Terrasini is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions (''Regions of Italy, regioni'') and provinces (''Provinces ...

'' in the

Metropolitan City of Palermo The Metropolitan City of Palermo ( it, Città metropolitana di Palermo; scn, Cità metrupulitana di Palermu) is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. It replaced the Province of Palermo and comprises the city ...

on the island of

Sicily Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Data

Terrasini is located west of Palermo at the motorway between

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

and

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality ('' comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an im ...

, between the mountains and the Gulf of Castellammare near the

Palermo International Airport Falcone Borsellino Airport ( it, link=no, Aeroporto Falcone Borsellino) or simply Palermo Airport, formerly Punta Raisi Airport, is an international airport located at Cinisi, west northwest of Palermo, the capital city of the Italian islan ...

. Terrasini's population works mainly in fishing and tourism. The population triples during the summer. Bounding communes are: Carini, Cinisi,

Partinico Partinico ( Sicilian: ''Partinicu'', Ancient Greek: ''Parthenikòn'', Παρθενικόν) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. It is from Palermo and from Trapani. Main sights *Church of ''San ...

and Trappeto.

History

The name Terrasini probably derives from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

"terra sinus" = "land at the gulf" (the Gulf of Castellamare) or from "terra sinorum" = "land of the bays" due to the strongly curved coastline with a large number of larger and smaller bays. The name was first cited for the region in a letter from the archive of the abbey San Martino delle Scale near Monreale of 24 November 1350 as "terras vocatas li Terrasini". The grottoes in the area of Terrasini were inhabited already in the late paleolithic times. On different sites, tracks of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

settlers were found. The origin of the town goes back to the late medieval times to a small settlement (called Favarotta) of agricultural workers on the large-scale landed property of the family "La Grua Talamanca" from Carini. In the 17th century, fishermen settled at the coast. When the former feudal property was left to the agricultural workers for cultivation, a flourishing agriculture developed around the fishers' village. Modern Terrasini was founded 24 October 1836, when King Ferdinand II issued a decree that the village Favarotta, then considered part of neighboring Cinisi, should be merged with adjoining Terrasini as a single community.

Sights

Culture

*Chiesa Madre "Maria SS delle Grazie", (18th century, facade of 1901) *Chiesa "Maria SS della Provvidenza" *Chiesa "Maria SS del Rosario" *Chiesa "S Rosalia", (18th century) *Palazzo Grua, (18th century), now seat of the town administration *Palazzo Cataldi, (18th century), now seat of the town library *Palazzo Aumale, built in the 19th century as a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mo ...

, the son of king

Louis-Philippe of France Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

, now comprising the three sections of the Museo Civico: **Museo del Caretto (ethno-anthropological section) **Antiquarium (archeological section) **Museum of history of nature *Old watchtowers along the coast: Torre Alba (16th century), Torre di Capo Rama (15th century), Torre Toledo or Paternella (16th century) *Villa Fassini *Fishers and tourists port

Nature

*Grotta Perciata, a large grotto in the cliffs *Cala Rossa (red bay, due to the red colour of the rocks) *Natural Park (Riserva Naturale) Capo Rama

Festivals

*Festa di li schietti (on Easter Sunday) *Festa di San Pietro (end of June) *Festa di Maria Santissima delle Grazie (4 September) *Estate Terrasinense (June - September): Season of theater and concert performances throughout the town

Gallery

Image:Terrasini-bjs-1.jpg, Piazza Duomo with Chiesa Madre image:Terrasini-bjs-4.jpg, Palazzo Aumale Image:Terrasini-bjs-6.jpg, Port Image:Terrasini-bjs-8.jpg, Seaside Image:Torre-Alba-bjs.jpg, Torre Alba Image:Landscape-Sicilia-bjs-1.jpg, Calarossa Bay Image:Landscape-Sicilia-bjs-4.jpg, Cliffs with Grottoes Image:Torre-Capo-Rama-bjs.jpg, Torre di Capo Rama

References

External links

Terrasini on line
(official site in Italian)
Terrasini

Photo Album Terrasini
{{authority control Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo