Gibellina
Gibellina (Sicilian: Jibbiddina, Arabic: "little mount" - جبل صغير) is a small city and comune in the Province of Trapani, the mountains of central Sicily, Italy. It was destroyed by the 1968 Belice earthquake.[3]
Gibellina | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Gibellina | |
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Gibellina | |
  Gibellina Location of Gibellina in Italy  Gibellina Gibellina (Sicily) | |
| Coordinates: 37°49′N 12°52′E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Province | Trapani (TP) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Salvatore Sutera |
| Area | |
| • Total | 46.57 km2 (17.98 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 233 m (764 ft) |
| Population (28 February 2017)[2] | |
| • Total | 4,028 |
| • Density | 86/km2 (220/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Gibellinesi |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 91024 |
| Dialing code | 0924 |
| Patron saint | Roch |
| Saint day | 16 August |
| Website | Official website |
The new city, Gibellina Nuova, was rebuilt some 11 kilometres (7 mi) from the old one and it was designed by some of the most prominent artists and architects in Italy. They were summoned by Ludovico Corrao to provide works of art to the city in order to help build it up as an eccentric museum en plein air. One of them, the Italian sculptor Pietro Consagra, created a sculpture called Porta del Belice, or "Door to Belice", at the entrance. Consagra expressed on his deathbed a wish to be buried at Gibellina in July 2005.[4]
The old town, now known as the Ruderi di Gibellina (as the ruins of the city are referred to), remained just as it was after the earthquake, like a ghost town until 1985. That year the Italian artist Alberto Burri began a project to cover the ruins in concrete, while preserving the streetscape. Known as Cretto di Burri, work on the project ceased in 1989, but was finally completed in 2015.[5]
References
- "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- "The Day the Earth Shook:, Time, 26 January 1968.
- "Agenzia Giornalistica Italia news story on death and burial of Consagra". Archived from the original on 26 April 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2005.
- "In Gibellina the Cretto by Burri is finished (after 30 years)". Abitare. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2022.