Storia del Comune
CENNI SU VALLEDOLMO (PA)
Abitanti 3.747 (dati comunali censimento 2011)
Nome degli Abitanti: Valledolmesi
Distanza dal Capoluogo: Km 90
Altitudine 780
Superficie: Ha. 2584 (montagna interna)
Patrono del paese: S. Antonio di Padova
CENNI STORICI: [1]
Abitanti 3.747 (dati comunali censimento 2011)
Nome degli Abitanti: Valledolmesi
Distanza dal Capoluogo: Km 90
Altitudine 780
Superficie: Ha. 2584 (montagna interna)
Patrono del paese: S. Antonio di Padova
CENNI STORICI: [1]
Valledolmo sorge nella vallata che da Pizzo Sampieri (m.1081) e dal Monte Campanaro si spiega a ventaglio sino alla montagna di Cammarata (m.1576). L'inizio dei lavori di fondazione del nuovo villaggio si deve al Cav. Antonio Cicala "nobile di origine genovese", i cui antenati nel sec. XV, si erano trasferiti in Sicilia, anche se egli non avesse neppure pensato a chiedere la prescritta Licentia populandi e non si fosse ufficialmente investito della baronia di Valle dell'Ulmo. Al Cav. Cicala si deve la costruzione di una chiesetta della quale ancora oggi rimane la campana di bronzo sull'orlo della quale sta chiaramente scolpito: "D. ANTONIO CICALA. BARONE DI VALLE DELL'ULMO. 1645"
Fondatore ufficiale di Castel Normanno, in seguito Valle dell’Ulmo, (per la presenza nella vallata di un gigantesco olmo) e dalla seconda metà del secolo scorso Valledolmo, fu il nipote del Cav. Cicala, il Conte Giuseppe Mario Cutelli che ottenne la licentia populandi il 17 agosto 1650.
Il territorio di Castel Normanno in origine era formato dal feudo di “Valli di l’ulmu, dagli ex feudi di Chifiliana, Mezzamandranuova e di Castelluzzi, appartenenti tutti, tranne l’ultimo, alla baronia di don Giuseppe Cutelli nel 1650.
Nel 1655 all’età di diciannove anni muore la Contessa Anna Summaniata moglie di don Giuseppe (il mausoleo innalzatole dal Conte ancora oggi si può ammirare nella Chiesa della Madonna del Buon Pensiero oggi Chiesa delle Anime Sante). Dopo qualche anno di lutto don Giuseppe convolò a seconde nozze con Donna Maria Abatellis, figlia del Conte Ferdinando Cutelli Grimaldi e di Anna Abatellis Tornabene.
Il conte muore il 24 novembre del 1673 e contrariamente al suo desiderio di essere sepolto a Castel Normanno venne tumulato nella Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola fuori porta Carini, a Palermo.
FRA STORIA E LEGGENDA:Della Baronia e della Terra di Castelnormanno s’investì il figlio di lui, don Antonio Cutelli. Questi aveva un carattere piuttosto egocentrico, altero e modi bruschi.
La forte discrepanza tra il suo comportamento e quello del defunto genitore gli alienò l’animo dei suoi coloni; anzi un giorno che era lì per lì per abusare d’un più ampio jus prime noctis, ci lasciò le penne. Si registrò così, in Castel Normanno, il primo fatto di sangue.
Aveva il Sig. Antonio Cutelli alle sue dipendenze un campiere di nome Pietro Corvo, la cui avvenente figliola, prossima ad andare a nozze, aveva catturato l’attenzione del suo signorotto, generoso fruitore del cennato jus, trovando però un muro nella possanza fisica e morale del Corvo.
Ma il Conte, che non era uomo da cedere facilmente le armi, una sera dell’agosto 1711 fece venire a casa sua il Corvo conferendogli l’incarico di recarsi a Palermo per consegnare della selvaggina ad un suo autorevole amico. Mentre ad altri due suoi fidi ribaldi diede l’incarico di sbarazzarsi di quel Corvo. Ma uno di essi, compare e amico della vittima predestinata, non sentendosi il coraggio di perpetrare il delitto, andò a trovare il compare rivelandogli l’ordine ricevuto dal Conte. Il Corvo raccomandò all’amico di far finta di niente e di portarsi col suo compagno al luogo dell’agguato che al resto avrebbe pensato lui.
Sul far del giorno il Conte certo che “l’operazione Corvo” era stata compiuta, uscì a cavallo dal suo baglio e al rientro strusciando quasi all’uscio della vittima, con tono di persona angosciata scoppiò in gemiti: “Poviru Pietru Corvu! Poviru figghiu Corvu!” volendo far capire così ai familiari di lui di essere stato informato dell’assassinio del suo caro Pietro. La finzione, però, fu stroncata quasi subito: un fragoroso colpo di archibugio sparatogli dalle mani del Corvo colpendolo alla testa lo fece stramazzare giù dalla sella in un lago di sangue.
Il conte fu tumulato sontuoso mausoleo erettogli dal figlio avv. Giovanni nella Chiesa della Madonna del Buon Pensiero (chiesa delle Anime Sante). Racconta ancora il Granata che amici stretti del Conte posero una grossa taglia sulla testa del Corvo. Il fascino del denaro allettò un palermitano di nome Sulivestru il quale si mise alla caccia del latitante Corvo. Nella sua ricerca s’imbattè in un boscaiolo che lo mise sulla buona strada, giunti nei pressi di una fontana il boscaiolo si chinò per bere, imitato dal cacciatore che depose l’archibugio. Il boscaiolo, con mossa felina, afferrò l’arma e in un baleno assestò col calcio della stessa un gran colpo tra capo e collo freddandolo all’istante. Dopo alcuni giorni i contadini scoprirono il corpo del Sulivestru. Ancora oggi il passo dove egli fu rinvenuto viene chiamato “Passu du poviru Sulivestru”. A dargli la “ricca taglia” era stato il latitante Pietro Corvo che da vero corvo, non si fece acciuffare né vivo né morto.
Giovanni Mario Cutelli prese l’investitura feudale con diploma del 1712 e fin dall’inizio alle buone doti d’animo e alla dolcezza del carattere congiunse la generosità e l’esercizio pacifico dei diritti feudali. Aveva piena conoscenza delle discipline legali da rivaleggiare col suo bisavolo l’egregio giureconsulto catanese Mario Cutelli, del cui nome “Mario” era orgogliosa l’illustre nobile famiglia. Esercitava a Catania la professione di avvocato.
I suoi vassallaggi passarono a sua sorella Cristina, moglie di Giovanni Ioppolo, barone di San Filippo. Anch’essi non lasciarono figli maschi e alla loro morte nelle baronie di Valledolmo e di Aliminusa, successe la loro figlia Girolama Ioppolo, che sposò Matteo Lucchesi-Palli, duca della Fabbrica, i quali con diploma vicereggio del 16 luglio 1746 ebbero l’investitura feudale e lasciarono in Valledolmo la grandiosa cisterna d’acqua denominata Stagnone (1746-1774).
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[1] Orazio Granata "Valledolmo dall'origine ai giorni nostri"
A BRIEF HISTORY OF VALLEDOLMO (PA) translation by Giuseppe Castelli
3.747 in habitants ( Municipal data 2011 census)
The people are called Valledolmesi
Located 90 km from the capital of Sicily (Palermo)
780 m above sea level
Area 25.84 sq km
Patron saint: Saint Anthony of Padua
BRIEF HISTORY:
Valledolmo resides on a valley which spreads out from Mt. Sampieri (1081 m) and Mt. Campanaro to Mount Cammarata (1576 m). The first to build the new village was Antonio Cicala, a noble of Genovese origin whose ancestors had come to Sicily in the XV century. He founded it without asking the prescribed Licentia Populandi (="license to decimate" or "license to ravage”) or being officially invested as Lord of Valle dell’Ulmo. Extending around the lower edge of a bronze bell in a small church built by Antonio Cicala and still existing today, it is possible to read “D. ANTONINO CICALA. BARONE DI VALLE DELL’ULMO.” (D. Antonino Cicala, Baron of the Ulmo Valley1645). The official founder of Castel Normanno (later called Valle dell’Ulmo,for the presence of a huge elm tree in the valley, and Valledolmo from the second half of the past century) was Lord Antonio Cicala’s nephew, Count Giuseppe Mario Cutelli who obtained the Licentia Populandi on 17th August 1650. The territory of Castel Normanno was originally formed by the fiefs of Valli di l’ulmu, Chifiliana, Mezzamandranuova and Castelluzzi, all belonging in 1650 (except the last one) to the barony of Don Giuseppe Cutelli. In 1655 Don Giuseppe Cutelli’s wife, the Countess Anna Summaniata, died at the age of 19 (the mausoleum erected by the count can still be admired today in the Chiesa delle Anime Sante – Church of the Holy Souls. Following several years of mourning, Don Giuseppe Cutelli married Donna Maria Abatellis, the daughter of Count Ferdinando Cutelli Grimaldi and Anna Abatellis Tornabene. The count died on 24th November 1673 and against his wish to be buried in Castel Normanno, he was entombed in the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola out of Porta Carini in Palermo.
BETWEEN HISTORY AND LEGENDS
The count’s son, Don Antonio Cutelli invested himself Lord of Castel Normanno. Don Antonio Cutelli was an egocentric and haughty person with abrupt manners. The great difference between his behavior and his father’s turned the people against him; in fact, one day he was killed while abusing of the jus prime noctis (right of the first night). This was the first recorded act of violence in Castel Normanno. One of his peasants, Pietro Corvo, had a charming daughter and she was soon to get married. Cutelli wanted to benefit of jus prime noctis, but was impeded by Corvo who was well built and of sound character. The count did not want to give up easily and so one night in August 1711, he told Corvo to go to Palermo and bring some wild game to an influential friend. In the meantime he had ordered two trusted villains to get rid of Corvo. However, one of them was a good friend of the intended victim, and did not feel to commit the crime; so he went and told him about the order he had received from the count. Corvo told him to act as if they had not met and go with his companion to the place of the ambush. The next day, the count, certain that the Corvo had been eliminated, went out with his horse and on his return coming near the victim’s door, in a distressing tone of voice, cried out “Poviru Pietru Corvu! Poviru figghiu Corvu!” ( Poor Pietro Corvo! Poor son Corvo!) wanting Corvo’s family to know that he had been informed of the assassination of the beloved Pietro. The pretence was soon put to an end: he was shot in the head by Colvo himself with a harquebus and fell heavily from his saddle to the ground in a pool of blood. The Count was buried in the above-mentioned magnificent mausoleum built by his son Giovanni in the Chiesa della Madonna del Buon Pensiero (after called Chiesa delle Anime Sante). The histrorian Granata recounts that some friends of the Count put a price on Corvo’s head. The reward attracted Sulivestru from Palermo who started hunting the fugitive Corvo. While searching, he met a woodman who put him on the right track. When they got near a fountain, the woodman bent to drink and the hunter did the same putting down his harquebus. With cat-like agility, the woodman grabbed the gun and in a flash shot the hunter dead. The body of Sulivestru was found after a few days. Still today the place where the body was found is called “Passu du poviru Sulivestru” ( Poor Silvester’s Way ). The “rich reward” for the fugitive was never collected , because Corvo, like his namesake “the raven” did not allow anyone to get him, dead or alive. In 1712 Giovanni Mario Cutelli was granted the feudal investiture diploma. He was a sweet tempered man of good qualities; from the beginning he exercised his feudal powers peacefully and with generosity. He was a lawyer and had a great knowledge of the legal disciplines. He held his own with his great-grandfather Mario Cutelli, a jurist from Catania, who was the pride of the illustrious family. His vassals past to his sister Cristina, wife of Giovanni Ioppolo and Baron of San Filippo. They did not have any male children either and after their death, their daughter Girolama Ioppolo succeeded as Baroness of Valledolmo and Aliminusa. She married Matteo Lucchesi-Palli, Duke of the Fabbrica, and on 16th July 1746 they received the feudal investiture with viceregal diploma. They built the magnificent water cistern called Stagnone (1746-1774).
__________________
[1]
Orazio Granata “Valledolmo dall’origine ai giorni nostri”
Traslation by Giuseppe Castelli
3.747 in habitants ( Municipal data 2011 census)
The people are called Valledolmesi
Located 90 km from the capital of Sicily (Palermo)
780 m above sea level
Area 25.84 sq km
Patron saint: Saint Anthony of Padua
BRIEF HISTORY:
Valledolmo resides on a valley which spreads out from Mt. Sampieri (1081 m) and Mt. Campanaro to Mount Cammarata (1576 m). The first to build the new village was Antonio Cicala, a noble of Genovese origin whose ancestors had come to Sicily in the XV century. He founded it without asking the prescribed Licentia Populandi (="license to decimate" or "license to ravage”) or being officially invested as Lord of Valle dell’Ulmo. Extending around the lower edge of a bronze bell in a small church built by Antonio Cicala and still existing today, it is possible to read “D. ANTONINO CICALA. BARONE DI VALLE DELL’ULMO.” (D. Antonino Cicala, Baron of the Ulmo Valley1645). The official founder of Castel Normanno (later called Valle dell’Ulmo,for the presence of a huge elm tree in the valley, and Valledolmo from the second half of the past century) was Lord Antonio Cicala’s nephew, Count Giuseppe Mario Cutelli who obtained the Licentia Populandi on 17th August 1650. The territory of Castel Normanno was originally formed by the fiefs of Valli di l’ulmu, Chifiliana, Mezzamandranuova and Castelluzzi, all belonging in 1650 (except the last one) to the barony of Don Giuseppe Cutelli. In 1655 Don Giuseppe Cutelli’s wife, the Countess Anna Summaniata, died at the age of 19 (the mausoleum erected by the count can still be admired today in the Chiesa delle Anime Sante – Church of the Holy Souls. Following several years of mourning, Don Giuseppe Cutelli married Donna Maria Abatellis, the daughter of Count Ferdinando Cutelli Grimaldi and Anna Abatellis Tornabene. The count died on 24th November 1673 and against his wish to be buried in Castel Normanno, he was entombed in the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola out of Porta Carini in Palermo.
BETWEEN HISTORY AND LEGENDS
The count’s son, Don Antonio Cutelli invested himself Lord of Castel Normanno. Don Antonio Cutelli was an egocentric and haughty person with abrupt manners. The great difference between his behavior and his father’s turned the people against him; in fact, one day he was killed while abusing of the jus prime noctis (right of the first night). This was the first recorded act of violence in Castel Normanno. One of his peasants, Pietro Corvo, had a charming daughter and she was soon to get married. Cutelli wanted to benefit of jus prime noctis, but was impeded by Corvo who was well built and of sound character. The count did not want to give up easily and so one night in August 1711, he told Corvo to go to Palermo and bring some wild game to an influential friend. In the meantime he had ordered two trusted villains to get rid of Corvo. However, one of them was a good friend of the intended victim, and did not feel to commit the crime; so he went and told him about the order he had received from the count. Corvo told him to act as if they had not met and go with his companion to the place of the ambush. The next day, the count, certain that the Corvo had been eliminated, went out with his horse and on his return coming near the victim’s door, in a distressing tone of voice, cried out “Poviru Pietru Corvu! Poviru figghiu Corvu!” ( Poor Pietro Corvo! Poor son Corvo!) wanting Corvo’s family to know that he had been informed of the assassination of the beloved Pietro. The pretence was soon put to an end: he was shot in the head by Colvo himself with a harquebus and fell heavily from his saddle to the ground in a pool of blood. The Count was buried in the above-mentioned magnificent mausoleum built by his son Giovanni in the Chiesa della Madonna del Buon Pensiero (after called Chiesa delle Anime Sante). The histrorian Granata recounts that some friends of the Count put a price on Corvo’s head. The reward attracted Sulivestru from Palermo who started hunting the fugitive Corvo. While searching, he met a woodman who put him on the right track. When they got near a fountain, the woodman bent to drink and the hunter did the same putting down his harquebus. With cat-like agility, the woodman grabbed the gun and in a flash shot the hunter dead. The body of Sulivestru was found after a few days. Still today the place where the body was found is called “Passu du poviru Sulivestru” ( Poor Silvester’s Way ). The “rich reward” for the fugitive was never collected , because Corvo, like his namesake “the raven” did not allow anyone to get him, dead or alive. In 1712 Giovanni Mario Cutelli was granted the feudal investiture diploma. He was a sweet tempered man of good qualities; from the beginning he exercised his feudal powers peacefully and with generosity. He was a lawyer and had a great knowledge of the legal disciplines. He held his own with his great-grandfather Mario Cutelli, a jurist from Catania, who was the pride of the illustrious family. His vassals past to his sister Cristina, wife of Giovanni Ioppolo and Baron of San Filippo. They did not have any male children either and after their death, their daughter Girolama Ioppolo succeeded as Baroness of Valledolmo and Aliminusa. She married Matteo Lucchesi-Palli, Duke of the Fabbrica, and on 16th July 1746 they received the feudal investiture with viceregal diploma. They built the magnificent water cistern called Stagnone (1746-1774).
__________________
[1]
Orazio Granata “Valledolmo dall’origine ai giorni nostri”
Traslation by Giuseppe Castelli