- Serradifalco
Infobox CityIT
img_coa =SerradifalcoStemma.jpg
official_name = Comune di Serradifalco
region =Sicily
province = Caltanissetta (CL)
elevation_m = 504
area_total_km2 = 41
mapx=37.55|mapy=13.9
name=Serradifalco
population_as_of = 2006
population_total = 6420
population_density_km2 = 154.6
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|37|27|N|13|53|E
frazioni =
telephone = 0934
postalcode = 93010
gentilic = Serradifalchesi
saint = San Leonardo Abate
day =
mayor = Michele Ricotta
website = [http://www.comune.serradifalco.cl.it www.comune.serradifalco.cl.it]Serradifalco ("Serradifarcu" in Sicilian) is a town in the
province of Caltanissetta ,Sicily ,Italy .History
Serradifalco (from "Serra del Falcone", "Mountain of the Falcon") was founded in a feudal fief which bore the same name since the late 15th century. The town itself was founded in 1640 under permit from
King Philip IV of Spain toMaria Ventimiglia , grandmother and governess of Baron Francesco Grifeo, a minor. In 1652, ownership of the Barony and Town passed to the Lo Faso family. In 1666, it became a Duchy under DukeLeonardo Lo Faso , and it remained in control of the House of Lo Faso until the abolition of feudalism in 1812.Sulfur mining and farming were the most prevalent occupations in Serradifalco after the Italian unification in 1860.
In the great emigration of Sicilians to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Serradifalchesi farm laborers and sulfur miners went to American towns, including Pittston and Robertsdale, where they worked as coal miners; and to Buffalo and its rural environs, where they found employment with the steel plants and railroads, and in the strawberry and corn fields.
Main sights
*The "Chiesa Madre San Leonardo" completed in 1755 in the roccocò style.
*The "Chiesa San Francesco" (completed 1653). The town's first church and original "Chiesa Madre".
*The "Palazzo Ducale", or Ducal Palace, in the town square (Piazza del Barone)
*"Lago Soprano" (Soprano Lake, also called "Cuba"), a migratory fowl preserve with unique hydrology. It was formed only within the past hundred years, and has no surface streams flowing in or out.
*In the "Grottadacqua" district, a Micenean necropolis with prehistoric Sicanian domed tombs.
*The "Testa dell'acqua" (Head of water), an ancient fountain said to be the site of a mythical, magical "Fiera di mezzanotte" (Midnight Fair) that appears only once every seven years.External links
* [http://www.conigliofamily.com/SerradifalcoGiuseppeTesta.htm Partial translation of the book "Serradifalco" by Giuseppe Testa.]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
