Casteldaccia (Sicilian: Castiddaccia) is a town of 11,628 inhabitants 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 ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

near 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 ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, southern

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 ...

, founded by Marquis Longarini.Russo, 1961, p. 260. It is the seat of the Vini Corvo wine producer, and the Tomasello Pasta factory.

Origin of the name

One hypothesis on the origin of its name is that is comes from the union of two words: ''castello'' (Italian for "castle") and ''accia'' (celery, a plant that used to grow abundantly in the place where now the village stands).

Architecture

The original town-planning is irregular, characterized by narrow streets and typical houses of the Sicilian tradition. The town center is constituted by the ''Matrice Square'', surrounded by the town church, the façade of the castle of the Duke of Salaparuta, a symbol of the past feudal splendor, as well as a small chapel called ''La chiesetta''. In the late 20th century, Casteldaccia had a chaotic urban development: real estate speculation has irreparably damaged the territory. For example, the town has no public garden or a playground for children. Casteldaccia's railway station belongs on the lines Palermo-Messina, Palermo-Agrigento and Palermo-Catania.

Economy

The village has no large commercial activities. Most inhabitants commute to

Bagheria Bagheria (; scn, Baarìa ) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre. Etymology According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sici ...

and

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 ...

to carry out their work. Once most of the population was constituted by farmers. Currently agriculture hardly exists any longer, since most of farm lands were declared construable. The fame of the town is mostly tied to the family of the Dukes of Salaparuta and in particular to Giuseppe Alliata Moncada who, in 1824, started to bottle a white wine produced with the Inzolia grapes coming from his property in Corvo di Salaparuta's district. The first seat of production was Alliata Moncada's Villa Valguarnera in the town of Bagheria, a few kilometres away from Casteldaccia. Thus the first bottled Sicilian

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

was born, as well as the Sicilian wine-producing industry. Other industries in town include the Tomasello pasta factory, and an olive oil company called Giada Oil which bottles and exports most of the oil produced in the town. In the 16th century, the territory was intensely cultivated with sugarcane, so a tower called Bellacera was built to protect the plantations.Sommariva, 2009, p. 24-25. Casteldaccia is a resort area. In the summertime many citizens of Palermo move to some villas on the coast. Other villas, some of which in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style, surrounded by large gardens, are located on the hill overlooking the railway station.

References

{{reflist

Sources

* Touristic brochure published by the former

Province of Palermo The Province of Palermo ( it, provincia di Palermo; Sicilian: ''pruvincia di Palermu'') was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Palermo. On 4 August 2015, it was replaced ...

. * ASSO Informatica, ''The Italian Heritage, Casteldaccia'', Touristic Information, 2009

* Russo Rocco, ''Casteldaccia nella Storia della Sicilia: Memorie di ieri'', Edizione Arti Grafiche Battaglie, Palermo, 1961, page 260. *Sommariva Giulia, ''Bagarìa il territorio e le ville'', Dario Flaccovio Editore, Palermo, 2009, pages 24–25. Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo