History of Paceco

Paceco is a farming town, inhabited since the Paleolithic and Neolithic, with a land that bears witness to the persistent presence of an ancient civilization and a Mediterranean vegetation by picturesque scenery, which are the most peculiar aspect of the town and its surroundings. The antiquity of the site  of Paceco is proven by the excavations, the remains of which refer to the presence of settlements dating back to the Iron Age,  with pottery finely carved  of the so-called 'Elim' type.

We must say that the complex issue of the “Elims” (who, according to Thucydides (460-395 BC), were a people of Asian origin) has shed new light not only on the life of this ancient people, but at the same time involving the small town of Paceco. The fact is that scientists, until now, have suggested that the “Elims” were essentially "mountain men", but new archaeological excavations have proved their presence in the plain, and in fact some remains of the “Elims”  civilization  have recently been found at the site where Paceco  is placed, which receives a new importance, not only from a historical  but also from a strictly tourist perspective (about the question of the Elims,  See Maurizio Vento, “Viaggio nella terra degli Elimi” , Trapani, 1998).

The area was also inhabited by Arabs, whose presence is confirmed by the local place- names, with names like "Misiligiafari" or "Emir Giafar’s house." Despite the antiquity of the site, even Paceco as San Cataldo  is a New Town, which dates back to the early seventeenth century; it was also founded in order to re-people  some vast uninhabited areas to be dedicated to agriculture, particularly in times of serious and difficult  food supply for the population. It was founded by Marquis Placido Fardella (1592-1623) in the early seventeenth century.  Placido Fardella wanted the New Town had the surname of his wife, Anna Maria Pacheco and Mendoza, granddaughter of the Viceroy of Sicily, Don Juan Fernandez Pacheco. From the Spanish name "Pacheco", with the loss of the "h", derives the Italian name “Paceco”.

According to the  surveys by Francesco Benigno, who has studied in depth about the origins of Paceco, the foundation of the city was almost "forced"; “a settlement built against the will of the majority of the ruling class of Trapani, a sort of  “internal fight” between the  Fardella  family and other members of the local nobility for the political control of the town and its region” (See Francesco Benigno “ Una casa, una terra. Ricerche intorno a Paceco, paese nuovo nella Sicilia del Sei e Settecento”, Cooperativa Universitaria Editrice, 1985:  12).

At the end of a long fight, for a contingent series of successful circumstances (see p. 41), the noble Fardella succeeded in its objective of founding a new village. In terms of  planning some rational techniques were adopted, so Paceco is an example of really smart and modern foundation, with a plan  formed with wide and straight streets, converging on the main square. Pierluigi Nocella, professor of history at the University of Alcala de Henares in Spain, noted that "[...] Paceco therefore was born in a pattern similar to other urban locations based at that time; or with a plan  of orthogonal grid shape, with parallel and perpendicular streets 12 meters wide, to the sides of which the settlers built houses of rectangular shape, sometimes with a single room, others with two, and they took advantage of two roof slopes to build a loft with wooden planks. The urban design had the advantage of not being forced to make changes in case of expansion of the village, it was only necessary, repeating the system, widen the roads to form new districts […] "(See  Pierluigi Nocella, “La nascita di Paceco, Case e Conflitti” ["The Birth of Paceco. Houses and Conflicts "] in “Paceco tra Spagna e Sicilia” ["Paceco between Spain and Sicily"], by Alberto Barbata, Il Sole, 2008]: 60).

Paceco had a remarkable economic development in Roman times and especially in the Age of Augustus, while as regard the Middle Ages we have a few documents, referring to traces of settlements in the tenth century AD. We must however consider the fact that the wars waged during the reign of Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250) against the Arabs took a considerable abandonment of rural settlements. The phenomenon will suffer in reverse order only by the fourteenth century, "when  a slow process of colonization of the countryside resumes " (See Antonino Filippo, “Archeologia del territorio di Paceco”, in “Paceco tra Spagna e Sicilia”: 44).

During the sixteenth century Paceco had a surplus in the population, while things became very difficult in the following centuries, with very high mortality rates, particularly in the seventeenth century (See D. Ligresti, “Dinamiche demografiche nella Sicilia”, ["Demographic Dynamics in Sicily"], Angeli, 2002 ). In previous years the Unification of Italy, the population will grow dramatically, but with it, towards the end of the nineteenth century, even the emigration to America. Today the city is renowned for its fine agriculture and tourism, which in recent years, thanks to an enhancement of the territory and services has increased considerably.