of Victor Emmanuel, "King of Italy", thus underlying the strictly monarchic and unifying intentions of this military undertaking. The town of Salemi was severely damaged by the earthqauke in 1968. Some of the buildings that could be saved have been restored, while a new town has been constructed further down the valley, to which part of the population have moved.
The older parts of Salemi bear the permanent imprint of Arab influences, its narrow cobbled streets wind their way to the top of the hill crowned with the inevitable castle.
Salemi is an important knot on the lines of territorial communication. It is a lively agricultural center and its production is made up of the produce of dairies, vegetables, corn, citrus fruits, wine, wine-grapes and table grapes. There are also cattle and sheep breedings. Embroidery handicraft is another important part of Salemi economy.
Together with the Jewish quarter of the Giudecca and the Islamic Rabato the town of Salemi embodies the culture and architecture of the three monotheistic religions: Christian, the Israelite and Muslim.
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Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1888): King Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878)
Italian Nationalist and Soldier of the first King of a united Italy.
the Risorgimento
