125-724: The Asinaro is a river in Sicily in the province of Syracuse . It is 22 km long, flowing from the Hyblaean Mountains into the Ionian Sea . It passes through the UNESCO World Heritage city of Noto . The river was known as the Assinaros in antiquity; in 413 BC it was the site of the final crushing defeat of the retreating Athenian expeditionary force which had been besieging Syracuse . This Sicilian location article
250-504: A cultural sense and the Greek language did not become extinct on the island, facilitating its re-hellenisation much later under the Byzantines. The once prosperous and contented island went into sharp decline when Verres became governor of Sicily (73 to 71 BC). In 70 BC noted figure Cicero condemned the misgovernment of Verres in his oration In Verrem . Various groups used the island as
375-681: A dozen Greek colonies along its coasts, becoming one of the centers of Magna Graecia . The Sicilian Wars of 580–265 BC were fought between the Carthaginians and Greeks, and the Punic Wars of 264–146 BC were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Roman province of Sicilia ended with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Sicily was ruled during the Early Middle Ages by the Vandals ,
500-561: A good chance of success to be inappropriate. He wants to lead the revolution if the people ask him to, and in the name of the King Victor Emmanuel II . With the help of the local populations and the support of Piedmont, Garibaldi managed to avoid failures similar to those of the previous actions of the Bandiera brothers and Carlo Pisacane . Despite not receiving Garibaldi's support, Rosolino Pilo traveled to Sicily on 25 March with
625-658: A large part of the Italian patriots. Already since May 1859 the populations of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany , of the Delegation of Romagna ( Bologna , Ferrara , Ravenna and Forlì ), of the Duchy of Modena and of the Duchy of Parma had expelled their sovereigns and requested annexation to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, while the papal government had regained full possession of Umbria and
750-826: A military point of view, it is essential for the Two Sicilies to maintain close ties with the Austrian Empire . Twice the Bourbons regained the throne due to the intervention of the Austrian armies. In 1815, the Austrian Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza , defeated the army of Gioacchino Murat , Napoleon's brother-in-law, during the battle of Tolentino and, in 1821, the Austrian Johann Maria Philipp Frimont defeated Guglielmo Pepe 's troops during
875-597: A power base at different times: slave insurgents occupied it during the First (135−132 BC) and Second (104−100 BC) Servile Wars . Sextus Pompey had his headquarters there during the Sicilian revolt of 44 to 36 BC. Christianity first appeared in Sicily during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313, when Emperor Constantine the Great lifted the prohibition on Christianity,
1000-819: A significant number of Sicilians had become martyrs , including Agatha , Christina , Lucy , and Euplius . Christianity grew rapidly in Sicily over the next two centuries. Sicily remained a Roman province for around 700 years. The Western Roman Empire began falling apart after the invasion of Vandals , Alans, and Sueves across the Rhine on the last day of 406. Eventually the Vandals, after roaming about western and southern Hispania (present-day Iberia ) for 20 years, moved to North Africa in 429 and occupied Carthage in 439. The Franks moved south from present-day Belgium. The Visigoths moved west and eventually settled in Aquitaine in 418;
1125-535: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sicily Sicily ( Italian : Sicilia , Italian: [siˈtʃiːlja] ; Sicilian : Sicilia , Sicilian: [sɪˈ(t)ʃiːlja] ; officially Regione Siciliana ) is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea , south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy . With 4.8 million inhabitants, including 1.3 million in and around
1250-442: Is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the mountain ranges of Madonie , 2,000 m (6,600 ft), Nebrodi , 1,800 m (5,900 ft), and Peloritani , 1,300 m (4,300 ft), are an extension of the mainland Apennines . The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast. In the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains , 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The mines of
1375-506: Is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps . Etna covers an area of 1,190 km (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 mi). This makes it the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy , being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius . In Greek mythology , the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus ,
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#17328559383221500-483: Is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world at 2,000–4,000 years old. Sicily has a wide variety of fauna. Species include the European wildcat , red fox , least weasel , pine marten , fallow deer , wild boar , crested porcupine , European hedgehog , common toad , Vipera aspis , golden eagle , peregrine falcon , Eurasian hoopoe and black-winged stilt . Roe deer were driven to extinction on
1625-695: The American Civil War , the Union's Garibaldi Guard and its Confederate counterpart, the Garibaldi Legion , wore red shirts as a part of their uniforms. During the night of 5 May, a small group of Redshirts led by Nino Bixio "seized" two steamships in Genoa from the Rubattino shipping company (the ships were actually provided by Rubattino following a secret agreement with the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, which paid
1750-461: The Austrian Empire and Russian Empire took the side of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, but maintained a wait-and-see attitude. In such a divided Europe, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies found itself rather isolated and could only count on its own forces. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was led by a young and inexperienced monarch ( Francis II of the Two Sicilies , who succeeded his father Ferdinand II only on 22 May 1859, less than one year before
1875-499: The Belice and Platani in the southwest. Sicily has for the most part a typical Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ) with mild and wet winters and hot, dry summers with changeable intermediate seasons. On the coasts, especially in the southwest, the climate is affected by the African currents and summers can be hot. Snow falls above 900 metres, but it can fall in
2000-571: The Bourbon ships were deterred from interfering. The Lombardo was attacked and sunk only after the disembarkation had been completed, while the Piemonte was captured. Furthermore, the Bourbon commanders, ignoring the recommendations of the secret services of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, just one day before the landing, had the column of General Letizia and Major d'Ambrosio repatriated to Palermo to face
2125-657: The Elymians and the Sicels . The most prominent and by far the earliest of these were the Sicani , who ( Thucydides writes) arrived from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Catalonia ). Some modern scholars, however, suggest classifying the Sicani as possibly an Illyrian tribe. Important historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of
2250-522: The Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as intra-dynastic quarreling fractured the Muslim government. In 1038, seventy years after losing their last cities in Sicily, the Byzantines under the Greek general George Maniakes invaded the island together with their Varangian and Norman mercenaries. Maniakes was killed in a Byzantine civil war in 1043 before completing a reconquest and the Byzantines withdrew. Later
2375-657: The Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur -producing area throughout the 19th century, but have declined since the 1950s. Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. This is due to Sicily being geographically on the northern edge of the African Plate . Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and casts black ash over the island with its recurrent eruptions. It stands 3,403 metres (11,165 ft) high as of September 2024. It
2500-799: The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) and won, making Sicily–with the exception of Syracuse–the first Roman province outside of the Italian Peninsula by 242 BC. In the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC), the Carthaginians attempted to recapture Sicily. Some of the Greek cities on the island who were loyal to Rome switched sides to help the Carthaginians, prompting a Roman military response. Archimedes , who lived in Syracuse, helped defend his city from Roman invasion; Roman troops killed him after they captured Syracuse in 213 BC. The Carthaginian attempt failed, and Rome became more unrelenting in its annihilation of
2625-554: The Governolo and the Authion . Officially their presence aimed to guarantee the protection of the Piedmontese citizens present on the island but, in reality, they had to accurately evaluate the forces at play. At the same time, Cavour managed, through Giuseppe La Farina (sent after the landing in Sicily to monitor and maintain contact with Garibaldi), to follow all the preparatory phases of
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#17328559383222750-618: The Kingdom of England . The court of Roger II became the most luminous centre of culture in the Mediterranean, both from Europe and the Middle East, like the multi-ethnic Caliphate of Córdoba , then only just eclipsed. This attracted scholars, scientists, poets, artists, and artisans of all kinds. Laws were issued in the language of the community to whom they were addressed in Norman Sicily, at
2875-532: The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , ruled by the Spanish House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies . The name of the expedition derives from the initial number of participants, which was around 1,000 people. The Garibaldians, with the contribution of southern volunteers and reinforcements to the expedition, increased in number, creating the Southern Army . After a campaign of a few months with some victorious battles against
3000-508: The Marche , whose populations suffered harsh repression, culminating on 20 June 1859 in the bloody massacres of Perugia by the papal Swiss troops in the service of Pope Pius IX . Napoleon III and Cavour were mutually indebted because he had withdrawn from the Second Italian War of Independence before the expected conquest of Veneto, and because he had allowed the uprisings to spread to
3125-625: The Nebrodi Mountains and in the Bosco della Ficuzza Natural Reserve near Palermo . The Nebrodi Mountains Regional Park, established on 4 August 1993 and covering 86,000 hectares (210,000 acres), is the largest protected natural area of Sicily; it contains the largest forest in Sicily, the Caronia . The Hundred Horse Chestnut ( Castagno dei Cento Cavalli ), in Sant'Alfio , on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna,
3250-573: The Ostrogoths , the Byzantine Empire , and the Emirate of Sicily . The Norman conquest of southern Italy led to the creation of the County of Sicily in 1071, that was succeeded by Kingdom of Sicily , a state that existed from 1130 until 1816 under various dynasties, and in 1816 it was unified with the Kingdom of Naples into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . From the 1282 Sicilian Vespers until
3375-642: The Palazzo dei Normanni and the Castello a Mare . On 29 May there was a decisive counterattack by the royal troops which, however, was contained. Thus began the Siege of Palermo . On 30 May the Bourbons, barricaded in the fortresses along the walls, asked for an armistice (organized by the British Admiral Rodney Mundy ), which was granted and which lasted from 30 May to 3 June. On 6 June the Bourbon troops defending
3500-688: The Pleistocene epoch around 8000 BC. The Elymians , thought to have come from the area of the Aegean Sea , became the next tribe to join the Sicanians on Sicily. No evidence survives of warring between tribes, but the Sicanians moved eastwards when the Elymians settled in the northwest corner of the island. The Sicels are thought to have originated in Liguria ; they arrived from mainland Italy in 1200 BC and forced
3625-552: The Qanat to improve irrigation systems for agriculture. Around 1050, the western half of Sicily was ethnically and culturally distinct from central and eastern Sicily. During this time, there was also a small Jewish presence in Sicily, evidence seen in the catacombs discovered on the island. Palermo was initially ruled by the Aghlabids ; later it was the centre of the Emirate of Sicily, which
3750-564: The Trentino region of Austria, as well as István Türr and three other Hungarians . The volunteers came from middle-class backgrounds, with the vast majority being students and skilled craftsmen. The 1,089 volunteers were unfavorably armed with obsolete muskets, and wore red shirts and grey trousers as their uniform. Thus they became known as the Redshirts . The Redshirts were very popular and influenced many armies worldwide. For example, during
3875-514: The United Kingdom , workers from Glasgow and Liverpool offered days of work to support the expedition. The French daily newspaper Le Siècle launched an appeal for fundraising and the enlistment of volunteers. Having left Marseille on 9 May, Alexandre Dumas arrived in Palermo on 30 May from his personal yacht to supply Garibaldi with weapons. A friend and admirer of Garibaldi, Dumas organized
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4000-413: The battles of Rieti and the battle of Rieti-Antrodoco [ it ] . In 1860, however, the situation seemed much more favorable to the Bourbons. From 1821, the army received constant funding from the regime and was reinforced by units made up of foreigners (especially Swiss) who appeared loyal to the ruling house. The populations of the provinces of the peninsular part are generally close to
4125-550: The picciotti available. Rosolino Pilo was killed in a clash on 21 May 1860. In the first half of the 19th century, several revolts broke out in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, all repressed by the Bourbons. There was the insurrection of 1820–24, the Calabrian revolution of 1847 , the Sicilian independence revolution of 1848, the Calabrian insurrection of the same year, and the constitutional movement of Naples, also in 1848. From
4250-508: The 1860 Expedition of the Thousand , Sicily was ruled by Aragon and then Spain , either in personal union with the crown or by a cadet branch , with the exception of a period of Savoy and then Habsburg rule in 1713–1735. The island became part of the newly unified Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, an invasion led by Giuseppe Garibaldi , and a plebiscite. Sicily
4375-552: The 455 sack of Rome, at Agrigento, but were defeated decisively by Ricimir in a naval victory off Corsica in 456. The island remained under Roman rule until 469. The Vandals lost possession of the island 8 years later in 477 to the East Germanic tribe of the Ostrogoths , who then controlled Italy and Dalmatia. The island was returned to the Ostrogoths by payment of tribute to their king Odoacer . He ruled Italy from 476 to 488 in
4500-507: The Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria and Lampedusa . The mountains of Sicily form a significant part of the island's diverse landscape, with Mount Etna , one of the world's most active volcanoes, being the highest and most notable peak. Other important mountain ranges include the Nebrodi , Madonie and Peloritani mountains ranges. Several rivers drain the island, most of which flow through
4625-408: The Arabs failed to make permanent gains. They returned to Syria with their booty. Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century. The Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II moved from Constantinople to Syracuse in 660. The following year he launched an assault from Sicily against the Lombard Duchy of Benevento , which occupied most of southern Italy. Rumors that the capital of the empire
4750-494: The Athenian army and their ships, selling most of the survivors into slavery . The Greek kingdom of Syracuse controlled most of eastern Sicily while Carthage controlled the western side. The two cultures began to clash, leading to the Greek-Punic wars (between 580 and 265 BC). The Greek states had begun to make peace with the Roman Republic in 262 BC, before the Romans sought to annex Sicily as their republic's first province . Rome attacked Carthage's holdings in Sicily in
4875-420: The Bourbon army, the Thousand and the newborn southern army managed to conquer the entire Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The expedition was a success and concluded with a plebiscite that brought Naples and Sicily into the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , the last territorial conquest before the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861. The Expedition of the Thousand was the only desired action that
5000-423: The Bourbon dynasty, as demonstrated by the success of the Sanfedist movement which overthrew the Parthenopean Republic in 1799 by massacring the Jacobins of the Kingdom of Naples , as well as the anti-French of the period 1806–15. The revolt began on 4 April in Palermo with an episode that was immediately repressed whose protagonists, on the field, were Francesco Riso [ it ] and, far from
5125-419: The Bourbon kingdom, a necessary condition since this was among the requirements presented to Cavour . In fact, Cavour always presented himself as an instrument for maintaining order among the European powers. The only occurrence that would have satisfied this requirement was an uprising from within. Such an event would have felt the alienation of the people from the dynasty that ruled in Naples and, particularly,
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5250-409: The Burgundians settled in present-day Savoy in 443. The Vandals found themselves in a position to threaten Sicily – only 100 miles away from their North African bases. After taking Carthage, the Vandals, personally led by King Gaiseric , laid siege to Palermo in 440 as the opening act in an attempt to wrest the island from Roman rule. The Vandals made another attempt to take the island one year after
5375-423: The Expedition of the Thousand. Despite his republican ideas, he agreed to collaborate with the House of Savoy until national unity was achieved; the contingencies are such that even the republican Giuseppe Mazzini wrote: "It is no longer a question of republic or monarchy: it is a question of national unity... to be or not to be". In 1860 the only force opposed to the Bourbons that proved willing to take up arms
5500-411: The House of Savoy, the fundamental elements for the success of the unification cause. On 2 March 1860, Giuseppe Mazzini wrote a letter inciting the Sicilians to rebel, declaring: "Garibaldi must come". At the beginning of March, Rosolino Pilo turned to Garibaldi, first asking him for weapons, then inviting him to intervene directly. Garibaldi considered any revolutionary movement that does not have
5625-416: The Italian unification, while Cavour wanted to prevent the conquest of Rome to avoid a conflict with his French ally, Napoleon III , who protected the Papal States . The project was an ambitious and risky venture aiming to conquer, with one thousand men, a kingdom with a larger regular army and a more powerful navy. The various groups participated in the expedition for a variety of reasons: for Garibaldi, it
5750-468: The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia had instead participated. When the idea of a conference regarding the reorganization of Italy following recent events circulated in European diplomatic circles in late 1859, Francis II proved indifferent, not taking the opportunity to show an active presence internationally. In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi , already the most famous Italian revolutionary leader, was in Genoa planning an expedition against Sicily and Naples, with
5875-409: The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. After the annexation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany , the Duchies of Modena and Parma and the Romagna to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in March 1860, Italian patriots set their sights on the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which comprised all of southern mainland Italy and Sicily, as the next step toward their dream of unification of all Italian lands. As regard to
6000-410: The Normans invaded in 1061 and after taking Apulia and Calabria , Roger I occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Roger I was victorious at Misilmeri . Most crucial was the siege of Palermo, whose fall in 1071 eventually resulted in all Sicily coming under Norman control. The conquest was completed in 1091 when they captured Noto the last Arab stronghold. Palermo continued to be
6125-418: The Porta Termini and entered the city, while another column entered Palermo crossing the Porta Sant'Antonino with less difficulty. Aided by the Palermo insurrection, between 28 May and 30 May, the Garibaldians and the insurgents, often fighting street by street, conquered the whole city, despite the indiscriminate bombardment carried out by the Bourbon ships and by the positions present on the floor in front of
6250-497: The Sicanians to move back across Sicily and to settle in the middle of the island. Other minor Italic groups who settled in Sicily included the Ausones ( Aeolian Islands , Milazzo ) and the Morgetes of Morgantina . The Phoenician settlements in the western part of the island predate the arrival of Greek colonists. From about 750 BC, the Greeks began to live in Sicily ( Ancient Greek : Σικελία – Sikelia ), establishing many significant settlements. The most important colony
6375-417: The Sicilian capital capitulated in exchange for permission to leave the city, asking for the honor of arms, which Garibaldi granted as they were also Italian. The garrison evacuated on 7 July, after King Francis II authorized the Bourbon withdrawal. On 21 June 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi definitively occupied Palermo. The news went around the world and public opinion took up the cause of the expedition. In
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#17328559383226500-399: The Thousand Garibaldine victory [REDACTED] Piedmont-Sardinia [REDACTED] Two Sicilies The Expedition of the Thousand ( Italian : Spedizione dei Mille ) was an event of the unification of Italy that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto al Mare near Genoa and landed in Marsala , Sicily , in order to conquer
6625-446: The Thousand, and donors from the United Kingdom supported the expedition financially. Furthermore, there is no proof of British bribery within the ranks of the Bourbon military officers. French and Spanish ships supported the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the Siege of Gaeta . Since the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the Italian peninsula was divided into a multitude of small independent states. The French Revolution and
6750-504: The age of seven or eight until 17 or 18 Theodoric had become a Byzantine hostage; he resided in the great palace of Constantinople, was favored by Emperor Leo I ( r. 457–474 ) and learned to read, write and do arithmetic. After taking areas occupied by the Vandals in North Africa, Justinian I retook Italy as an ambitious attempt to recover the lost provinces in the West. The re-conquests marked an end to over 150 years of accommodating policies with tribal invaders. His first target
6875-413: The area, fomenting revolt among the Sicilian population. In Alcamo , on the way to Palermo, the Two Sicilies troops were attacked by Sicilians who shot from houses and balconies, and in retaliation, the soldiers set many houses on fire. In Partinico the population rebelled against the attempted forced requisition of goods and food by the retreating soldiers with a bloody popular revolt. The battle boosted
7000-405: The best examples of unspoiled coastal wilderness in Sicily. Marine Life of the Straits of Messina includes varieties of birds and marine life, including larger species such as greater flamingo and fin whale . The name Sicilia was given to the Roman province in 241 BC. It is named after the Sicels , who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age . The ancient name of
7125-470: The brilliant Lombardy campaign with the Hunters of the Alps , had demonstrated his abilities as a military leader, facing a regular army with a light army made up of volunteers. Also for this expedition he would have resorted to enlisting volunteers willing to fight under his leadership. In March 1860, exile Rosolino Pilo [ it ] exhorted Giuseppe Garibaldi to take charge of an expedition to liberate southern Italy from Bourbon rule. Garibaldi
7250-406: The capital city of Palermo , it is the most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is named after the Sicels , who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age . Sicily has a rich and unique culture in arts , music , literature , cuisine , and architecture . Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna , the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in
7375-436: The capital under the Normans . The Normans formed a small but violent ruling class. They destroyed many of the Arab towns in Sicily, and very few physical remains survive from the Arab era. The Norman Hauteville family appreciated and admired the rich and layered culture in which they now found themselves. They also introduced into Sicily their own culture, customs, and politics from Normandy . Many Normans in Sicily adopted
7500-409: The central area and enter the sea at the south of the island. The Salso flows through parts of Enna and Caltanissetta before entering the Mediterranean Sea at the port of Licata . To the east, the Alcantara flows through the province of Messina and enters the sea at Giardini Naxos , and the Simeto , which flows into the Ionian Sea south of Catania . Other important rivers on the island are
7625-433: The church of Rome to that of Constantinople, placing the island within the eastern branch of the Church. In 826 Euphemius , the Byzantine commander in Sicily, having apparently killed his wife, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor Michael II caught wind of the matter and ordered general Constantine to end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' head. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine, and then occupied Syracuse; he, in turn,
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#17328559383227750-433: The constitution of the Cisalpine Republic and of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy gave birth to a political movement aimed at national reunification. Insurrectional movements aimed at national self-determination were therefore born. Some of them were viewed favorably by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia which took the lead in the movement for the political unification of the peninsula. The Expedition took place within
7875-422: The contemporary Italian regions, including Genoa (156 volunteers), Tuscany (78 volunteers), Sicily (45 volunteers), Naples (46 volunteers), with only 11 from Rome and the Papal States . The largest number of volunteers came from Austrian Lombardy and Venetia , with 434 from Lombardy and 194 from Venetia. An additional 33 foreign volunteers joined the expedition. This included 14 ethnic Italians from
8000-422: The covert support of the United Kingdom. Lorenzo del Boca suggested that British support for Garibaldi's expedition was spurred by the necessity to obtain more favourable economic conditions for Sicilian sulfur , which was needed in great quantities for munitions. Garibaldi, although close to republican and revolutionary circles, had already been in contact with King Victor Emmanuel II for some time to organize
8125-400: The crews of an English sailing ship and a Sicilian fishing vessel owned by master Strazzeri that the city's port was not protected by Bourbon vessels. The absence of Bourbons convinced Garibaldi to head towards Marsala, where the Thousand steamers arrived in the early hours of the afternoon of 11 May 1860. The army of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which the Expedition of the Thousand and
8250-431: The departure from Argentario promontory and therefore approximately at the height of the Aegadian Islands or to the west of them, at least 70 miles from Cape Bon , without considering delays and stops. The Thousand , intending to turn towards Sciacca , after having excluded Menfi , between Selinunte and Sciacca , due to shallow water and disembarkation difficulties, then headed for Marsala , as they were informed by
8375-409: The expedition). In 1836, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had worsened relations with the United Kingdom, to which it had owed its survival during the Napoleonic period, with the " sulphur question ". Finally, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had fallen into a sort of diplomatic isolation as it had in fact refused to participate in the Crimean War alongside France and the United Kingdom, alongside which
8500-415: The expedition. Cavour considered the expedition risky. He feared that it would damage relations with France, especially because he suspected that Giuseppe Garibaldi was targeting Rome. However, since his prestige was undermined by the transfer of Savoy and Nice, he did not consider himself in a position to express his dissent. For Cavour Garibaldi represented an "opportunity", because through him it
8625-452: The expedition. The definitive agreements between Cavour and King Victor Emmanuel II were concluded during a meeting in Bologna on 2 May. Cavour accepted that the government, with caution, would help Garibaldi in the expedition. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia needed a presentable casus belli in order to attack the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. This was needed for the House of Savoy, which however never gave any declaration of war against
8750-484: The expedition." On 7 May, having no ammunition or gunpowder, Garibaldi decided to stop at Talamone , on the Tuscan coast, where he knew a military fort existed. In addition to the ammunition, he recovered three old cannons and a hundred rifles from the Sardinian army garrison stationed at fort. A second stop was made on 9 May, near Porto Santo Stefano (capital of Monte Argentario ), for coal supply. Garibaldi officially obtained weapons and coal, as major general of
8875-409: The god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea , to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex. The three volcanoes of Vulcano , Stromboli and Lipari are also active, although the last is usually dormant. Off the southern coast of Sicily, the underwater volcano of Ferdinandea , which is part of
9000-504: The ground together with part of the crew. The neutrality of the English navy was confirmed during the following battle of Palermo, when Garibaldi, left almost without gunpowder, requested it in vain from the commanders of the war fleets moored off the coast of the city. They were joined, as early as 12 May, by 200 Sicilian volunteers commanded by the Sant'Anna brothers. Their forces increased due to
9125-467: The growth of smallholdings , undermining the dominance of the latifundia . The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. The language spoken in Sicily under Arab rule was Siculo-Arabic and Arabic influence is present in some Sicilian words today. Although long extinct in Sicily, the language has developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta today. A description of Palermo
9250-406: The habits and comportment of Muslim rulers and their Byzantine subjects in dress, language, literature, even to the extent of having palace eunuchs and, according to some accounts, a harem. While Roger I died in 1101, his wife Adelaide ruled until 1112 when their son Roger II of Sicily came of age. Having succeeded his brother Simon as Count of Sicily, Roger II was ultimately able to raise
9375-533: The hills. The interior mountains, especially Nebrodi , Madonie , and Etna , enjoy a mountain climate, with heavy snowfalls during winter. The summit of Mount Etna is usually snow-capped from October to May. In the summer, the sirocco – the wind from the Sahara – can be felt. Rainfall is scarce, and in some provinces a water crisis can occur. According to the Regional Agency for Waste and Water, on 10 August 1999,
9500-564: The home of Candido Augusto Vecchi, his old comrade-in-arms from South American times, where Garibaldi had established his headquarters and lodgings. According to Frederick Schneid, "Before embarking on the adventure, Garibaldi once again pledged his loyalty to Victor Emmanuel II and proclaimed that his intention was to conquer Sicily for the king. There is every indication that there was far more collusion between Cavour and Garibaldi, if not Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi. After Garibaldi landed in Sicily, Admiral Persano received orders to support
9625-400: The inability of Francis II of the Two Sicilies , to exercise government in his domains. Sicily, as shown by the history of the past decades, was fertile ground, and the liberal south, especially those returning after an amnesty granted by the young king, who worked in this direction for some time. Meanwhile the organization of the expeditionary force was in full swing. Garibaldi, fresh from
9750-435: The insurgents had to face, was numerically considerable. In 1860 the active army was made up of four army corps, one of the guards and three of the line, for a total of around 90,000 soldiers in active service and over 50,000 in the reserve, therefore overall the total of the Two Sicilies forces at full mobilization could have had 143,586 personnel, while according to other sources, the maximum number that could be mobilized with
9875-622: The insurrectionary threat in the Sicilian capital. The landing had been preceded by the arrival of Francesco Crispi and others, who had the task of gaining the support of the locals for the volunteers. According to what was stated by the English historian George Macaulay Trevelyan in his book Garibaldi and the Thousand , the two English ships HMS Argus and HMS Intrepid did nothing to help Giuseppe Garibaldi , nor could they have because their boilers were turned off and they were moored offshore, with their commanders Marryat and Winnington-Ingram on
10000-457: The intention of preparing the ground for a future expedition. Accompanied by Giovanni Corrao [ it ] , also a follower of Giuseppe Mazzini , Rosolino Pilo arrived in Messina and immediately made contact with representatives of the most important families. In this way he obtained the support of the landowners. In fact, once the expeditionary force had landed, the barons made their gangs,
10125-543: The interests of foreign powers, the United Kingdom supported the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to counter French policy in the Italian peninsula. In fact, the United Kingdom, which together with France dominated North Africa , did not want Napoleon III to extend his influence on the Italian peninsula to have greater control of the Mediterranean Sea . Instead, the other more reactionary European powers such as Spain ,
10250-583: The invaders; Roman consul M. Valerian told the Roman Senate in 210 BC that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily". As the Roman Republic's granary , Sicily ranked as an important province, divided into two quaestorships : Syracuse to the east and Lilybaeum to the west. Roman rule introduced the Latin language to the island, which underwent a slow process of latinisation but Sicily remained largely Greek in
10375-514: The island (dating to the second half of the third millennium BC) seem to offer new insights into the culture of primitive Sicily. The impact of at least two influences is clear: the European one coming from the Northwest, and the Mediterranean influence of an eastern heritage. The original classical-era inhabitants of Sicily comprised three defined groups of the ancient peoples of Italy : the Sicani ,
10500-546: The island is Trinacria (Greek Τρινακρία "having three headlands") for its triangular shape, likely a re-interpretation of earlier ( Homeric ) Thrinacia . The Greek name was rendered as Trīnācrĭa in classical Latin ( Virgil , Ovid ). Humans first colonized Sicily towards the end of the Late Pleistocene , around 16,000 years ago, by people associated with the Epigravettian culture. Discoveries of dolmens on
10625-403: The island. The Sicilian wolf ( Canis lupus cristaldii ) was an endemic wolf subspecies that was driven to extinction in the 20th century. During the Late Pleistocene , a species of dwarf elephant , Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis inhabited the island, with its latest records on Sicily dating to around 20,000 years ago. The Riserva naturale dello Zingaro (Zingaro Natural Reserve) is one of
10750-606: The island. Linguistically, the island shifted from being one-third Greek- and two-thirds Arabic-speaking at the time of the Norman conquest to becoming fully Latinised . In terms of religion the island became completely Roman Catholic (bearing in mind that until 1054 the Churches owing allegiance to the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople belonged to one Church); Sicily before the Norman conquest
10875-596: The journey, the Thousand were joined by 3,200 Sicilians, bringing the number of fighters under Garibaldi's orders to 4,000 men. From there, Garibaldi and the Sicilian volunteers arrived in Palermo on 27 May and prepared to enter the city, through the Admiral's Bridge and the Porto Termini manned by the Bourbon military. After a hard battle, the royal troops abandoned the field and returned to Palermo. A column of Garibaldi crossed
11000-522: The larger Empedocles volcano , last erupted in 1831. It is located between the coast of Agrigento and the island of Pantelleria (which itself is a dormant volcano). From a geographical perspective, also forming a part of Sicily is the Maltese Archipelago, the islands home to the republic of Malta . The autonomous region also includes several neighbouring islands: the Aegadian Islands ,
11125-520: The largest city, Syracuse, held out until 878 and the Greek city of Taormina fell in 962. It was not until 965 that all of Sicily was conquered by the Arabs . In the 11th-century Byzantine armies carried out a partial reconquest of the island under George Maniakes , but it was their Norman mercenaries who would eventually complete the island's reconquest at the end of the century. The Arabs initiated land reforms , which increased productivity and encouraged
11250-539: The least rainfall (less than 50 cm (20 in)), and the northern and northeastern highlands the most (over 100 cm (39 in)). Sicily is an often-quoted example of man-made deforestation , which has occurred since Roman times when the island was turned into an agricultural region. This gradually dried the climate, leading to a decline in rainfall and the drying of rivers. The central and southwest provinces are practically devoid of forest. In Northern Sicily, there are three important forests; near Mount Etna, in
11375-427: The morale of the Thousand and, at the same time, depressed the Bourbons, who were poorly led by their often corrupt higher officers, and started to feel abandoned. Having promised land to every male who volunteered to fight against the Bourbons the ranks of the Thousand enlarged to 1,200 with local men. After the battle of Calatafimi Giuseppe Garibaldi headed for Palermo passing through Alcamo and Partinico. Along
11500-627: The name of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor. The Vandals kept a toehold in Lilybaeum , a port on the west coast. They lost this in 491 after making one last attempt to conquer the island from this port. The Ostrogothic conquest of Sicily (and of Italy as a whole) under Theodoric the Great began in 488. The Byzantine Emperor Zeno had appointed Theodoric as a military commander in Italy. The Goths were Germanic, but Theodoric fostered Roman culture and government and allowed freedom of religion. In 461 from
11625-504: The new Ostrogoth king Totila counterattacked, moving down the Italian peninsula, plundering and conquering Sicily in 550. Totila was defeated and killed in the Battle of Taginae by Byzantine general Narses in 552 but Italy was in ruins. At the time of the reconquest Greek was still the predominant language spoken on the island. Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman in 652, but
11750-472: The overall process of the unification of Italy , which was largely orchestrated by Cavour , Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia , as his life's work. The Second Italian War of Independence ended on 11 July 1859; the terms of the armistice of Villafranca , wanted by Napoleon III , which recognized Lombardy (with the exclusion of Mantua ) to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, but left Venice and all of Veneto in Austrian hands, had created discontent among
11875-423: The participation of the population, Garibaldi declared to ensure the dictatorship of Sicily in the name of King Victor Emmanuel II, which would then come later. The Thousand , flanked by 500 Sicilian insurgents, had their first clash on 15 May 1860 in the battle of Calatafimi against around 3,000 Two Sicilies soldiers led by General Francesco Landi . The news of the victory of the Thousand spread rapidly in
12000-606: The propaganda of the expedition through the newspapers. George Sand and Victor Hugo , then in exile, supported Garibaldi's action. The same went for Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . These, in the New-York Tribune , considered the conquest of Palermo "one of the most surprising military feats of our century". Funds and volunteers arrived from all over Europe, the United States, Uruguay and Chile . Giacomo Medici and Enrico Cosenz were joined by 33 Englishmen, as well as
12125-648: The ranks of Giuseppe Garibaldi volunteers from Marsala to Messina , up until the Battle of the Volturno . Many leading cadres of the 1848 revolution (including Rosolino Pilo [ it ] and Francesco Crispi ) fled to Turin. They participated in the Second Italian War of Independence and adopted a decidedly liberal and unitary political position. It is these follower of Giuseppe Mazzini who see, in insurrectional Sicily, in Garibaldi's intervention and in
12250-449: The reserves totaled 130,000. Garibaldi's landing in Marsala on 11 May 1860, on the westernmost point of Sicily, was favored by various circumstances, in particular by the presence of two British Royal Navy warships in the port of Marsala, the gunboats HMS Argus and the sloop-of-war HMS Intrepid , under the command of Admiral Rodney Mundy . With British ships present in the harbour,
12375-436: The revolt was confirmed on the continent by an encrypted telegram sent by Nicola Fabrizi on 27 April. The content of the message was not at all encouraging and increased Giuseppe Garibaldi 's uncertainty to the point that he initially gave up on the idea of an expedition. Francesco Crispi, who had decoded the telegram, claimed to have been wrong and provided a new version, probably falsified, which convinced Garibaldi to undertake
12500-596: The royal army, a title obtained during the 1859 campaign. The two steamers, to avoid Bourbon ships, had followed an unusual route, which had taken them almost to the Tunisian coast. On this route near the Tunisian coast, however, it was observed that on the morning of the last day of navigation, at the Il Lombardo' s speed of 7 miles per hour and after 40 hours of navigation, the two steamers could not be more than 280 miles from
12625-758: The settlers built many temples throughout Sicily, including several in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento . Politics on the island became intertwined with those of Greece; Syracuse became desired by the Athenians who set out on the Sicilian Expedition (415–413 BC) during the Peloponnesian War . Syracuse gained Sparta and Corinth as allies and, as a result, defeated the Athenian expedition. The victors destroyed
12750-621: The southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km (170 mi) long measured as a straight line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km (110 mi); total coast length is estimated at 1,484 km (922 mi). The total area of the island is 25,711 km (9,927 sq mi), while the Autonomous Region of Sicily (which includes the smaller surrounding islands of Lipari , Egadi , Ustica , and Pantelleria ) has an area of 27,708 km (10,698 sq mi). The terrain of inland Sicily
12875-555: The status of the island to a kingdom in 1130, along with his other holdings, which included the Maltese Islands and the Duchies of Apulia and Calabria . Roger II appointed the powerful Greek George of Antioch to be his "emir of emirs" and continued the syncretism of his father. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and politically powerful, becoming one of the wealthiest states in all of Europe—even wealthier than
13000-653: The subsequent landings of Sardinian troops in civilian clothes and the liberation of prisoners taken from the Bourbon prisons. On 12 May Garibaldi left Marsala and advanced quickly and easily towards the interior of Sicily. In the following days, a thousand Sicilian volunteers joined the expedition, including Franciscan priests. The volunteers are grouped within a new military structure, the Hunters of Etna , directed by Giuseppe La Masa [ it ] . On 14 May 1860 in Salemi , after an enthusiastic welcome which reassured him of
13125-536: The temporary rent of the two ships). The two ships were renamed Il Piemonte and Il Lombardo . That night, the expedition meticulously controlled by the Piedmontese authorities, set sail for Sicily, having embarked from a rock now known as the Scoglio dei Mille , at Quarto al Mare (now Quarto dei Mille ), 5.6 km south-east of the Old Port of Genoa. The rock was situated directly in front of Villa Spinola (now Villa Carrara),
13250-561: The territories of central-northern Italy, thus going beyond what was agreed with the Plombières Agreement . The political stalemate was resolved on 24 March 1860, when Cavour signed the cession of the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France with the Treaty of Turin (1860) , obtaining in exchange the consent of the French emperor to the annexation of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna to
13375-482: The theater of the operation, Francesco Crispi , who coordinated the action of the Genoese rebels. Despite the failure, the action gave rise to a series of demonstrations and insurrections, including Rosolino Pilo [ it ] 's march from Messina to Piana dei Greci from 10 to 20 April. To those, Rosolino Pilo met along the way he announced that they would have to be ready "for Garibaldi's arrival". The news of
13500-470: The time when the culture was still heavily Arab and Greek. Governance was by rule of law which promoted justice. Muslims, Jews, Byzantine Greeks , Lombards, and Normans worked together fairly amicably. During this time many extraordinary buildings were constructed. However this situation changed as the Normans imported immigrants from Normandy , England , Lombardy, Piedmont, Provence and Campania to secure
13625-399: The weather station of Catenanuova (EN) recorded an unofficial maximum temperature of 48.5 °C (119 °F). On 11 August 2021, a new highest temperature record for Europe with a reading of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) was set near the city of Syracuse . Total precipitation is highly variable, generally increasing with elevation. In general, the southern and southeast coast receives
13750-482: The west; Val Demone in the northeast; and Val di Noto in the southeast. As dhimmis , that is as members of a protected class of approved monotheists, the Eastern Orthodox Christians were allowed freedom of religion , but had to pay a tax, the jizya (in lieu of the obligatory alms tax, the zakat , paid by Muslims), and were restricted from active participation in public affairs. By the 11th century,
13875-468: The world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate . It is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina . It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is generally considered part of Southern Italy . The earliest archaeological record of human activity on the island is from around 14,000 BC. By around 750 BC, Sicily had three Phoenician and
14000-571: Was Sicily, leading to the Gothic War (535–554) between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire . Justinian's general Belisarius was assigned to the military task. Sicily was used as a base for the Byzantines to conquer the rest of Italy, including Naples , Rome, and Milan . It took five years before the Ostrogoth capital Ravenna fell in 540. However,
14125-570: Was against it at first, but eventually agreed. The expeditionary force was in full preparation and was organizing itself publicly throughout the Italian peninsula. Agostino Bertani , Giovanni Acerbi , Giuseppe Guerzoni [ it ] and Nino Bixio were active in Genoa , and Giuseppe Missori and Giuseppe Sirtori in Lombardy . By May 1860, Garibaldi had collected 1,089 volunteers for his expedition to Sicily. A total of 336 volunteers came from
14250-499: Was defeated and driven out to North Africa. He offered the rule of Sicily to Ziyadat Allah , the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia , in return for a position as a general and a place of safety. A Muslim army was then sent to the island consisting of Arabs , Berbers , Cretans , and Persians . The Muslim conquest of Sicily was a see-saw affair and met with fierce resistance. It took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered;
14375-658: Was given by Ibn Hawqal , an Arab merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb, called the Al-Kasr (the palace), is the centre of Palermo to this day, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of al-Khalisa (modern Kalsa ) contained the Sultan 's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices, and a private prison. Ibn Hawqal estimated there were 7,000 butchers trading in 150 shops. The Muslim rule introduced lemons, oranges and sugar cane, as well as cotton and mulberries for sericulture, and introduced
14500-427: Was given special status as an autonomous administrative division on 15 May 1946, 18 days before the 1946 Italian institutional referendum . Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria . To the north-east, it is separated from Calabria and the rest of the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina , about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide in the north, and about 16 km (9.9 mi) wide in
14625-673: Was in Syracuse ; others grew up at Akragas , Selinunte , Gela , Himera and Zancle . The native Sicani and Sicel peoples became absorbed into the Hellenic culture with relative ease, and the area became part of Magna Graecia along with the coasts of the south of the Italian peninsula , which the Greeks had also colonised. Sicily had fertile soils, and the successful introduction of olives and grape vines fostered profitable trading. Greek culture significantly centered around Greek religion , and
14750-472: Was jointly decided by the four " Fathers of the Fatherland " Giuseppe Mazzini , Giuseppe Garibaldi, King Victor Emmanuel II , and Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , pursuing divergent goals. Mazzini, of republican political belief, wanted to liberate Southern Italy and Rome , while Garibaldi wanted to conquer, in the name of Victor Emmanuel II, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and continue towards Rome to complete
14875-525: Was possible to trigger an internal revolt in the Two Sicilies which would have forced the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to take measures to guarantee public order. Cavour therefore decided to wait and observe the evolution of events, to grasp any favorable developments in Piedmont; it was only when the chances of success of the expedition were significant that Cavour openly supported the initiative. With this in mind, on 18 April Cavour sent two warships to Sicily;
15000-623: Was supported by the British Empire to establish a friendly government in Southern Italy , which was becoming of great strategic value due to the imminent opening of the Suez Canal , the Bourbons were considered unreliable due to their increasing openings towards the Russian Empire . This is however not proven and not logical. The Royal Navy defended only British interest during the landing of
15125-458: Was the Sicilian independentism . The memory of the long revolution of 1848 was still alive on the island, where the repression by the Bourbons was particularly harsh. Subsequently, the Bourbon government's attempts to reach a political solution were unsuccessful. Intolerance, even in urban and rural populations that associated with the Risorgimento was common, as evidenced by their belonging to
15250-403: Was to achieve a united Italy; for the Sicilian bourgeoisie, an independent Sicily as part of the Kingdom of Italy, and for common people, land distribution and the end of oppression. The Expedition was instigated by Francesco Crispi , who utilized his political influence to bolster the Italian unification project. Although many recent writers consider that the expedition and the whole enterprise
15375-454: Was to be moved to Syracuse probably cost Constans his life, as he was assassinated in 668. His son Constantine IV succeeded him. A brief usurpation in Sicily by Mezezius was quickly suppressed by this emperor. Contemporary accounts report that the Greek language was widely spoken on the island during this period. In 740 Emperor Leo III the Isaurian transferred Sicily from the jurisdiction of
15500-629: Was under the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch. After Pope Innocent III made him Papal Legate in 1098, Roger I created several Catholic bishoprics while still allowing the construction of 12 Greek-speaking monasteries (the Greek language, monasteries, and 1500 parishes continued to exist until the adherents of the Greek Rite were forced in 1585 to convert to Catholicism or leave; a small pocket of Greek-speakers still live in Messina). Expedition of
15625-551: Was under the nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid Caliphate . During the reign of this dynasty revolts by Byzantine Sicilians continuously occurred especially in the east where Greek-speaking Christians predominated. Parts of the island were re-occupied before revolts were quashed. Under the Arab rule the island was divided in three administrative regions , or "vals", roughly corresponding to the three "points" of Sicily: Val di Mazara in
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