Cerami
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Comune di Cerami | |
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 Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country |  Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Province | Enna (EN) |
| Elevation | 970 m (3,182 ft) |
| Area | 94 km² (36 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| - Total | 2,463 |
| - Density | 26/km² (67/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | |
| Gentilic | Ceramesi |
| Dialing code | 0935 |
| Postal code | 94010 |
| Patron | Saint Sebastian |
| Website: http://www.comune.cerami.en.it/ | |
Cerami (Sicilian: Cirami) is a comune in Sicily, Italy in the Province of Enna.
City in central Sicily and location of a major battle between Muslims and Normans in 1061.
Cerami is 182 Km. distant from Agrigento, 110 Km. from Caltanissetta, 81 Km. from Catania, 69 Km. from Enna, which is the province it belongs to, 151 Km. from Messina, 155 Km. from Palermo, 178 Km. from Ragusa, 139 Km. from Siracusa, 254 Km. from Trapani. The municipality counts 2.954 inhabitants, its surface measures 9.487 hectares, and its population density counts 31 inhabitants per square kilometre. It rises over an internal mountain area, 1.000 meters above the sea-level.
Cerami produces cereals, olives, grapes, and almonds. It also is know for cattle breeding and sheep herding. It holds a Cattle Fair during the month of August.
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[edit] History
Cerami was founded by the Greeks as part of Magna Graecia in the fourth century B.C. The name Cerami derives from the Greek term Keràmion, that means terra-cotta. The territory hosts several archeological areas, such as the Raffo district where remains of a Greek necropolis were discovered.
Cerami was the location of a major battle between Normans and Muslims in 1061 during the Norman conquest of the Island by Roger I of Sicily son of Tancred of Hauteville. After being besieged in the neighboring town of Troina for four months, Roger took to the fields of Cerami with 136 Normans knights and arrayed themselves against 50,000 Muslims. The apparition of St. George on horseback bearing the cross was said to have made an appearance, and the Normans swept the field. The numbers of Christians, of course, are impossible and implausible. Even given the fact that each knight would have been attended by 5 or 6 men-at-arms, the Normans could not have hoped to keep the field without considerable local help from the Greeks. But victorious they were and the Normans went on to conquer the entire island.
The current community rose approximately in the eleventh century, and it belonged to the Count of Policastro, Simone d'Altavilla, and then to his son Manfredi. It was conquered by the Arnaldo family, and was subsequently bestowed to the Antiochia family, thus to the Manna noblemen. In 1336, the town was acquired by noblemen Rosso, who beheld it until the abolition of the feudal rights.
[edit] Local Artifacts
The most outstanding monuments are the Chiesa Madre dedicated to Saint Ambrogio of the sixteenth century, preserving a statue of the Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) by Gagini (1478-1536), the gothic Church of the Madonna del Carmelo, and the baroque Church of the Abbey, that holds a Byzantine style painting of the Madonna.
