Petralia Sottana ( scn, Pitralìa Suttana) 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 ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in the island of

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

, Southern Italy. The main characters in

Emanuele Crialese Emanuele Crialese (born 27 May 1965) is an Italian screenwriter and film director. He is a native of Rome and studied filmmaking in New York City. Biography Emanuele Crialese was born on July 26, 1965 in Rome to Sicilian parents. He studied filmm ...

's 2006 film of Sicilian immigration to America, ''

Nuovomondo ''Nuovomondo'' (literally "new world" in Italian language, Italian; English world-wide title ''Golden Door'') is a 2006 drama film based on a family's migration from Italy to New York City, United States, U.S.A. at the beginning of the 20th century ...

'', come from the town of Petralia.

Geography

The Madonie Mountains cover the commune. Petralia Sottana hosts the headquarters of the

Madonie Regional Natural Park The Madonie Regional Natural Park (Italian: ''Parco delle Madonie'') is an Italian regional park located in Sicily, between Palermo and Cefalù and covers . Parco Naturale Regionale delle Madonie: 2009 Parco delle Madonie – Guida Sicilia: 2009 ...

, in which is included a significant amount of its municipal territory. The commune is on the border between the Metropolitan City of Palermo and the

Province of Caltanissetta The Province of Caltanissetta ( it, provincia di Caltanissetta; scn, pruvincia di Nissa or ; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Caltanissetta'') is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilia ...

. It is bounded by the communes of Alimena,

Blufi Blufi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Blufi borders the following municipalities: Alimena, Bompietro, Gangi, Petralia Soprana, Petralia Sot ...

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''. In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th ...

Castelbuono Castelbuono ( Sicilian: ''Castiddubbuonu'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily (southern Italy). Fountain of Venere Ciprea. It is known for its castle from which its name derives, and around which the city devel ...

Castellana Sicula Castellana Sicula ( Sicilian: ''Castiddana'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Castellana Sicula borders the following municipalities: Petrali ...

Geraci Siculo Geraci Siculo ( Sicilian: ''Jiraci'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Geraci Siculo borders the following municipalities: Castel di Lucio, Cas ...

Isnello Isnello ( Sicilian: ''Isneddu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region of Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Isnello borders the following municipalities: Castelbuono, Cefalù, Colle ...

, Marianopoli,

Petralia Soprana Petralia Soprana ( Sicilian: ''Pitralìa Suprana'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,630 and an ...

Polizzi Generosa Polizzi Generosa ( Sicilian: ''Pulizzi'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. The town sits in the hills at above sea level. History The site of Polizzi shows signs of human o ...

Resuttano Resuttano ( Sicilian: ''Rastanu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region of Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Caltanissetta. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of ...

Santa Caterina Villarmosa Santa Caterina Villarmosa ( Sicilian: ''Santa Catarina'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region of Sicily. It is located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Caltanissetta Caltanisset ...

, Villalba.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

shows three lilies, referring to ''Lilium Petrae'' (Stone lily), a possible etymology of the town name.

Main sights

*'' Maria Santissima Assunta'' (Chiesa Madre or Mother Church), known from the 9th century. Of the original building, only a portal in Gothic-Catalan style has survived. The current structure, with a nave and two aisles on the

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

plan, was built in 1633–1680. The sacristy houses a rare bronze lampstand dating back to the Arab conquest of Sicily, with an inscription in Kufic characters *'' San Francesco d'Assisi'': 17th century church *'' Santissima Trinità'': (1531) church formerly attached to abbey *'' Palazzo del Giglio'': current town hall *''Santa Maria alla Fontana *'' Museo Civico Antonio Collisani'': Civic museum with archeological and geological-paleontological collections *Grotta del Vecchiuzzo, a prehistoric cave where archeological finds dating back to the

Late Neolithic In the archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding the Chalcolithic. It is some ...

were discovered *Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Alto

People

* Luciano Chiara, mathematician * Giuseppe Colosi, zoologist * Antonio Pucci, racing driver * Cesare Terranova, judge and politician killed by the

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

References

External links

Official website

Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo Late Neolithic Petralia Sottana {{sicily-geo-stub