SANTO STEFANO DI CAMASTRA

HISTORY OF THE CITY

The history of the picturesque town comes from three names:

1. The Noma (civilization of shepherds and farmers),
2. S. Stefano di Mistretta (depending on the city of Mistretta),
3. S.STEFANO DI CAMASTRA (final name).

In the civilities of Noma, the news are fragmentary and uncertain as noticed by:

1. Thucydides (IV century BC.), Polybius (second century BC.),
2. Cicero (first century BC.) In "Verrines".
3. The poet Silio Italico (first century DC.) In the opera "Punic".

Further informations on these civilities are found in the works of the 20th century, three local historians:

1. Edmondo Cataldi,
2. Salvatore Ruggieri,
3. Salvatore Pagliaro Bordone.

The first historical documents are enrolled in a degree of year 1101 of Count Ruggero, father of the Norman king Roger II, which stipulates that the city of Mistretta and its lands, including the house of Saint-Etienne, are offered to the church of the Abbey of Milet in Calabria until 1454, when the new king Alfonso, called "the Magnanimous", under the mediation of Pope Nicolas V, S. Stefano Mistretta conceded at the abbey church of St. Anastasia Castelbuono.

In 1630 S.STEFANO embraces feudalism, becoming the property of Gregory Castelli. Later, the population returns to the fief by paying a sum of 32,000 ounces at Lord Philip IV of Spain, which in 1639 sold the fief to Antonio of Naples, married to Maria Gomez Silvera. Her second marriage with Joseph Lanza Barresi, Duke of Camastra, in 1668, became the property S.STEFANO of her last husband.

The current location was completed in 1683 on a terrace at the West Coast Nebrodi after a landslide, June 6, 1682, the old town, about 500 m above the sea level, has been destroyed. The Duke of Camastra gave to the people, his land in order to build the new center, and was, himself, the promoter of the city, inspired by the gardens of Versailles, the Villa Giulia in Palermo has been inspired by S.STEFANO's model:
A square in which there are a rhombus and two diagonals. The new town of Santo Stefano, called S.Stefano di Camastra since 1812, in honor of the duke, was extended later in the area of the hills, u Chianu (flat land), and in recent years to the north and to the sea. The fortifications in the containment area, sheltered stables and barns, which later became houses, located on the north side of the residence of the lord.

The new geographic position has changed the profession of Stefanesi; from shepherds and farmers, they became fishermen and craftsmen. Clay has changed the life and economy of stefanesi. The discovery of Greek graves and pottery, have determined that the ceramic production started only around the sixth century BC. The village center has moved several times, where the clay was "kneaded", worked, cooked and baked. The political center, was still inside the rhombus while the productive center, shops and factories of ceramics, were located either close to the embarkation port, now close to the clay mountain or southeast but still outside the historic center. S. Stefano di Camastra is an open air museum.