{"id":4056,"date":"2021-04-21T23:27:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T21:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joebuzz.it\/wordpress\/?page_id=4056"},"modified":"2025-02-24T16:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T15:22:10","slug":"the-neighbourhoods-of-monreale","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.prolocomonreale.it\/wordpressEN\/the-neighbourhoods-of-monreale\/","title":{"rendered":"The neighbourhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE NEIGHBOURHOODS<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/section>\n
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In the \u201cHistoria della chiesa di Monreale\u201d (History of the Church of Monreale), published in 1596, we read that Monreale was divided into four parts: the first and oldest, the Pozzillo<\/strong>, took its name from the water that flowed in a fountain located undet the street level, so low that it looks like half a well… in this neighbourhood you can see tapia houses, and he deduced that they had been built by the Saracens: tapia was the name given to the large unfired\u00a0 clay bricks used by the Arabs, and it certainly speaks in favour of their robustness; at the end of the 16th century those houses were still standing.<\/p>\n

It seems, therefore, that the oldest nucleus of the settlement developed around the source of the Pozzillo, and then spread out on two sides: towards the cathedral and along the road from Palermo leading to the interior of Sicily.<\/p>\n

The Carrubbella<\/strong> is one of the most ancient neighbourhoods of Monreale along with San Vito and Pozzillo. Its name derives from the carob tree which was used by the carpenters and the artisans who lived there. They took the wood from the carob tree and used it to build ships and furnitures. We learn that the seeds of this plant, very hard and oval in shape, were once used as weights for gold, silver and precious stones.<\/p>\n

The neighbourhood is divided into an old area with low houses, sloping roofs and small windows and a recent area with modern settlements and buildings with courtyards, alleys, arches, stairways and some votive aedicules.<\/p>\n

At the beginning the Carmine<\/strong> neighbourhood, whose name comes from the Hebrew word \u201cKarmel\u201d meaning \u201cgarden\u201d, was actually a large garden. It is considered the only neighbourhood of Monreale to have a geometric design since it is configured in axes.<\/p>\n

In 1624 the nearby Palermo was struck by a terrible plague. The Archbishop Girolamo Venero isolated the town with a wall on which six symmetrically arranged gates opened. The four neighbourhoods were divided into districts, the settlement expanded into the Court\u2019s Garden (the original name of this neighbourhood) owned by the archbishops, which became the fifth neighbourhood named Carmine (it’s named after the Palestinian Mount Carmel). In 1560,\u00a0 archbishop Alessandro Farnese decided to build a church with an adjoining cloister and a convent , later administered by the Carmelite order.<\/p>\n

The Carmine neighbourhood hosts the residencies of the Archbishops. It was composed by the districts of Arancio, Odigitria, Orto Mangano, Varanni, the barters, the slaughterhouse, the prisons, sant\u2019Orsola and Gibbiuni.<\/p>\n

It was a neighbourhood rich in water and public fountains, composed by humble residencies, where landowners, agricultural labourers and small livestock breeders lived.<\/p>\n

The most important street of the neighbourhood, \u201cA Varanni\u201d or \u201cVia Grande\u201d, was planned at the beginning of the 16th century: the road, wide and flat, was also to be used for horse races during festivities. At the end of the current Via Duca degli Abruzzi, once called A calati ri jenchi (heifers), there was the slaughterhouse.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n