History of Cassibile

Apart from the name ("Cassibile") there does not actually exist historically established relations between the old farm-house and the current "Cassibile", the origins of which date back to the mid-nineteenth century. Among other things, especially in the past, it was thought even to identify the site of the ancient farm-house of Cassibile with the city of Avola. According to A. Messina, we do not know with certainty even if the document of Pope Urban II actually was  related to this castle: "[...] It is unclear whether it relates to the Bishop's  document of 1104, which lists the assets of the Diocese of Syracuse ' aliud casale , quod est juxta via quae tendit Cassibulum'. In the last two centuries of the Middle Ages the place-name ‘Cassibile’  indicates only an uninhabited feud and it is mentioned  such  as a 'castle' [...]"( See A. Messina, “Sicilia rupestre”: 26).

Coming therefore to certain things, we can say that the village, since the fourteenth century,  was part of a feud with a castle, a remnant of an old military building. Cassibile was ruled by numerous feudal families of Sicily, as the Moncada,  Arici,  Lanza,  Speciali, and Branciforte. In 1797 the Barony passed to the Loffredo. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Marquis Sylvester Loffredo started the construction of a township that would meet the needs of the rural population who worked in his large possessions. The village was well built, with a hundred homes, a store  with an inn and the church.

"Cassibile" is the name of a very famous river in antiquity, known to the Greeks as "Kakyperis", on which, as Thucydides [460-395 BC] says (“History of the Peloponnesian War”, VII, 75-86), Demosthenes (died 413 BC) was forced to surrender at Syracuse (the episode should be included as part of the events relating to the Peloponnesian War [414-413 BC: “Epeidè ghénointo epì to potamò to Kakypàrei, parà tòn potamòn iòien àno dià mesoghéias (“ whenever they found themselves at the river Cacyparis, they might go along the river up through the interior”)]. "Cassibile" is also the name of an old farm-house, about which  some medieval documents speak us; in fact,  Michele Amari says: “ ‘Cassibari’ o ‘Cassibili’, un village ruiné près de la rivière de même nom, Kasbadri , Cassibula”, certo del VII secolo;  ['Cassibari' or 'Cassibilie', a ruined village near the river of the same name, 'Kasbadri', 'Cassibula', certainly dating back to  the seventeenth century [...]" (See M. Amari, "Carte  Comparée de la Sicile moderne ", Paris, Plon, 1853 : 33).

More specifically, the name "Cassibile" is mentioned in a document of 1093 by Pope Urban II (1035-1099), in which  some localities of the Diocese of Syracuse were mentioned:  “[...] Infra quas divisiones Syracusa est cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, Lentina, Nota, Pantegra, 'Cassibula', Bizinias , Essina , Calthaealphar , Lespera , Isbarbia , Modica , Sclicla , Anaor , Ragusa , Butera cum omnibus eorum pertinentiis , et alia castella et casalia quae infra praedictos terminos  aedificata sunt vel aedificabuntur .[..]”; or, "In these areas there is Syracuse with all its appurtenances, that are Lentini, Nota, Pantegra, 'Cassibula' (...) Butera, with all its appurtenances , and other castles and farm-houses that were built or will be built within the boundaries mentioned above " (See “Patrologiae cursus completus”. “Saeculum XI, Pontificis Romani B. Urbani II Epistolae, Diplomata, Sermones”, 1853: 371-372).

At the time of Urban II, therefore, there was a farm-house called "Cassibula”. What is also confirmed by a document of the Norman times (1104), dating back to Count Roger II (1095-1154), which refers to a " casale quod est  juxta via quae tendit Cassibulum'"["A farm-house along the road towards 'Cassibulum'"] (See A. Messina, "The Rock Churches of Syracuse” , 1979:  115). About this ancient fortified farm-house, which appears to have been inhabited by some Arab populations, we also have the evidence of Al Idrisi (1099-1164), an Arab historian to the Court of Roger II, who spoke of a farm-house called "ral Qassibari" (See A. Messina, " Sicilia equestre ", 2008: 26), near the river “Wadi qassibari” (“Flumen Cacyparis”) [See M. Amari, “L'Italia descritta nel libro di Ruggero”, Salviucci, 1883: 66). According to some contemporary studies is through the  Arab mediation that we come to the modern name "Cassibile" [...]  'Kakyparis', through the Arabic "qs bari' has become 'Cassibile'" (See “Società italiana di Glottologia”,”La Toponomastica come fonte di conoscenza storica e linguistica”, 1981: 12).

With regard to the etymology of “Kakyparis”, the proposal of Giovanni A. Massa is still interesting; he wrote: "[...] The etymology of 'Cacyparis' is related to its vast delta where the river flows and it  would be of Carthaginian origin with the meaning of "Sinus Magnus" ("Great Cove ") [...]" (See G.A. Massa," La Sicilia in prospettiva”, 1709: 308). G.A. Massa then added, however, that he believed more in the Arabic origin of the name. In fact, according to some scholars, “Cassibile” derives from an Arabic word which would have to do with a “farm-house with a mill” (Arabic" Manzil "," Asr "=" presser " [“to squeeze”, “to press”] (See Henri Bresc, “Le paysage de l'agricolture séche en Sicile [1080-1450]”, in Ghislaine Noyé, “Castrum: structures de l'habitat ...”, 1988, Vol. I: 271 note 24). We must also consider the historical ancient structure of the territory, where the place-names of Arabic origin are very numerous. Patrice Cressier points out that "dans le territoire de Lentini, du XIème  siècle à la fin du  XIVème siècle les toponymes of Arab origin représentent plus du tiers de l'ensemble (30 sur 85)" or "in the territory of Lentini, from 11th   until the fourteenth century, the names of Arabic origin are more than a third of all "(See Patrice Cressier," Le chateau et la ville ", 2008 :  117).