Santa Ninfa is a town and ''
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 ...
'' in the
province of Trapani
The province of Trapani (; ; officially ''libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by ...
,
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. ...
, southern
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 ...
.
History
Santa Ninfa was founded in 1605 by Luigi Arias Giardina who, with approval of King
Philip III of Spain
Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...
, began to urbanize the country with roads and civil and religious buildings. The town is dedicated to a putative saint, venerated also in
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 ...
,
Santa Ninfa or Nympha
The town was built with concentric roads that converge in the central square (Liberty Square). Over the years, buildings were built such as the Baronial Palace (Palazzo Baronale), the Hospital, the Church of St. Ursula, St. Anne's Church and the Convent of the Third Order of St. Francis, the Mother Church (Chiesa Madre which is the Cathedral of the country) and the prisons.
In 1615, after the founding of the Arcipretura of Santa Ninfa, the country was declared a baronial fief. From that moment on, and in the following centuries, the estate passed from family to family, enriching the country with more and more new buildings.
Santa Ninfa experienced a large emigration since the early 20th century: many inhabitants of the land left the country for the United States of America, Canada and Venezuela.
Belice earthquake
On January 15, 1968 the country of Santa Ninfa was hit by the disastrous earthquake of Belice. The quake was of the 9th grade on the Mercalli's Intensity Scale, and caused collapses in the entire country.
References
Municipalities of the Province of Trapani
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