Gela

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Gela

Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
| province = Caltanissetta

Province of Caltanissetta

The Province of Caltanissetta is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. It contains 22 comuni , see Comuni of the Province of Caltanissetta....
(CL) | elevation_m = 46 | area_total_km2 = 276| population_as_of = January 1, 2007| population_total = 77311| population_density_km2 = 280| timezone = CET

Central European Time

Central European Time is one of the names of the time zone that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in most European and some North African countries....
, UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

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Sicily

Province of Caltanissetta

Central European Time

Central European Time is one of the names of the time zone that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in most European and some North African countries....
, UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is a time standard based on International Atomic Time with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate for the Earth's slowing rotation....
+1 | coordinates = | frazioni = Macchitella, Manfria | telephone = 0933| postalcode= 93012| gentilic = Gelesi| saint = St. Maria dell'Alemanna| day = September 8 | mayor = Rosario Crocetta (since April 8, 2003)| website = | }} Gela is a town in the province of Caltanissetta

Province of Caltanissetta

The Province of Caltanissetta is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. It contains 22 comuni , see Comuni of the Province of Caltanissetta....
in the south of Sicily

Sicily

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. The city is at about 84 kilometers distance from the city of Caltanissetta

Caltanissetta

Caltanissetta is a city located on the western interior of Sicily, capital of the province of Caltanissetta. It lies in an area of rolling hills with small villages and towns, crossed by the river Salso....
, on the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
. The city has a larger population than the provincial capital, and ranks second in land area.

Gela is an important industrial city and port town. One important industry that is located here is that of petroleum refinery. The city can be reached from other cities, like Syracuse and Caltanissetta, by train.

History

Ancient era

The city was founded around 688 BC by colonists from Rhodos

Rhodos

In Greek mythology, Rhodos was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite....
(Rhodes) and Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
, 45 years after the founding of Syracuse

Syracuse, Italy

Syracuse is a historic city in southern Italy, the Capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is noted for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture and association to Archimedes, playing an important role in ancient times as one of the top powers of the Mediterranean world; it is over 2,700 years old....
. The city was named after the river Gela

Gela (river)

The Gela river is located in Sicily. It originates from the Disueri lake and, after about 59 kilometers, flows into the Stretto di Sicilia of the Mediterranean Sea, near the homonymous town ....
. The Greeks had many colonies in the south of what is now Italy, and for many centuries the Greeks had a major influence on the area. Gela flourished and, after only a century, a group of Geloi founded the colony of Agrigento

Agrigento

Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragras , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece....
. The expansion, however, led to economic and social strains, which led the plebs to leave the city and settle in nearby Maktorion

Maktorion

Maktorion or Mactorium , was an ancient town of Sicily, in the neighborhood of Gela, mentioned by Herodotus , who tells us that it was occupied by a body of Geloan citizens, who were driven out from their country, and were restored to it by Telines, the ancestor of Gelon....
. However, the revolt was opposed by the great priest of Diana

Diana (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunting, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and also of the moon. In literature she was the Greek deities and their Roman and Etruscan counterparts of the Greek mythology Artemis, though in Cult she was Italy, not Greek, in origin....
and the exiled plebs returned to Gela.

For over a century no further mention is made about the internal politics of the city, until the ancient historians note that a tyrant, Cleander

Cleander of Gela

Cleander was the first tyrant of Gela. In 505 BC he took power by overthrowing the Dorian government, which had been ruling the city for decades....
, ruled Gela between 505 BC and 498 BC. After his death, power transferred to his brother Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Gela

Hippocrates was the second tyrant of Gela and ruled from 498 BC to 491 BC. He was the brother of Cleander of Gela and succeeded him to the throne after his death....
, who conquered Callipoli, Leontini, Naxos

Naxos (Sicily)

Naxos or Naxus , was an ancient city of Sicily, on the east coast of the island between Catana and Messana . It was situated on a low point of land at the mouth of the river Acesines , and at the foot of the hill on which was afterwards built the city of Tauromenium ....
, Hergetios and Zancles, the current Messina. Only Syracuse, with the help of her former colonizing city, Corinth

Corinth

Corinth, or Korinth Corinth is now the capital of the Prefectures of Greece of Corinthia. The city is surrounded by the coastal townlets of Lechaio, Isthmia, Kechries, and the inland townlets of Examilia and the archaeological site....
and Corcyra, managed to escape the Gelese expansion. When Camarina

Camarina

Camarina is an ancient city of Sicily, southern Italy, situated on the south coast, about 27 kilometers South East of Gela . It was founded by Syracuse, Sicily in 599 BC, but destroyed by the mother city in 552 BC....
, a Syracusan colony, rebelled in 492 BC, Hippocrates intervened to wage war against Syracuse. After having defeated the Syracusan army at the Heloros river, he besieged the city. However, in the end he was convinced to retreat in exchange for the possession of Camarina. The tyrant lost his life in 491 in a battle against the Siculi, the native Sicilian people.

Hippocrates was succeeded by Gelo

Gelo

Gelo , son of Deinomenes, was a 5th century BC ruler of Gela and Syracuse, Italy and first of the Deinomenid rulers....
, who, in 484, conquered Syracuse and moved his seat of government there. His brother Hiero

Hiero I of Syracuse

Hieron I was the son of Deinomenes, the brother of Gelon and tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily from 478 to 467 BC. In succeeding Gelon, he conspired against a third brother Polyzelos....
was given control over Gela. When Theron

Theron

Theron, originally Greek pronounced THER-on meaning "Hunter", or French pronounced THE-ro, may refer to:*Theron of Acragas, a 5th century BC tyrant of Agrigento, Sicily....
of Agrigento conquered Himera

Himera

Himera , was an important ancient Greece city of Sicily, situated on the north coast of the island, at the mouth of the river of the same name , between Panormus and Cephaloedium ....
and a Carthaginian

Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
army disembarked in Sicily to counter him, he asked for help from Gela and Syracuse. Gelo and Hiero were victorious in the subsequent battle of Himera

Battle of Himera

Two notable battles which were fought in the ancient world are called Battle of Himera:*Battle of Himera - fought in Himera*Battle of Himera - fought near Imera River...
, in which the Carthaginian leader Hamilcar lost his life.

After the death of Gelo (478 BC), Hiero moved to Syracuse, leaving Gela to Polyzelos. Thenceforth the history of the city becomes uncertain: it has been suggested that the citizens freed themselves from the rule of tyrants and established a democratic government.

Many of the Geloi returned from Syracuse in this period, and the city regained part of its power: Aischylos died in this city in 456 BC. Gela was at the head of the Sicilian league that pushed back the Athenian

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
attempt to conquer the island in 424 (see Sicilian Expedition

Sicilian Expedition

The Sicilian Expedition was an Athens expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. The expedition was hampered from the outset by uncertainty in its purpose and command structure?political maneuvering in Athens swelled a lightweight force of twenty ships into a massive armada, and the expedition's primary propone...
).

In 406 the Carthaginians conquered Agrigento and destroyed it. Gela asked for the help of Dionysius I of Syracuse

Dionysius I of Syracuse

Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder , tyrant of Syracuse, Italy, conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Ancient Greece colonies....
. However, for unknown reasons, the latter did not arrive in time and, after heroic deeds, Gela was turned into ruins and its treasures sacked (405). The survivors took refuge in Syracuse. In 397 they returned home and joined Dionysius II

Dionysius II of Syracuse

Dionysius the Younger or Dionysius II ruled Syracuse, Italy, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.He was the son of Dionysius I of Syracuse....
in his struggle for the freedom from the invaders, and in 383 BC they saw their independence acknowledged.

Under Agathocles

Agathocles

Agathocles , , was tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily and king of Sicily ....
(317-289 BC) the city suffered again for internal strife between the general population and the aristocrats. When the Carthaginians arrived in 311 BC, they met little resistance and captured the city with the help of the aristoi. In 282 BC Phintias of Agrigento, who had founded a city next to the modern Licata

Licata

Licata is a city located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River , about midway between Agrigento and Gela. It is a major seaport developed at the turn of the twentieth century, shipping sulfur, the refining of which has made Licata the largest European exporting centre, and asphalt, and at times shipping cheese....
, destroyed ruthlessly Gela to crush forever its power.

Roman, Byzantine and mediaeval ages

The city subsequently disappeared from the chronicles. Under the Roman domination a small settlement still existed, which is mentioned by Virgil

Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
, Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
, Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Ancient Rome philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Constitution of the Roman Republic. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest rhetoric and prose stylists....
and Strabo

Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
. Later it was a Byzantine minor center. Under the Arab it was known as "City of Columns".

The later city was founded in AD 1233 by Frederick II

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II , of the House of Hohenstaufen dynasty, was an Kingdom of Italy pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215....
by the name Terranova, by which it remained known until 1928. The new settlement was west of the ancient Gela, andwas provided with a castle and a line of walls. Terranova, also known as Heracles, was a royal possession until 1369, when King Frederick III of Aragon

Frederick III of Sicily

Frederick II or III was the regent and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso III of Aragon and James II of Aragon....
gave it to Manfredi III Chiaramonte. In 1401, however, it was confiscated after the treason of Andrea Chiaramonte, and assigned to several Aragonese feudataries. In 1530 the title of Marquis of Terranova was created for Giovanni Tagliavia Aragona, and in 1561 his son Carlo obtained the title of Duke. The Terranova Aragona held the city until 1640, when the marriage of Giovanna Tagliavia Aragona and Ettore Pignatelli give the possession to the latter's family. The Pignatelli held the fief until 1812.

Modern era

Renamed Terranova di Sicilia, in 1927 the city was given back the name of Gela.

During the Allied invasion of Sicily

Allied invasion of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies of World War II took Sicily from the Axis ....
in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Allied forces repelled an Italian and German armored counterattack at Gela in July 1943. The US First Infantry Division landed on the beaches during the initial assault, also.

After the war, a large oil refinery

Oil refinery

An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas....
was built in the Gela's territory, as a part of Enrico Mattei

Enrico Mattei

Enrico Mattei was an Italy public administrator. After World War II he was given the task of dismantling the Italian Petroleum Agency Agip, a state enterprise established by the Italian fascism regime....
's industrial expansion plan. This move tried to help the economy of the region, but instead it created significant damage to the area's visual appearance and touristic appeal. The chaotic building program, which was carried out in the absence of a planning process, created almost intractable social problems.

In the 1980s, the area saw the increasing power of a mafioso

Mafioso

Mafioso may refer to:* Mafioso , a 1962 Italian crime comedy film* Mafioso , a Sicilian criminal secret society member* Mafioso rap, a hip hop sub-genre...
association, Stidda

Stidda

La Stidda is a name for criminal organizations centered in Gela, Sicily, in Italy. Members are known as stiddari or stiddaroli. It is most active in the rural parts of southern Sicily and is partially a rival to Cosa Nostra....
, which was protagonist of a long series of violences and homicides. In December 2001, as part of a large anti-mafia operation led by the provincial carabinieri

Carabinieri

The Arma dei Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both the military and civilian populations. The Carabinieri is now a branch of armed forces , thus ending their long standing role as the first corps of the Italian army....
, 88 arrest warrants were carried out and a number of companies associated with Gela's Rinzivillo mafia clan were seized under suspicion of money laundering and drug trafficking. The strong mafia influence in the city is partly responsible for the Gela's lack of tourism, with attempts to invest in the local tourism industry (through the creation of hotels etc.) being repeatedly, and mysteriously, blocked.

Recently a development and recovering program has slightly improved the situation of the city. The universities of Catania

University of Catania

The University of Catania is a university located in Catania, Italy, and founded in 1434. With a population of over 60,000 students, it is the main university in Sicily....
and Palermo

University of Palermo

The University of Palermo is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties....
have opened faculties in Gela, and the historical center, as well as the archaeological area, the seaside and the Castelluccio, have been renovated.

Main sights

Akropolis.
Regional Archeological museum.
The Archeological site of Capo Soprano.
Greek temple
Greek temple

Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them....
s
The Cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Virgin Assunta, was rebuilt in 1766-1794 over a pre-existing small church of Madonna della Platea. It has two orders façade with Doric and Ionic semi-columns. The interior, with a nave and two aisles, houses a wood with the Transit of the Virgin by Deodato Guidaccia and other 18th centuries canvasses.
The Castelluccio ("Small Castle"), built in the early 13th century. It is located 10 km from the city.
Natural Reserve of Biviere di Gela, including a coastal lake surrounded by dunes.
Manfria, with a typical beach with Mediterranean dune landscape, and the Torre di Manfria ("Manfria Tower").

Bounding communes

Acate
Acate

Acate is a small town in the south of Sicily, Italy, part of of the province of Ragusa. It is located in the Dirillo River valley, 34 kilometers from Ragusa....
Butera
Caltagirone
Caltagirone

Caltagirone is a town and comune in the province of Catania, on the island of Sicily, about 70 km southwest of Catania. It is bounded by the comuni of Acate, Gela, Grammichele, Licodia Eubea, Mazzarino, Mazzarrone, Mineo, Mirabella Imbaccari, Niscemi, Piazza Armerina, San Michele di Ganzaria....
Gela P / Mount Erna Kaethe
Mazzarino
Mazzarino

Mazzarino is a city in the province of Caltanissetta in the region of Sicily, Italy. As of 2007 Mazzarino had an estimated population of 12,097....
Niscemi
Niscemi

Niscemi is a town in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy. It has a population of 26,492.Near Niscemi, there is a military radio station for naval communication....

Gela

History

Ancient era

Roman, Byzantine and mediaeval ages

Modern era

Main sights

Bounding communes

External links