Three valli of Sicily

Historical map of Sicily showing the three provinces or "valli."

During the Muslim rule on Sicily, the island was divided into three different administrative regions: the Val di Noto in the southeast, the Val Demone in the northeast and the Val di Mazara in the west.[1] Each zone has a noticeably different agriculture and topography[2] and they converged near Castrogiovanni.[3] The term val or vallo (plural valli) is probably derived from the Siculo-Arabic wilayah, meaning "province".

There are many Arab-derived names in the Val di Mazara (and more Christians converted to Islam from this region),[4] are more mixed in the Val di Noto, while Christian (particularly Greek) identities survived strongest in the Val Demone (with the least Arab-derived names),[5] which was the last to fall to the Muslims, where Christian refugees from other parts of Sicily had assembled, and which furthermore remained in contact with Byzantine southern Italy.[6] Later Christian Lombard settlements would split the remaining Muslims of Sicily in half, separating the Val di Mazara and the Val di Noto.[7]

Even after Muslim rule, the three valli system was still continued up until 1818, when Sicily was divided into seven provinces.[8] From the 16–17th century, the population of Val di Noto expanded the slowest of the three valli, with Val di Mazara growing fastest.[9]

The three valli are represented by the three-legged Trinacria symbol which appears on the flag of Sicily.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bill Nesto; Frances Di Savino (9 Feb 2013). The World of Sicilian Wine. University of California Press. p. 154. ISBN 9780520955073.
  2. ↑ Sarah C. Davis-Secord (2007). Sicily and the Medieval Mediterranean: Communication Networks and Inter-regional Exchange. ProQuest. p. 42. ISBN 9780549515791.
  3. ↑ Bill Nesto; Frances Di Savino (9 Feb 2013). The World of Sicilian Wine. University of California Press. p. 154. ISBN 9780520955073.
  4. ↑ Stefan Goodwin (1 Jan 2002). Malta, Mediterranean Bridge (illustrated ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 20. ISBN 9780897898201.
  5. ↑ Isaac Taylor (1865). Words and Places: Or, Etymological Illustrations of History, Ethnology, and Geography. Macmillan. pp. 101–2.
  6. ↑ Metcalfe (2009), pp. 34–36, 40
  7. ↑ Ann Katherine Isaacs (2007). Immigration and Emigration in Historical Perspective. Edizioni Plus. p. 71. ISBN 9788884924988.
  8. ↑ George Dennis (1864). A handbook for travellers in Sicily. John Murray. p. xiv.
  9. ↑ Stephan R. Epstein (13 Nov 2003). An Island for Itself: Economic Development and Social Change in Late Medieval Sicily (revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN 9780521525077.
  10. ↑ Dana Facaros; Michael Pauls (2008). Sicily (illustrated ed.). New Holland Publishers. p. 222. ISBN 9781860113970.
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