History of Paterno

The earliest archaeological traces of Paternò date back  to the Neolithic, but the historic city starts with “Ibla”, also called "Galeatis," famous for its sect of priests, able to interpret dreams, and dedicated to the worship of the goddess “Ibla”.

The Hellenization of "Hybla Maior" began as early as the sixth century BC, reflecting the influence of Catania, of Greek origin. In Roman times the worship of the Goddess Hybla experienced a moment of special good fortune, and  in fact the Roman cult of "Venus Iblea” was born. With  the fall of the Roman Empire,  the town suffered serous damages because of the barbarian invasions,; in fact, it was occupied by Goths, Byzantines and Arabs. These were expelled by the Normans led by Ruggero d'Altavilla (1021-1101).

With the death of William II (1166-1189), last Norman king, Paterno went to the emperor Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250). At the end of the thirteenth century Paternò passed under the rule of the Angevin; and then it belonged to   the feudal family of the  Moncada, who ruled it  until the unification of the Kingdom of Italy (1861).

Paterno - etymology

We observe that the name of the city, "Paternò" poses serious problems of interpretation that still are not completely resolved. The problems  were essentially two.  Where was  the ancient town?  What is the meaning of this name? As regard the first question, there was the question  whether to place the ancient site  at  Ibla or Inessa-Etna. Already in the seventeenth century it was common tendency of scholars identify the site of the ancient Paternò with  "Hybla Maior." Proponents of this point of view were scholars of great prestige; "[...]  supported the identity with 'Hibla Maior' especially the German archaeologist Philip Cluver (1580-1623) and then the Geographer  Giovanni Battista Nicolosi (1610-1670)[…] "; today this hypothesis is strongly supported by scholars contemporaries such as Italo Mariotti (See Carmelo Ciccia, "The Myth of Hibla in literature and art," Pellegrini, Cosenza, 1998:  56). In the early twentieth century, G. Savasta, a distinguished scholar of Paternò, was absolutely convinced of the identification of Paternò with Hibla, bringing several witnesses, such as the Cluverio: “[...] Hyblain..... Majorem ego eodem situ fuisse judico ubi nunc celebre conspicitur oppidum vulgari vocabulo Paderno [...]”;or "I believe that Hybla Maior was placed on this site, where today we see the walled city which is popularly known as Paternò." (See G. Savasta, "Memoirs of the Historical city of Paternò, Catania, 1905, ch. IV).

However, more recent studies confirm the hypothesis: "The only positive identification is that of Paternò with  ‘Ibla Gerearis’" (See "Memoirs and Proceedings of the Society Magna Grecia", 1983: 177). At "Hibla Maior" was deeply rooted  the cult of the Goddess Hibla, who enjoyed great prestige and veneration for his priests devoted to divination. From this hypothesis  also originated an etymology that now enjoys a substantial credit,  for which the place-name of "Paterno" derives from the temple of  "Partènos”. B. Conte writes that we must connect the name with a millennial cult of 'Partènos' or 'Virgin' and with his temple on the hill: "[...] I think we need to connect the name with the Paternò millennial cult of ‘Partènos’  and  with its temple on the hill, the so-called 'Partènio' (...) The current name derives from ablative 'Paternion', with the normal fall of the final syllable and the syncopation of the euphonic 'i'. In summary, from 'Partènio'> 'Paternio'> ‘Patern(i)ò(ne)’> Paternò .[...]" (See A. Consolo. B. Conti, "Historical Notes on Paternò" Paternò, 1972: 15-19).

However, the question is really intricate and difficult to resolve, mainly because the proposals are very many. For example, next to the etymology mentioned above,  have some significance other hypothesis , such as, for example, that proposes, for the modern name, a mark of Arab origin, because the Arabs called it "Batarnù" or "Paternò" (See "The Myth of Hibla," p. 53, note 86). In an Arabic root also Michele Amari believed (See "Arabic-Sicilian Library”, Vol 2:  669), who listed a number of place names derived from Arabic, as ‘Saraqusah’ (Syracuse), ‘Lantini’ ( Lentini), ‘Qataniah’ (Catania), ‘Batarnù’ (Paternò). Santi Correnti notes that "[...] the Arab influence is clear in a number of place names in Sicily so vast that the beginning of the nineteenth century, Domenico Scinà wrote: 'The mountains, springs and many other places, changed the old names,  bring to our days only Arab names' [...] "(See Santi Correnti, “History of Sicily”, Newton and Compton, 1999: 261). Other hypotheses that could capture the true are those which think of a praedial name, meaning "farm belonging to his father," which also is a very common name in Italy and elsewhere in Sicily;  in fact, the place name 'Paterno' ("Paternu"), which indicates "a farm inherited from his father", is very old (see G.B. Pellegrini, "Italian toponymy" Hoepli, 1990: 252).

Finally, according to other hypotheses proposed in the Website of the Province of Catania, "Paternò" would be of Byzantine origin and it makes reference to the shape of its site, located at the junction leading to the most important city in the western part of Etna, or ‘Adernò’ (ep 'Adernon = "to Adernò." Another hypothesis assumes instead that "Paternò" comes from the Greek word "Pterna", meaning "foot of a mountain," with obvious reference to the geographical position of the city, at the foot of Etna. It 's obvious that, faced with such a wide and varied range of cases, where some etymologies have strong similarities with the modern name [ ‘Partènios’ (Sicilian-Greek), ‘Batarnù’ (Arabic), ‘Paternu’ (praedial Latin name), and  ‘Pterna’ (Byzantine name)], it would seem almost impossible to say which name has given rise to the modern “Paternò”. However, the only criterion good enough, at least from a logical point of view, would be to rebuild the ancient name. In this sense, "Partènos"  precedes the Latin term "Partenu",   the Arabic “Batarnù”,   and finally the Byzantine name “Pterna”. It is therefore possible that "Partènos" is the cause of the subsequent name change, and that the etymology proposed by B. Conti has its real substance.