Agira
Agira (Italian pronunciation: [aˈdʒiːra]; Sicilian: Aggira) is a toun an comune in the province o Enna, Sicily (southren Italy). It is locatit in the mid-glen o the River Salso, 35 kilometre (22 mile) frae Enna. Till 1861, it wis cried San Filippo d'Argiriò, in honour o its saunt, Filippo il Siriaco, or Philip o Agira.
Agira Aggira | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Agira | |
  Agira Location o Agira in Italy | |
| Coordinates: 37°39′N 14°31′E / 37.650°N 14.517°E | |
| Kintra | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Province | Enna (EN) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 163.11 km2 (62.98 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 650 m (2,130 ft) |
| Population (31 Mey 2007) | |
| • Total | 8,357 |
| • Density | 51/km2 (130/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Agirini |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 94011 |
| Diallin code | 0935 |
| Patron saunt | St. Philip o Agira |
| Saunt day | 2 Julie |
| Website | Offeecial wabsteid |
History
eeditAgira stands on the site of the ancient Sicel ceety[1] o Agyrion (Ancient Greek: Ἀγύριον - Agyrion), or Agyrium, whilk wis ruled bi tyrants, ane o wham, Agyris, wis the maist pouerful ruler in the centre o Sicily. He wis a contemporar o Dionysius the Elder, an wi him successfully resistit the Carthaginian forces led bi Mago when they invadit the territory o Agyrium in 392 BC. Agira wis no colonisit bi the Greeks till the Corinthian general Timoleon drove oot the last tyrant in 339 BC, settled 10,000 Greeks, accordin tae Diodorus Siculus, a native o the ceety, an erectit various splendid biggins; nae traces remain, as the modren ceety owerlees the auncient ane.
Diodorus Siculus credits Heracles wi the foondation o sacred precincts o Iolaus an o Geryon, an the creation o a naurhaun loch. In the mid fift century, Agyrium wis the first Sicilian ceety tae mint bronze coinage in the Greek fashion.
The Romans cried it Agirium. Unner their control it unnerwent a decline, as a result o the hivy taxation imposed on it. In 1063, it wis takken bi the Normans unner Coont Roger I o Sicily (Ruggero in Italian), wha defeatit the Saracens near the river Salso. Agira is mentioned bi Muhammad al-Idrisi bi the name Shanta Fīlibb (i.e., Saunt Philip o Agira), written as شنت فيلب in the Arabic script.
Agira passed throu the haunds o the Hohenstaufen, the Angevines an Aragonese, an in aboot 1400 it became state property o Sicily. Ower the years, the toun haes been influencit bi Spainyie an Jewish arrivals, baith leavin their airchitectural mark, the latter a synagogue.
Main sichts
eeditThe main biggins o note are its feck o kirks, maist o whilk contain collections o airt wirks. They include the Norman Chiesa Madre ("Mither Kirk") dedicatit tae Santa Maria Maggiore, the Norman kirk o Santa Margherita, whilk is the lairgest in the diocese, wi thirteen altars, an whilk dates frae the early 13t century (tho it haes been hintle chyngit syne then), the kirk o St Filippo, whilk haes a nave an twa aisles, an conteens pentins bi Olivo Sozzi, the 16t-century kirk o Sant'Antonio da Padova, whilk haes three naves an aw, the 16t-century kirk o Sant'Antonio Abate, containin fowerteen smaw pentins o the Venetian schuil, an the kirk o San Salvatore, wi Gothic bell-touer.
Thare is a Arab–Byzantine castle, later rebuilt bi the Hohenstaufen, o whilk twa touers still staund.
The modren toun
eeditThe municipality o Agira haes 9,004 inhabitants, wi a population density o 55 inhabitants per square kilometre. It covers 163.11 square kilometre (62.98 square mile), an is 650 metre (2,133 feet) abuin sea-level.
Agira is 141 kilometre (88 mile) frae Agrigento, 69 kilometre (43 mile) frae Caltanissetta, 66 kilometre (41 mile) frae Catania, 34 kilometre (21 mile) frae Enna (tae whase province it belangs), 162 kilometre (101 mile) frae Messina, 184 kilometre (114 mile) frae Palermo, 144 kilometre (89 mile) frae Ragusa, 124 kilometre (77 mile) frae Siracusa, an 291 kilometre (181 mile) frae Trapani.
The toun is a centre o agricultur: productions include cereals, awmonds, olives, an grapes. The lairge auries o pastur mak possible the breedin o cattle, sheep, an horse an aw.
The Pozzillo airtificial loch lees near the toun in a eucalyptus firth, an provides a important habitat for a lairge variety o birds, an a wey-stage for migrators. Anither reserve – the Riserva di Piano della Corte – haes been creatit in the Erei Muntains, an the Mediterranean forest o the Vallone di Piano della Corte is scheduled tae become anither reserve. The aurie conteens sulphur springs an aw.
Transportation
eeditThare is a railwey station sooth o the toun.
Internaitional relations
eeditTwin touns – Sister ceeties
eeditAgira is twinned wi:
Notes
eedit- ↑ The Princeton Encyclopædia of Classical Sites asserts only that Agira is "a city of ancient but uncertain origins".
Freemit airtins
eedit- Provides the public with quick and easy access to information about Agira
- Agira — from La Sicilia in dettaglio — Sicily in full detail
- Gallery of photographs of Agira Archived 2015-08-22 at Wikiwix
- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopædia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Agyrion (Agira), Sicily"
- History o Agira Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine