Acquaviva Platani
Encyclopedia
Acquaviva Platani is a hill town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Caltanissetta
Province of Caltanissetta
The Province of Caltanissetta is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy...

.

The name of the town (meaning "Living Water" in Italian) is derived from the numerous natural springs in the area. Until 1862, the town was called simply Acquaviva; the appositive Platani was added to distinguish it from the other three Italian towns named Acquaviva. Platani
Platani
Platani , known in ancient times as Alico is a river in southern Sicily, Italy. It is the fifth longest in the island after Imera Meridionale, Simeto, Belice and Dittaino, with a course of 103 km, and the third for drainage basin with 1,785 km², after the Simeto and Imera Meridionale...

 is the name of the river which flows in the narby.

The economy is based on agriculture: the production of wheat, olives, almonds, and pistachios are important. Also, cattle and horse breeding, along with sheep farms provide income.

Sights include the Torre dell'Orologio (clock tower) which was built in 1894, and the 17th century century Chiesa Madre (Mother Church), dedicated to Santa Maria della Luce.

Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo was an Italian author and poet. In 1959 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times". Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale, he is one of the foremost Italian poets...

, who spent part of his childhood at Acquaviva Platani, writes about the town in his poem "Che vuoi pastore d'aria?", which was included in the Nuove Poesie collection


The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK