Gela (Terranova di Sicilia until 1927) is an Italian town of 71
812 inhabitants of the free municipal consortium of Caltanissetta in
Sicily. It has a large district of around 120,000 inhabitants at an
approximate distance of 30 km as the crow flies.
The city,
from which the vast surrounding plain and the wide gulf it overlooks
takes its name, is an important agricultural, industrial and seaside
center. Rich in testimonies of what was one of the most influential
Sicelian póleis.
Church of Maria SS. Assunta in Cielo (V
Church of St. Francis of
Assisi (V
Church of St. Augustine (V
Church of St. Francis of
Paola (V
Church of St. John the Baptist (V
Church of St. Benedict
(secolo
Church of the Friars Minor Capuchin (IV
Church of the SS.
Salvatore and the Rosary (secolo
Church of the Blessed Virgin of
Mount Carmel (parish) (secolo
Church of San Giacomo Maggiore (parish)
(secolo
Chiesetta San Biagio (the century) (deconsecrated)
Church
of St. Nicholas of Tolentino (I
St. Anthony of Padua Parish (1989)
Queen Pacis Parish (1997)
St. John the Evangelist Parish (1969)
St. Roch Parish (2007)
St. Sebastian Martyr Parish (2000)
St.
Dominic Savio Parish (1954)
St. Mary of Bethlehem Parish (1986)
St. Lucia Parish (2011)
Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish (2012)
Chapel
of the Hospital Vittorio Emanuele (1960)
Chapel of the House of
Hospitality "Aldisio" (1952)
Chapel-sanctuary of St. Mary of
Bethlehem
Chapel of the oratory at the orto Fontanelle (1951)
(deconsecrated)
Church of Maria santissima d'alemanna (secolo
Franciscan House "St. Anthony of Padua"
The Libert gel
A characteristic aspect of the urban and
architectural structure of the old Gela was the wide spread of the
Libert stile or "floral" style protagonist in the design of the most
important stately buildings of the city. Until the early sixties of the
last century the main squares and streets of the city were adorned with
these simple and elegant architecture.
If in Palermo and in other
realities of the island excelled the work of the architect Ernesto
Basile, in Gela is remembered Giuseppe Di Bartolo Morselli, professor of
architecture at the University of Turin.
The city of Newfoundland
(Gela) between theV In this precise design of aesthetic improvement of
the city (also linked to a decent civil and social growth represented by
the birth in the same period of a theater and high school gymnasium)
includes the design of the prospects of the new buildings that had to
appear coordinated with each other in order to ensure a unified
architecture to the whole center. Characteristic elements of the new
architecture were: gables, lowered arches and cornices, all containing a
small frieze, placed in the upper part of the windows sometimes
delineated by columns in Corinthian style; balconies with corbels in cut
stone in the richest buildings or in wrought iron; pilasters and
cornices with regular rectilinear pattern sometimes adorned with
festoons and other ornaments; sandstone portals with representations at
the keystone and solid wood doors with rings decorated in wrought iron.
These elements are present in the most significant examples, listed
below:
Palazzo Rosso, via Bresmes corner Piazza Umberto I, built
in the eighteenth century, and perhaps even earlier, is one of the
oldest buildings in Gela
Palazzo Nocera, already Right, Piazza
Umberto I, 1856.
Palazzo Russello, formerly Tedeschi and even before
Palazzo Gran Croce Nocera, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, second half sec
Palazzo Ciaramella, formerly Aldisio and even before De Maria, Corso
Vittorio Emanuele
Palazzo Presti, Corso Vittorio Emanuele
Palazzo
Guttilla, Corso Vittorio Emanuele
Palazzo Damaggio, Corso Vittorio
Emanuele
Palazzo Ventura, corso Vittorio Emanuele corner via Marconi
Palace of the Consortium of Reclamation of the Piana del Gela, already
Underprefecture, via Marconi corner via Cairoli
Palazzo Vella, Piazza
San Francesco corner via Cairoli
Palazzo Moscato, via Bresmes corner
via S. Damaggio
Palazzo Di Bartolo, formerly Vella, via Bresmes
corner via Cairoli
Palazzo Aliotta-Papotto, via Cairoli
Palazzoac
Acono-Giardina, formerly Of Bona, via Trieste corner corso V. Emanuele,
sec
Palazzo Castile, formerly Maida, corso Vittorio Emanuele corner
vc. Ingurdo
Palazzo Granvillano, already Morning, Corso Vittorio
Emanuele
Palazzo Guccione, formerly Giammona of 1864, corso Vittorio
Emanuele corner via Fischetti
Palazzo S. Maria di Gesu, via Ventura
corner via Matteotti, sec
And Conv Convitto Pignatelli Roviano, corso
S. Aldisio, sec
Palazzina della Dogana, viale lungomare Federico II,
beginning of the secolo
Greek Villa, formerly Panebianco, via Ettore
Romagnoli
La Casina, contrada Settefarine
Other facades of
particular interest can be seen along the via Aretusa, in via Navarra,
in via Rossini, in via Ventura, in via Pisa corner via Morello, in via
Colombo, etc.A large number of buildings in style have been demolished
since the fifties of the last century to make way for buildings of new
construction but often devoid of taste. In this way, the original layout
of many significant urban spaces was upset, starting with the square and
the main street of the city.
The main buildings are as follows:
the City Palace (1951) in
rationalist style by Salvatore Cardella;
the church and the Piazza
San Giacomo (1956) in rationalist style and work by Salvatore Cardella;
the Archaeological Museum (1958) in rationalist style designed by Luigi
Pasquarelli;
the Lido La Conchiglia (1958) designed by Filippo Trobia
and a great example of seaside architecture;
the residential village
A. N. I. C. (1961-63) designed by Marcello Nizzoli;
the parish
complex San Giovanni Evangelista in Macchitella (1969) designed by
Ignazio Gardella;
the new Gela Railway Station (1977);
the
Agip-EniMed Business Centre (1996-2002) designed by Studio Albini in
Milan;
the new Palace of Justice (2011) in rationalist style, at the
eastern gates of the city; the PalaLivatino (2009), at the sports
citadel.
There are also the parish of San Domenico Savio (1951),
designed by Giuseppe Caronia at the village Aldisio and the rationalist
construction of Sant'Antonio di Padova (1989) at Caposoprano, the
provincial sports hall “PalaLivatino” (2009). In the seventies the
architect Manfredi Nicoletti worked on several projects concerning the
expansion and modernization of the urban center of the city.
Two
redevelopment works are currently being planned: the Gorgone Park
designed by Enzo Mari for the Settefarine district and the recovery
project "Una via, tre piazze a Gela" designed by Roberto Collova and
associati. This last project was born from a national competition
launched by the Municipality of Gela in 1990 for the recovery of some of
the focal points of the historic city center.
Gela has numerous historical, archaeological and cultural sites,
having been between the sixth and fifth centuries BC a Sicilian
city-state as well as the founder of Akragas.
In medieval times,
the ruins of the polis were used for the construction of the city,
causing the loss of numerous temples and long stretches of Greek
fortifications.
Already during the third century Terranova became
a destination for grave robbers who, attracted by the importance of the
site, very often bought land at a low price and carried out their
clandestine research and then resold it and flee away with priceless
finds that systematically ended up in the windows of the most
prestigious museums in the world. The first legal investigations date
back to the twentieth century, conducted by the famous archaeologist
Paolo Orsi under charge of the Superintendence of Syracuse. He
identified the Athenaion at the Acropolis and carried out investigations
on the vast Greek necropolis included in the Orto Pasquarello, the Borgo
e Rabatello district, the Cappuccini-Pignatelli District and the Villa
comunale "Giuseppe Garibaldi", from which some of the most refined
ceramics of the classical world come. The great season of Gelese
archeology is however that between 1948 and all the sixties of the
secolo The city and the territory are dotted with archaeological sites
that, in most cases, have been explored and buried again.
The
areas that can be visited today are three: Capo Soprano, the Acropolis
and the site of Bosco Littorio. At Capo Soprano you can admire the best
preserved example of Greek military architecture in the world: the Greek
fortifications (Timoleontean Walls) of Gela. The exposed section (almost
400 m) dates back to the fourth century B.C. Of the original complex are
still visible: the base of a watch tower, the steps to access the
walkways, the rainwater drainage system, the mighty buttresses of the
south-east side. But the peculiarity that makes the monument unique is
the material used for its construction: large square blocks in
Calcarenite in the lower part and a thick layer of raw or "sun-baked"
clay bricks that have been perfectly preserved and need adequate
protection from the action of weather and time. Since 2 Moderna 2009 the
Walls have been equipped with a modern and functional hi-tech protective
structure. In the park you can visit: two medieval ovens, the ruins of a
military camp and those of a vast residential district of the fourth
century BC.
Not far from the park, behind the Vittorio Emanuele
hospital, there are the remains of the Hellenistic Thermal Baths complex
(IV century BC), the oldest thermal plant discovered so far in Italy.
This was composed of about forty tanks and was equipped with a
sophisticated underground heating system and water discharge. The baths
were probably destroyed in a fire during the destruction of the city in
282 BC.
In the opposite part of the city, in Molino a Vento and
adjacent to the Archaeological Museum, the excavations of the Acropolis
of Gela extend. The excavated part represents only a small portion of
the archaic city, extended between the mouth of the Gela and the
Pasqualello valley. From the archaeological walk you can admire to the
north ruins of houses, sacelli, shops and walls, with clear traces of
the Hippodamean road system (with the plateia and stenopoiae).
To
the north extended the sacred area: today only the bases of three
temples are visible. Of the largest, temple C or Athenaion, a
Doric-style column (almost 8 m high) that is one of the city symbols has
remained standing. To the south of the Acropolis, within the Bosco
Littorio, the complex of the Archaic Greek Emporium (VII-VI century BC)
has been brought to light and recently restored. Very extensive and
located near the port site (foce del Gela), the city Emporium included
workshops, warehouses and workshops. Also in this last monument is the
particular construction technique with raw bricks. Many other sites are
closed to the public but very interesting for the historian and
archaeologist; among these are: the Tesmophorion of Bethlehem district;
the Hellenistic residential district of the old Station; the Hellenistic
districts of Capo Soprano (via Meli); the necropolis of Piano Notaro;
the sanctuary of via Istria; the necropolis of Manfria; the grandiose
Hellenistic villa of via Romagnoli (predio Iacona). Excavations also
continue within the three open archaeological sites.
Among the
latest discoveries in the Gelese territory are: the completion of the
recovery of the oldest Greek wreck (500 BC) that after the restoration
in Portsmouth will be exhibited in the Museum of Greek Navigation in
Gela, unique in its kind; the discovery of the foundations of two other
Greek temples: the first, very large, next to the crypts of the mother
church; the second near the new multi-storey car park in Via Istria. In
the first six months of 2009 other important discoveries in the Gelese
territory filled the front pages of national newspapers: a fourth
ancient boat near the mouth of the Dirillo, an underwater archaeological
site in front of the coast of contrada Bulala and other finds that came
to light in front of the coasts of Montelungo during the cleaning of the
seabed; a monumental villa of the Hellenistic period on the promontory
of Capo Soprano with a view of the gulf; a Greek-archaic necropolis of
the VII-VI century BC. in Piazza Cappuccini from which several skeletons
and artifacts have been recovered.
Necropolis of the culture of
Castelluccio are present in the Gelese in Manfria, Milingiana, Priory,
Gela in the districts Molino a Vento and Borgo, near the dam of Disueri,
Lavanca Nera, Priolo and Sabbuci between the rivers Gela and Dirillo.
Necropolis and settlements of the copper age in Piano Notaro, and
Settefarine with ceramics of the style of Sant'Ippolito.
The city is not rich in greenery, with the exception of the
residential areas that arose to the west of the hill. Among the green
lungs of the city are:
Villa Comunale " Giuseppe Garibaldi
"(corso Salvatore Aldisio corner via Cappuccini)
Garden "dell'auriga"
(viale Cortemaggiore)
Bosco Littorio (by Sea)
Gardens of via
Morselli (Caposoprano district)
Municipal Park of Montelungo
(contrada Gattano)
Garden "of the Acropolis" (via dell'acropolis and
by Sea)
Garden "Antelao" (via degli Appennini)
Garden "Manuela
Setti Carraro" (via Madonna del Rosario corner piazza Stazione)
Garden " Poseidon "(seafront Frederick II of Swabia)
The territory of Gela from an environmental point of view is very
varied and should be considered as part of the larger region coinciding
with the Piana di Gela.
Despite this, the territory of Gela
includes extensive areas subject to naturalistic and landscape
constraints. The major naturalistic emergencies of the territory can be
identified in the coastal wetlands between the dune formations, and in
the surrounding landscapes protected by Sic and Zps constraints which in
this territory have their greatest extension within the framework of the
Sicilian Region. The area of greatest naturalistic interest is the
Riserva Naturale Orientata Biviere di Gela, managed by LIPU. Many nature
lovers go to this important reserve for birdwatching. Other areas of
interest are: the marshes of Piana del Signore, Poggio Arena and the
hills that border the Piana di Gela.
Lake Biviere di Gela,
located between dunes covered with Mediterranean scrub, with its
exceptional micro-climate of the coastal strip, allows millions of birds
that migrate between the African and European continents to find, during
their long journey, places where they can rest while finding sufficient
food and water. For this reason, the Ramsar Convention has declared Lake
Biviere di Gela a site of community interest and in 1997 LIPU, to
protect this exceptional natural heritage, established the Biviere di
Gela Oriented Nature Reserve.
In this small but important site,
well over 200 different species of birds have been recorded, many of
which are in danger of extinction, as well as numerous very rare plant
species. Narrow and long, Lake Biviere runs parallel to the sandy coast
and is separated from it by a strip of dunes covered with Mediterranean
scrub. It is fed by the Valletorta Monacella stream and, through a
mobile dam, by the Dirillo river which allows, in its final stretch,
when it remains dry, the entry of sea water into the lake. Small lake
formations form at the mouth of other streams that flow into the Gulf of
Gela such as the Comunelli and the Rabbìto: many birds also find
refreshment in these sites. Next to the mouth of the Rabbito is the
Poggio Arena hill, entirely covered with vegetation which constitutes a
true paradise for birds, insects and other types of animals. The Manfria
hill, a short distance from the mouth of the Comunelli, on the other
hand, constitutes a site with peculiar climatic and geo-morphological
characteristics; in 2007 the Department of Botany of the University of
Catania discovered several very rare species there. Another interesting
area is the Piana del Signore marshes, north of the Strada statale 115
for Vittoria. These form during the rainy season and are an important
area not only for birds to stop but above all because they are a real
nest for various types of insects and amphibians. Along the coast of
Gela, the so-called "macconi" are worth noting, that is, sand dunes.
These, up to about 5 meters high and increasingly rare, are covered with
typical Mediterranean vegetation. Of particular beauty are some plants
that produce truly beautiful flowers of various shades (fuchsia, purple,
white) despite the arid and salty environment.
The landscape of Gela has undergone strong transformations, and not
in a positive way, following the disorderly and abusive expansion to the
north and the installation of the huge expanse of petrochemical plants
and chimneys, but much of its characteristic Mediterranean landscape has
remained. Before the city expanded to the north, from the two city
viewpoints of Piazza Mercato and the Parco delle Rimembranze it was
possible to admire the extensive Geloi Fields intensely cultivated,
above all, with wheat and cotton surrounded by the profile of the
mountains on which Butera and Niscemi insist. This view is now only
enjoyable from the highest areas of the city (Piano Notaro). The
panorama Gelese that most impresses for its beauty is the coastal one
especially at sunset described by a poet with these words:"a ball of
fire that with its infinite rays makes the sparkling waves of the gulf
shine, paints orange every district preparing to fade infusing calm and
wonder with the mysterious charm of nature".
The coast is
characterized by different environments, sometimes strident between
them; proceeding from east to west you meet a large pond surrounded by
reeds and protected by a band of dunes that precede the beach followed
by the huge industrial site of the Petrochemical that precludes tourist
activities a long stretch of coastal strip. Below you will find the
mouth of the river Gela and a grove of eucalyptus that hides the city,
large and urbanistically compact, whose houses move away from the
shoreline continuing towards the marina. From here on the coast returns
wild and rich in natural dunes, crossed by a promenade with the
archaeological park of Capo Soprano behind, another eucalyptus grove and
then the modern and green residential district Moderna di Macchitella.
It follows the twin hill of Montelungo with its high clayey walls
overlooking a thin strip of sand then descends to the plain below with
the lagoon of the Rabbito stream and the adjacent hill of Poggio
dell'Arena rich in vegetation. Then Roccazzelle, with many houses beyond
the beach, and the hill of Manfria with the tower surrounded by
sun-drenched land. Beyond the hill, still plain with scattered houses
and finally the municipal border marked by the mouth of the Comunelli.
The Gelese Riviera
The municipal territory includes a coastline
extended for 24 kilometers that goes, from the mouth of the Dirillo to
that of the Comunelli. The coast to the east of the city is excluded
from tourist-beach activities due to the presence of the petrochemical
complex and the mouth of the Dirillo river. The west coast, between the
city center and the western municipal border, is open to bathing. The
annual surveys of Schooner Verde (Legambiente) have yielded positive
results. Gela is very popular: among the Sicilian seaside resorts is the
one that attracts bathers from the neighboring areas thanks to the
coast, with the numerous bathing establishments, consisting of fine and
golden sand with the characteristic formations of dunes covered with
Mediterranean scrub.
The main beaches open to bathing (from east
to west) are:
Lungomare Federico II di Svevia (between via
Vespucci and the Garden “Poseidon”): the beach in front of the city
center, protected in the seventies with the creation of breakwater
barriers and the addition of carry-over sand;
Lungomare Ovest
(between the Nautical Club and Piazza delle Tre Porte): coast with dune
formations preceded by a grove of eucalyptus (archaeological park of
Capo Soprano);
Viale Fontanarossa (Macchitella): the beach in front
of the residential district of Macchitella, preceded by a eucalyptus
grove;
Dry Point and Dead Female: the first bathing area accessible
from the state road 115 Gela-Licata, preceded in part by the clayey hill
of Montelungo that slopes down to the plain below and the natural site
of Poggio Arena, not far from the pond of the Rabbito stream;
Roccazzelle: sandy coast in front of the residential area;
Manfria:
the beach dominated by the sixteenth-century mole of the watchtower on
the top of the homonymous hill;
Piana Marina: the beach next to the
municipal border with Butera, preceded by a large residential area, near
the mouth of the Comunelli.
In addition to being dotted with archaeological sites, the Gelese
territory is also dotted with towers, castles and other monuments. In
Manfria, a seaside area on the west coast 8 km from Gela, stands on the
top of the homonymous hill the watchtower dating back to the third
century and designed by Camillo Camilliani.
On a rocky spur
visible from the Gela-Catania highway stands the Castelluccio di Gela, a
manor dating back to the secolo During the landing in Sicily of the
Allies in July 1943 it was the last outpost of the "Battle of Gela".
In the vicinity of Castelluccio there are two interesting monuments
in the Grotticelle district: the Grotticelle dam (VI century) which with
its buttresses represents the first work of hydraulic engineering in
Sicily; the early Christian catacomb with tombs placed in a radiating
environment carved into the limestone rock of a cave.
Finally,
interesting are the farmhouses scattered in the areas adjacent to the
city, such as: that of the Princes Pignatelli on the shores of Lake
Biviere of Gela and that of the Morning at the park of Montelungo.
Gela rises along the southern coast of Sicily. Its territory is partly flat and consists of the plain of Gela, the second largest in Sicily, and partly hilly. It lies between the southern coastal strip and the territories of Butera, Mazzarino, Niscemi, Caltagirone and Acate. The coast, low and sandy, sometimes has walls and rocks of clayey or limestone formation always preceded by the beach. The gulf of Gela, wide and not very pronounced, is the largest in Sicily. Along the coast there are three hilly formations of a certain importance: the one on which the historic city rises, almost completely built, and those of Montelungo and Manfria, only partially built.
The plain of Gela is crossed
by numerous streams, almost all of a torrential nature, which since
the Arab period have been exploited for irrigation through the
creation of the so-called "prese" (dams):
the Comunelli
stream rises north of Butera, is diverted to the dam of the same
name and flows west of Manfria;
the Rabbito stream originates
near Butera and flows into the vicinity of Maschio Morta;
the
Gattano stream, which originates near Butera, flows west of the
Macchitella district;
the "Reclamation cable" laps the plain to
the northern outskirts of the city, where it is buried to be
channeled towards the Gela river;
the Gela river flows in the
mountains north-west of Piazza Armerina, receives numerous
tributaries (including the Maroglio river which in turn receives the
waters of the Cimia stream diverted into the dam of the same name)
and flows east of Gela near of the industrial area. The Gela is
diverted into the large artificial basin called Lago Disueri. It was
once navigable in its final stretch
the Dirillo river, which
forms the border with the province of Ragusa, originates in the
Hyblaean plateau and after being diverted into the Ragoleto dam and
having filled the Biviere di Gela lake flows east of the latter.
The only natural lake is the Biviere di Gela (nature reserve), while
Lake Comunelli, Lake Disueri and Lake Cimia are artificial
reservoirs created for irrigation purposes, serving the plain. The
last two since 2008 are also exploited for civilian uses in the city
of Gela. Small ponds and marshes also form at the mouth of the
streams and in the locality of Piana del Signore.
The city and the corresponding coastal strip enjoy the typical Mediterranean climate, with rather mild winters and hot but not sultry summers (except in some cases). Characteristic of the place is the constant ventilation and high humidity especially in the evening, aspects common to many Mediterranean coastal areas. Precipitation is rather scarce between 450 and 550 mm per year, largely concentrated between autumn and winter. Long periods of summer drought are frequent.
Over the
centuries, the town called today Gela has taken on various names:
Lindos: is the name of the first colonial settlement dating back
to the 7th century BC;
Gela (Γέλα): it was the name it took
several decades later. The city, destroyed for the first time in 405
BC. and rebuilt in 339 BC by Timoleonte, it was definitively
destroyed in 282 BC. It derives from the indigenous name of the
river Gela, which flows to the east and which probably means
"swirling" or icy. The inhabitants were called geloi;
Massa Gela:
one of the names attributed by the Romans to the area of ancient
Gela;
Colonnario or (City) Delle Colonne: name given to the
locality by the Arabs because it is characterized by the ruins of
temples;
Eraclea or Heraclea: medieval name in the 1233
refoundation of Frederick II of Swabia;
Terranova (Terra nuova):
name of the city around 1550;
Terranova di Sicilia: in 1862 the
specification "di Sicilia" was added to differentiate this from the
other Italian centers with the same name;
Gela: the toponym
returned to it in 1927 to remember the glories of the ancient Greek
city.
The first settlement in the area of the city, an inhabited area with
its necropolis of the initial Eneolithic, dates back to the end of the
fifth millennium BC The current name of the city is historically linked
to that of the Doric colony founded by navigators from Lindo in 688 BC
This event was reported by the Athenian historian Thucydides, who tells
that it was the Greek settlers, coming from Rhodes and Crete and led
respectively by Antifemus and Entius, to occupy the space ‘where the
city is now called Lindioi and which was first surrounded by walls’.
From Thucydides ' account, moreover, it emerges that the foundation of
the Greek colony was preceded by the arrival of small nuclei of Lindo's
rodii as evidenced by archaeological discoveries; presence of
protocorinthian pottery of Rodia factory, as well as other ceramic finds
of the ancient protocorinth. Herodotus (VIII,155) recalls that Teline,
ancestor of Gelone, had brought back to his homeland some citizens of
the Geloa plebs who fled, as a result of civil disputes, to the site of
Maktorion, now identified with the archaeological site of Mount
Bubbonia.
In 505 BC, the tyranny began in Gela. The first tyrant
of Gela was Cleander, son of Pantares. The killing of Cleander in 498 BC
by the geloo Sabillo, marked the rise to power of his brother,
Hippocrates. Under his rule Gela lived moments of great economic and
political splendor. In the last decade of the fifth century. the
Carthaginians, starting from Agrigento, marched to Gela and destroyed it
in 405 BC with the militias led by Imilcone.
The reconstruction
of Gela took place under the figure of the Corinthian leader Timoleon,
who settled there settlers of the island of Kos led by Gorgos. Gela
lived a long period of peace.
Disappeared and forgotten after the
destruction and dispersion of the inhabitants by the tyrant of Akragas
Finzia, the city was reborn in 1233 by the will of Frederick II of
Swabia who gave it the name of Heraclea. With the unification of Italy
the city assumed the name of Terranova di Sicilia, which in 1927 was
changed again to the original one of Gela.
Its coasts were the
scene, during the Second World War, in July 1943, of the landing in
Sicily of the 7 Armata Between 10 and 11 July the German division "
Hermann Goering "and the Italian division" Livorno " counterattacked the
Americans in the plain of Gela, in what is remembered as the Battle of
Gela.
The numerous archaeological discoveries, including that of
the Greek fortifications of Capo Soprano occurred in 1948 and that of
the oil fields, starting from 1956, with the subsequent construction of
the ENI petrochemical pole, put the city in a phase of economic and
demographic expansion not free from serious environmental problems.
Belonging in medieval times to the Abbey of Santa Maria di Terrana,
and included since the Bourbon era in the Province of Caltanissetta,
with a resolution of the city council of September 2015 the city
attempted to join the metropolitan City of Catania.
The heraldic coat of arms of the Municipality of Gela consists of an
eagle with spread wings that rests its legs on a base, formed by the
contiguous capitals of two Doric columns; on the head of the feathered
appears a crown, while everything stands out against a crimson red
background. The eagle and the Doric columns during the last two hundred
years have undergone significant variations compared to the original
designs: the raptor and the columns were more slender and slimmer than
the current ones that appear on the labaro of the Municipality; around
1910 even the capitals of the two columns underwent a change of style,
from the Doric to the Ionic-Corinthian composite; during the twenty
years, the symbol of the Fascio Littorio was affixed to the coat of
arms, as was the case throughout Italy.
In the fifties of the
past century, other changes were made to the coat of arms: the eagle
became more robust and more squat, to the point of making it grotesquely
resemble more a gallinaceous than a bird of prey; moreover, the capitals
were brought back to the original Doric style and grooves were made on
the columns; all this new composition, the current one, was inserted;
the figure of the eagle refers to the Swabian one of the medieval
Heraclea-Terranova, while the two columns refer to the history of the
pre-existing Greek Gela: ultimately, it is the eagle of Frederick II who
reigns over the city of the columns. Finally, with regard to the crown,
originally very simple compared to the current one, it is likely that it
refers to the ducal one and that it appeared to accompany the coat of
arms during the dynasty of the Pignatelli Aragon Cortes, Dukes of
Newfoundland and Monteleone. Until the eighteenth century on the coat of
arms of the Municipality of Gela read the inscription: Heraclea Civitas
Antiquissima.
The banner is a rectangular crimson-colored drape,
richly adorned with golden embroidery, loaded with the crowned eagle
resting on two Doric columns, without the profile of the shield,
surmounted by the inscription centered (that is, convex upwards) of
gold: Municipality of Gela.