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Tuesday 11th May : President Napolitano a Salemi, declared by Garibaldi in 1860 as the 1st capital of Italy .
Italian head of state, president Giorgio Napolitano will be visiting SALEMI during the celebrations of 150 years of a united Italy.
A short history lesson:
The process of the unification of Italy is known as the Italian
Risorgimento. Back in 1860 in Italy there 4 states namely the Austrians
in Venetia, the Papal States, the new expanded Kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In April 1860,
separate insurrections began in Messina and Palermo in Sicily, both of
which demonstrated a history of opposing Neapolitan rule. On May 6,
1860, Garibaldi and his cadre of about a thousand Italian “red shirts”
volunteers (called I Mille), steamed from Quarto near Genoa, and after a
stop in Talamone on May 11 landed near Marsala on the west coast of
Sicily to “liberate” southern Italy and Sicily from the centuries old
rule of the Bourbon kings from Spain. Near Salemi, Garibaldi's army
attracted scattered bands of rebels, and the combined forces defeated
the opposing army at Calatafimi on May 13. Within three days, the
invading force had swelled to 4,000 men. On May 14, Garibaldi proclaimed
himself dictator of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.
In less than a month, and against all odds, they had seized Palermo.
The defeat of the 20,000-strong Bourbon army in Palermo sent a shiver up
the spine of Italy and through the Bourbon monarchy in Naples, setting
the stage for the unification of Italy and ultimately leading to the proclamation
of the Kingdom of Italy (March 17, 1861) in Turin, Piedmonte.
The 150 year celebrations started this May 6th and will conclude next
year 2011 with 150 years of the Kingdom of Italy. Even Ferrari has
created a special logo which appears as from today on the F10s of Felipe
Massa and Fernando Alonso: the three stripes of the Italian flag placed
over the dates 1861>2011 are the symbol of the inter-ministerial
committee to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of
Italian Unity.
The head of State, President Giorgio Napolitano, was on the defensive
when he travelled to Genoa this week to honour the Thousand. "To
celebrate the unity of Italy is not a waste of time or money," he
declared. He urged Italians to show "a stronger sense of Italy and of
being Italian", following the leader of the The Northern League, Umberto
Bossi’s comments calling the celebrations "useless things." The party's
newspaper demanded rhetorically, "The unity of Italy – what's there to
celebrate?" and described the birth of the unitary state as "contrary to
nature and history."
The celebrations will follow the route of Garibaldi. Here in Sicily
of particular interest was the THE GARIBALDI TALL SHIPS REGATTA 2010 from Genoa to
Trapani.
In Salemi,
Napolitano will be visiting on Tuesday 11th May to open the new town
hall and new mafia museum which is planned to attract new mafia tourism
to Salemi the town of the 1 euro house
regeneration project. |
