Editing Bronte, Sicily

{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Expand Italian|date=January 2022|topic=geo}}
{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Bronte
| official_name       = Comune di Bronte
| native_name         = 
| image_skyline       = Foto_zino_-_panoramio.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = 
| image_shield        = Bronte-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| shield_size         = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|37|47|N|14|50|E|display=inline}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Sicily]]
| metropolitan_city        = [[Metropolitan City of Catania|Catania]] (CT)
| frazioni            = 
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               = Giuseppe Firrarello 
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 249
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    =  19074
| population_as_of    = 30 April 2017
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Brontesi
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 760
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
| saint               = [[Saint Blaise|St. Blaise]]
| day                 = 3 February
| postal_code         = 95034
| area_code           = 095
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comune.bronte.ct.it/}}
| footnotes           = 
}}
__NOTOC__
'''Bronte''' ({{langx|aae|Brontë}}) is a town and [[comune]] in the [[Metropolitan City of Catania]], in [[Sicily]], southern Italy. The town is situated approximately {{convert|16|km|mi|0}} west-northwest from [[Mount Etna]], on the side of the valley of the [[Simeto]] river, and about {{convert|32|km|mi|0}} west from [[Giarre]] and Sicily's eastern coast. Bronte's economy relies mostly on farming, particularly of [[pistachio]] nuts. The town was settled and historically inhabited by the [[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshë]] community.<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wmloAAAAMAAJ |title = ''Arbëreshë: cultura e civiltà di un popolo''|editor=P. Bruni|date=2004|isbn = 9788824020091|page=34}}</ref>

==History==
Bronte's name derives from that of one of the [[Cyclopes]] in [[Greek mythology]] and it means "The Thunderer". Legend has it that the Cyclopes lived under [[Mount Etna]].

In 1520 [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] united the twenty-four hamlets of the surrounding area, which formed the town of Bronte. [[Mount Etna]] nearly destroyed the town three times, in 1651, in 1832, and finally in 1843.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

In 1799, King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand III]] created Bronte as a Duchy, and rewarded admiral [[Horatio Nelson]] with the title of Duke for the help he had provided him in suppressing the [[Parthenopean Republic|revolution in Naples]] and so in recovering his throne. As well as being made a Duke, Nelson was given as a fief the [[Castello di Maniace]]<!--NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THAT IN SYRACUSE-->, which at the time was the remains of a Benedictine monastery. The Castle passed into the Bridport family when the 1st [[Viscount Bridport]] married the then Duchess of Bronte, who was Admiral Nelson's niece. The Bridports continued to live in the castle until 1982 when the current Viscount sold the property to the Comune of Bronte. Today it is a local tourist attraction in Maniace, and has been restored (including the recreation of ceramic-tiled floors) by the Comune. It is built in the style of an [[English country house]] (with formal garden) set in the hills of eastern Sicily.<ref name=hibbert95>{{cite book|last1=Hibbert|first1=Christopher|title=Nelson: A Personal History|date=1995|publisher=Penguin Books|page=195}}</ref>

In 1860, during [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]]'s [[Expedition of the thousand]], there was a citizen's [[revolt]]. Sicilian peasants had hoped for - and did not get from Garibaldi - reforms from the restrictive conditions imposed by noble landowners.  This hope had been reinforced by Garibaldi's decree of 2 June 1860 that land would be re-distributed. The southerners revolted in several localities including at Bronte, where 16 were cruelly massacred.<ref name=facts>{{cite web |title=Bronte Insieme/History - The 1860 facts [2] |url=http://www.bronteinsieme.it/BrIns_en/2st_en/mo_60d_en.html |website=www.bronteinsieme.it}}</ref> Buildings were also set on fire, including the theatre, the municipal archive, other builds andany houses.<ref name=facts/> On August 5, 1860, Garibaldi's sent general Girolamo ("Nino") [[Nino Bixio|Bixio]] with two battalions of bersaglieri to restore order in Bronte.<ref name=facts/> Bixio reached Bronte  the next day and repressed the riots. On the 9th trials where hastily setup, which only  lasted for four hours and led to the summary executions of six people.<ref name=facts/> The facts and details of the riots and its repression have been the subject of reinterpretation and debate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bronte Insieme/History - The 1860 facts, Debates and reconstructions |url=http://www.bronteinsieme.it/BrIns_en/2st_en/mo_60e_en.html |website=www.bronteinsieme.it}}</ref>

==Main sights==
* Castello Nelson &ndash; a museum about {{convert|7|mi|km|0}} north from the town center. Originally an abbey (Santa Maria di Maniace) dating to 1174, it has a Gothic-Norman portico and contains a Byzantine icon which, according to tradition, was painted by [[Luke the Evangelist|St Luke]].{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
* Church of the Annunziata (1535)
* Collegio Capizzi (1774–1779)
* Cascata di Balze (underground waterfall), close to Castello Nelson.

==Twin towns==
*{{flagicon|IRL}} [[Drogheda]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*[[Michael John Henry Pratt|Pratt, Michael]] (2006); ''[[iarchive:nelsonsduchysici0000prat|Nelson's Duchy: A Sicilian Anomaly]]'', Spellmount Publishers Ltd. {{ISBN|186227326X}}
*Fleming, Ian. ''[[iarchive:isbn_0851191630|Thunderball]]''. (1961) Penguin Group. {{ISBN|0-141-02828-9}}. P-076

== External links ==
* [http://www.wrlspace.it/galleria Photographic gallery] {{in lang|it}}
*[http://www.bronteinsieme.it/BrIns_en/page1_en.html English version of bronteinsieme.it nonprofit organization] guide

{{Province of Catania}}
{{Arbëreshë settlements}}


{{authority control}}

[[Category:Arbëresh settlements]]

{{Sicily-geo-stub}}