Curiosity: when there were two Manfredonias
Manfredonia, or the sky that merges with the sea on the horizon; the sun peeking out from the waves at dawn; that particular light that illuminates the alleys of the historic center; the ancient doors with courtyards that smell of history; and those defects, yes, even those many defects that still make it unique.
But is it really ‘unique’? Looking further into history, we discover that another city with the exact same name also existed in the past.
Nestled in the heart of the Sicilian hinterland at over 750 meters above sea level between the provinces of Caltanissetta and Agrigento, Manfredonia (the other) was founded in the 14th century by Manfredi III Chiaramonte from whom it took its name.
Manfredi of Chiaramonte, like our Manfredi of Swabia, was a valiant warrior and in ‘his’ Manfredonia he had a fortress built which over time became the symbol of the city. Even there, however, the castle was not finished by Manfredi but, ironically, by the Angevins and Aragonese.
At a certain point, however, Sicilian Manfredonia became a fiefdom of the Lanza Princes of Trabia and changed its name to the current Mussomeli, a name that probably recalls the ancient Arab settlements of the place.
The two Manfredonias coexisted in history for a relatively short period of time, approximately a century, between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but in the Sicilian town which today has just over 10 thousand inhabitants, there are many references and references to the period manfredonico’.
In Italy there are eight municipalities with perfectly identical names, so for Manfredonia it would not have been an exceptional circumstance. We, however, prefer ‘exclusivity’, not so much and not only out of healthy jealousy, but for that feeling that lights up in us Manfredonians just by pronouncing the name ‘Manfredonia’, while a mix of emotions pervades us for that indissoluble bond with our city, which seems to welcome and protect us almost like a mother and which we feel is, in fact, ‘unique’.
Maria Teresa Valente
(article dated May 25, 2019)
