Mazzarrone
Welcome to Mazzarrone, the city of grapes
Hello everyone! Are you ready to discover Mazzarrone, the city of grapes? This Italian municipality, located in the region of Sicily, has a population of about 3,958 inhabitants and is known mainly for the cultivation of high-quality table grapes.
The geography of Mazzarrone
The municipal territory extends on the northwestern edge of the Iblei Mountains, on a surface of just over 33 km² at an altitude ranging from 115 m to 335 m above sea level. Immersed in a splendid area of Sicily, Mazzarrone is located a short distance from the cities of Caltagirone, Vittoria, Gela, Palermo, Enna, Ragusa, and Catania. The nearest airport is Comiso, while the nearest train station is Grammichele.
The terrain is predominantly flat, with sandy and clay soils conditioning it. Slope breaks are present only where the affluents of the right bank of the Dirillo river flow in correspondence with the impluvium lines. In the northwestern part of the territory is the protected area of the Suburban Park "Sciri Sottano".
The history of Mazzarrone
The inhabited center of Mazzarrone began to be permanently populated after the unification of Italy, thanks to the Siccardi Laws. The seizure and subsequent division of the feud favored the settlement of this territory through the leasing of the land. Numerous families from the Iblei Mountains centers since 1870 gave life to small agglomerations, developed over time, such as the neighborhoods of Piano Chiesa, Botteghelle, Cucchi, Leva, Grassura, and Sciri.
Cucchi owes its name to the first nucleus of inhabitants from Ragusa, the Di Pasquale, composed of a family of four brothers and one sister who got up early in the morning to go to work in the fields and returned tired at sunset, being nicknamed "the Cucchi". The name Botteghelle (in dialect "i putii") is due to the first grocery stores that arose in the neighborhood, along Via Botteghelle and Corso Vittorio Emanuele III (now Via Vittorio Emanuele). The name Piano Chiesa (in dialect "u cianu a Criesa") refers to the first church built in the neighborhood, dedicated to San Giuseppe, patron saint of Mazzarrone. The name Leva refers instead to the baron de' Leva, originally from Modica, who in the early twentieth century owned a part of those lands. Finally, the name Grassura (in dialect "A Rasciura" or "Grasciura") derives from the Sicilian term for "manure" and probably indicates the richness of those surrounding lands. The name Sciri instead derives from the term Xiri or Chiri, which means dry and probably indicates that there was once a lake in this area that then dried up.
Conclusions
Mazzarrone, the city of grapes, is a city full of history and charm, immersed in one of the most beautiful areas of Sicily. If you love nature and culture, you cannot miss a visit to this fascinating municipality. Come and discover its history, its beauty, and, why not, taste its high-quality table grapes!
