 In
the middle of the second millennium the ancient Counts of
Modica had a great politic and economic power
in the island and exerted a so vast power as to be considered
a state into the state "regnum in regno".
The
sovereign had no importance. On the contrary the earl minted
even the coin and was in charge of Gran Corte Criminale,
so that he was the lord and the master of his subjects.
But the Earls of Modica were generally enlightened and capable,
especially during the middle of the millennium, and a lot
of initiatives originates from the past to get into the
future in a convincing way.
The
town was so particular till the middle of the last century
that it was compared to Venezia: it was situated on the
valley where two torrents flew into each other and there
were a lot of bridges and small bridges to connect the zones
of the lower area.
The
town as a "broken pomegranate", happy image that
Gesualdo Bufalino coined for Modica, climbs up the ridges
and reaches the top of the castle. Apart from the manor-house,
the higher area of the town, the great expanses of the lands,
for which the Counts was proud of its agriculture, in that
wide areas where a geometric design formed by dry walls,
result of a process of the divisions of the landed estates
during the XV and the XVI century, constitutes, together
with the great carob trees, one of the more charming aspects
of the territory.
The
Counts, that in 1996 has celebrated its 700 years (it was
founded in 23 March 1296 and assigned to Manfredi I Chiaramonte)
expanded its power on great part of the island reaching
Alcamo, Caccamo and Calatafimi, about a fourth of the Sicilian
territory.
|
In
past times Modica met the Siculan, Greek, Roman, Byzantine
and Arabic domination , but the town reached the height of
its power during the Norman age and than it was apanage of
the Moscas', the Chiaramontes', the Cabreras', the Henriquez'
and the Alvarez'.
The
last sovereign of Modica was a woman: Lady Maria Teresa Sylvia
y Mendoza (who married the marquis Alvarez De Villafranca).
Another woman leaded Modica to its maximum splendour: Lady
Vittoria Colonna, who anticipated four centuries ago the social
aspirations distributing the uncultivated lands by dividing
the estate and making a social revolution by setting the serfs
free.
And also today Modica offers this intense taste of
Baroque with its splendid views, its treasures of art, its
churches, its palaces, its decorated portals risen on the
ruins caused by the great earthquake of 1696 which destroyed
a large part of Sicily, particularly Modica, that was immediately
rebuilt thanks to a great work of its people.
At
the beginnings of the XIV century the Counts lost its rank
and its title was given to the Regno delle Due Sicilie. The
properties were given for nothing. But till today Modica guards
the pride, the monuments, the culture of its past and the
prestigious names of its inhabitants: from Tommaso
Campailla to Quasimodo, Nobel prize for literature.
|
