"Sleep is what Sicilians want."
"If we want everything to remain as it is, everything must change."
These phrases are the most famous of Italian literature. Well-known expressions that Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa has prince Fabrizio Salina say by his ancestor in the novel Il Gattopardo (The Leopard).
The vast territory of Belice was inhabited, in past centuries, by Sicani, Greeks, Romans and Arabs, now it is inhabited by the Belicini.
In particular, I will write about Santa Margherita di Belice, a town nestled on the gentle hills of south-western Sicily at 400 meters above sea level, not far from the Sicani mountains. Its territory is bordered by the Senore, Belice and Carboj rivers, rich in luxuriant cultures: vineyards, olive groves and prickly pears.
In 1572 Baron Antonio Corbera was allowed to build a fortified farmhouse where the Arabs had built the fortress of Menzel-el-Sindi and the Normans, after a period of Christianiaation, had built a large farmhouse.
Day after day, houses, palaces, convents and churches were built around the farmhouse, so in 1610, given the intensity of the population, Philip III of Spain authorized the farmhouse to be a new municipality with the name of Santa Margherita.
The Filangeri princes, ancestors of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, took over from the Corbera family. When the writer spoke of Santa Margherita he defined it as "an earthly and lost paradise of my childhood".
The violent earthquake of 1968 almost totally destroyed the town, changing the urban aspect, but certainly not the magic of the places. As a perennial memory, the district of San Vito remains as a symbol of suffering, disaster and the spirit of rebirth.
In the upper part of the town from the area called "Calvario" you can admire the whole Belice valley: Lake Arancio, an artificial basin that goes from the Carboj river to Mount Arancio, the Cretto di Burri and the mountains that surround one of the most beautiful valleys of Sicily.
The majestic Palazzo del Gattopardo, partially destroyed by the terrible earthquake of 1968, was rebuilt by enhancing the beautiful facade, and today it is the seat of the town hall. Inside the building we find the Leopard museum, the headquarters of the Tomasi di Lampedusa literary park institution and the Sant’Alessandro theater.
From the third courtyard of the building a small staircase leads us into a shady and cool garden located on a lower floor. A project that was carried out by the architects so that the water from an ancient spring could be used to irrigate the beautiful trees and precious essences during the warm months.
For a visitor, a walk in the municipal villa, ending at the small temple of the Caffè House, must not be missed.
Valuable are the few eighteenth-century stuccos of the Sesta and the paintings by Meli that still adorn the mother church.
The town's economy is based on agriculture and farming. The cultivation of grapes and winemaking have given rise to a series of wineries in the area and involved other neighboring towns. The cultivation of the olive tree is flourishing with the nocellaro, biancolilla and cerasuolo varieties.
An important number of dairies produce a unique and particular sheep's milk cheese: the Vastedda del Belice.
A vast territory is covered by the secular production of prickly pear, a fruit that has found its natural habitat in those lands. The prickly pear is a succulent plant, belonging to the cactaceae family, native to Central America and naturalized throughout the Mediterranean basin.
The prickly pear has undergone a widespread diffusion in Sicily, bringing a wide and historical use throughout the island. In Santa Margherita there are many fairs of great importance for the territory: that of September 4th, that of the prickly pear and that of "di li ficu".
Describing a territory, a town is relatively simple ... Telling the story of living among the people of Sicily is much more difficult.
Giuseppe Tomasi understood his countrymen well, he loved them so much, but he recalls them through the words of his ancestor, the prince of Salina.
From The Leopard:
Chevalley: - The Sicilians certainly want to improve.
Don Fabrizio Salina: - Sicilians will never want to improve because they consider themselves perfect. Vanity in them is stronger than misery.
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