{"id":991,"date":"2026-07-30T13:10:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medievalsicily.org\/projects\/santa-maria-di-campogrosso\/history-cg\/history-of-the-region\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:10:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:10:39","slug":"history-of-the-region","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/medievalsicily.org\/en\/projects\/santa-maria-di-campogrosso\/history-cg\/history-of-the-region\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the region"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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History<\/a> \u00b7 subpage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of the region<\/h1>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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The monastery of Santa Maria di Campogrosso was founded by Norman rulers at a strategic point situated on an important communication route, halfway between the centres of Palermo and Termini Imerese, which had functioned here since antiquity. Nearby, a few kilometres to the north-west, on Monte Catalfano, by the Milicia river, stood the Phoenician city of Soluntum (5th century BC \u2013 3rd century BC), (Vassallo 2016, 37-38). During excavation works at the church of Santa Maria di Campogrosso, however, no traces of Phoenician or Greek settlement were found; instead, 37 fragments of Late Roman ceramics were discovered, which may confirm that the area was already settled from the 4th century AD.<\/p>\n

There is no information on the settlement of this area during the Byzantine period. We can only assume that the foundation of a monastery of the Italo-Greek rite at this location resulted from the survival here of certain groups of Greek population. Whether they survived the earlier, prolonged period of Latinisation, or were rather connected with the colonisation of the early medieval period, remains a matter of conjecture. There is more evidence for Arab settlement here, dating from the two-hundred-year period of Arab rule over Sicily. The result of this settlement process would have been the settlement of Ayn Lyen, mentioned in a document of 1179 (Cusa 1868, s. 37) \u2013 possibly hidden today beneath modern buildings south of the monastery, in the area of present-day Portella Daino Street. To date, however, no archaeological research has been carried out in this area.<\/p>\n

Following the arrival of the Normans, the territory between Termini Imerese and Palermo was inhabited by a Greek-speaking population, Muslims (largely Arabs), and the Latin population that arrived together with the Normans, coming predominantly from the northern regions of present-day Italy, including, for example, Lombardy.<\/p>\n

According to written sources, construction of the monastery of Santa Maria di Campogrosso was said to have begun in the years 1068-1072 (Fazello 1558, s. 272-273; Pirri 1643, s. 211). While this chronology is not confirmed by any surviving documents and must be accepted on the authority of the above-mentioned chroniclers, the monastery undoubtedly already existed and was functioning in the first half of the 12th century, since in 1134 the prior of Santa Maria di Campogrosso received from Roger II a territory extending west of the San Michele river, as far as the locality of Misilmeri.<\/p>\n

In the second half of the 13th century, the monastery of Santa Maria di Campogrosso began to decline, lacking financial support and as a result of strong Latinisation (with the appearance of Latin religious orders such as the Benedictines and the Franciscans), (Scaduto 1947, s. 165-320). These phenomena are probably linked to the fact that the surroundings of the monastery were plundered at that time during the fighting between the Angevins and the Aragonese forces, following the so-called Sicilian Vespers (30 March 1282). As a result, the coastal area from Termini Imerese to Solunto was largely depopulated.<\/p>\n

In the 15th century, new farmsteads were established near the San Michele river. Myrtle was cultivated, used at the time as a dye and a spice, along with sugar cane, until the 16th century, when the Spanish began importing cane sugar from Latin America (Traverso, reg. 769, c. 211). Cattle, goats, horses and sheep were raised (Bresc 1986, s. 877; Bresc 2001, s. 195-196, 342). Timber was obtained from the nearby forests and transported to Palermo.<\/p>\n

In 1621, Francesco Maria Bologna of the Palermitan Beccadelli clan founded the town of Alta Villa (M\u00eclicia Sottana), (Brancato 2016, s. 166). From then on, human presence was concentrated in the new town and its surroundings.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u2190 Powr\u00f3t do History<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

History \u00b7 subpage History of the region The monastery of Santa Maria di Campogrosso was founded by Norman rulers at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":932,"menu_order":51,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-991","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHistory of the region - 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