Adrano (Ct).wmv

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Adrano is a town and comune in the province of Catania on the east coast of Sicily.It is situated around 41 km northwest of Catania, which is also the capital of the province to which Adrano belongs. It lies near the foot of Mount Etna, at the confluence of the Simeto and Salso rivers. .The founding of the town and the pre-Christian .The settlement was founded by Dionysius the Elder around 400 BC, intending to strengthen Syracusan power in the region. He named the town Adranon in honour of Adranus a deity of Phoenician origin.In 344 BC the troops of Timoleon fought the forces of the Syracusan commander Iketas of Leontini near Adrano. During the following years, Adrano was frequently harried by Campanian mercenaries, called the Mamertinians.The Romans conquered the growing township in 263 BC and declared it a civitas stipendiaria, obliging it to pay a costly tribute to Romem. Only through the reign of Theodoric the Great (495-526), the conditions improved due to the administration by Cassiodorus. In the mid-6th century it was conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire.Around 950, the Arab Musa occupied the city of Centuripe and its vicinity, and thenceforth Adrano became part of the emirate of Sicily. . Several of their buildings and structures, like the Ponte dei Saraceni (Bridge of the Saracenes) can still be visited around the region.The Arabs reigned the region until in 1075 the Normans, led by Hugo of Yersey, succeeded in conquering the region against the resistance of Caid Albucazar. Adrano became part of the Diocese of Catania, administered by the monk Ansgerius. The citizens of the prospering township continued the successful agricultural and economic work the Arabs had initiated. Therefore, the Norman era was enormously influenced by winegrowing, leather work and silk manufacturing. Since the beginning of the 18th century and until around 1820, Adrano suffered from enduring riots and changes taking place in Italy and particularly Sicily, as was the Risorgimento. Adrano became the main administrative town of the vicinity in 1819 and hosted the local court.Giuseppe Garibaldi landed in Sicily in 1860 and many reforms took place. On July 1, 1860, a town council was installed in Adrano, and don Lorenzo Ciancio was made chairman. The famous Teatro Bellini (Bellini theatre) dates from that time and testifies to the various diversifications the city underwent in that very period. A hospital was instituted as well, and meanwhile Adrano was considered the wealthiest town in the region. The Romans changed the name of the township into Hadranum; during the occupation by the Arabs it was called Adarnu or sometimes Adarna, while the Normans referred to it as Adernio and Adriano. Until 1929 its official name was Adernò, until eventually it was changed into Adrano. Several elder inhabitants of the town still call it Adernò. Adrano è un comune italiano di 36.526 abitanti della provincia di Catania in Sicilia.Il suo territorio si trova nel Parco dell'Etna.Adrano si estende alle pendici sud-occidentali dell'Etna, in una zona collinare che affianca la Piana di Catania ad est ed il fiume Simeto ad ovest. La città è situata ad un'altezza di 560 metri sul livello del mare, ha una superficie di 8.251 ettari e dista 35 km dal comune di Catania.L'attuale toponimo risale al 1929 e riprende quello della città di Adranon fondata da Dionigi il Vecchio di Siracusa nel 400 a.C. e dedicata ad Adranos, dio siculo della guerra.I romani tradussero il nome in Hadranum, gli arabi ribattezzarono la città Adarna, i normanni la chiamarono Adernio, e gli angioini Adernò.Secondo uno studioso del XIX secolo, Giovanni Sangiorgio Mazza, il tiranno siracusano avrebbe tuttavia fondato Adranon su un più antico centro siculo, identificabile con l'antica Inessa, in seguito denominata Aitna (Diodoro Siculo, Bibliotheca historica, 11, 76, 1), alla quale apparterrebbe il tempio del dio Adrano. Inessa protrebbe essere il nome con cui i siculi chiamavano l'Etna.