Campofiorito
The History of Campofiorito
Hello everyone! Today I would like to talk to you about Campofiorito, a town in the metropolitan city of Palermo in Sicily, which was called Bellanova in Sicilian for a long time. It is said that a first settlement dates back to the Greek period and lost importance during the Roman era. When it was occupied by the Arabs, it was destroyed and reduced to the village of Ballanūba, the homeland of a well-known Arab poet of Sicily. Later, the city took the name of Bellanova.
In the XII century, the emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, following his struggle against the Muslims, expelled the occupants from Bellanova who dispersed. The Christian inhabitants moved to the present-day Campofiorito, giving rise to "Casale Bellanova". Through sales and successions, the Casale Bellanova passed to Prince Stefano Reggio, who was granted investiture on December 5th, 1698.
The Birth of Campofiorito
After the mid-eighteenth century, the nephew of Prince Stefano Reggio, Prince Stefano Reggio-Gravina, thought of using the "jus aedificandi" of 1452 to build a new town on those lands. The "jus aedificandi", granted by Alfonso of Aragon three centuries before, allowed the prince to prevail, against legal provisions of the time, which prohibited the construction of new towns too close to existing urban centers.
Stefano Reggio-Gravina thus had the green light to realize the ambitious project of reuniting under his ownership the feuds of Batticani and Scorciavacche. Initially, the prince called the town under construction "Santo Stefano Reggio". Construction work began on the first day of spring in 1768: a date probably not casual, which wanted to be of good omen. The first houses, all of equal size, were built along the culminating axis with the hill of Calvary, about 700 meters above sea level. The small church of Santo Stefano, protector of the town, was built.
The Population
To populate the new town, the prince issued a notice, promising the free concession of land to build a house and the payment of small rents for the land granted in perpetual leasehold. Many people came from the surrounding villages, attracted by the prospect of a house and work. In 1798, Campofiorito already had 775 inhabitants and, in the 1950s, it was a town of 2,500 people. After the migratory waves of the 1960s, the inhabitants temporarily stabilized at around 1,700. Until today, the number of inhabitants of the municipality continues to decline.
A testimony of the prince's presence is the church of Santo Stefano, still present today in via Calvario.
Conclusions
And so, dear friends, I wanted to talk to you about the history of Campofiorito, a town in the metropolitan city of Palermo in Sicily. I hope I have made you curious and brought something new to your attention today. If you ever visit the area, come and visit the church of Santo Stefano and enjoy the beauty of this small town. See you soon!
