Brancaccio is the 12th district of
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, in
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), 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, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It is located in the south-eastern outskirts of the city and is included in the 2nd municipal division.
The area of the district appears today as densely urbanized, despite the fact that in the past it was a particularly flourishing countryside due to the numerous underground waterways.
From the 13th century, the vast suburban area where the current district arose was generally called "Contrada Cassarorum". In the 17th century, the aristocracy chose this countryside area for the establishments of resorts. The residential settlements built after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
have occupied a significant part of the countryside.
Brancaccio became known in contemporary times for the murder of Father
Pino Puglisi, local parish priest and Antimafia activist who spoke out against
Cosa Nostra (the Sicilian Mafia) and attempted to save numerous young persons from being recruited by the clans. He was killed on September 15, 1993 on the order of the local Mafia bosses, the brothers Filippo and
Giuseppe Graviano.
[Ecco i killer di Don Puglisi]
La Repubblica, June 23, 1994
Toponimy
The district takes its name from Antonio Brancaccio, a nobleman of
Neapolitan origins who in 17th century became the governor of
Monreale, a town (or ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'') on the southern border of Palermo. He owned large plots of land in the area of the current district and built the Church of Saint Anna in 1747, which later became the Church of Saint Gaetano.
References
External links
Il quartiere Brancaccio di Giorgio Paonita, studioso di Storia Medievale
Zones of Palermo
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