History and etymology of Sciacca

Sciacca was formerly situated in the territory of Selinus, which included just the famous "Baths" known since antiquity as the "Thermae Selinuntiae" and “Aquae Selinuntiae”, located about twenty miles east of Selinus. We do not know with absolute certainty "when" Sciacca was born, but the most likely hypothesis is that it was a place founded  or rather "re-populated" by the inhabitants of “Selinunte”, after their city was destroyed by the Carthaginians in 409 BC. Many of those who managed to escape the massacre, says Diodorus [90-27 BC] (“Bibliotheca Historica”, XIII), sought refuge in Agrigento (“Agrigentum salvi pervenere” ["they took refuge in Agrigento "], but when the Carthaginian storm passed, most of them back  again to rebuild their town or to find a new place in the surrounding area, creating a new village which was called “Sciacca”. With regard to the etymological meaning of this name, over the centuries many scholars formulated various hypotheses, and all plausible enough, many of which have been "eliminated" by later studies. Incidentally, all in all, despite the diversity of many of them, almost all were referred to Arab origin, with some exceptions.

Accordino to G. Alessio ("Archivio storico siciliano”, 1936-1937 No. 2-3) Sciacca would derive from “Ex aqua [Calida]” ( “[hot]) water”), with obvious reference to the famous thermal baths of Sciacca. The hypothesis of G. Alessio was crushed without mercy by G.B. Pellegrini, who judget that "instead it is shown that the Arab sources have ‘As Saqqa(h)’ and that  ‘Sciaca’ , ‘sciacca’ and ‘Ciacca’ means ‘narrow valley fracture’, ‘crack’ (See G.B. Pellegrini, “Gli arabismi nelle lingue neolatine”, Paideia, 1972: 273). We observe that "Sciacca" as "crack" is certainly the most accredited hypothesis, and on which almost all scholars converge. “ A latere” had some luck also another hypothesis, according to which  the name  derives from the Arabic  "Syan," which refers to the concept of "Bath" and "Thermae". The thing had, as we said, some credit. With  this regard, in the 'Italie Pittoresque " we read: “[...] La route qui des ruines de Sélinonte mène aux ruines d'Agrigente, car sur toute cette côte on marche de ruine en ruine, traverse un pays malsain. Sciacca est la première et la seule ville qu'on trouve sur la ligne droite; elle est très-pittoresquement bàlie au pied des monts Giummari. Son nom moderne, qu'on fait dériver d'un mot arabe ('Syac') qui veut dire 'bain', n'est que la traduction de son ancien nom 'Thermœ Selinuntinae' [...]”;or  “ The road that leads  the ruins of Selinunte to ruins of Agrigento (here we go from a series of ruins to another), cross an unhealthy country. Sciacca is the only city on the straight line; it is picturesquely situated at the foot of the mountains Giummara. Its modern name comes from the Arabic word  ‘Syac’ which means 'baths', which is nothing but the translation of its old name 'Thermae Selinuntinae'”(See AA.VV.," L'Italie pittoresque ", Paris, 1850: 39).

The hypothesis of Sciacca from "Syac" would seem attractive and even linguistically "apparently" acceptable, since "Syac" means precisely Baths. However,  it’s a pity that the term "Syac” ... “does not exist.” In the “Archivio storico per la Sicilia” (1938:  1-3 et seq.) one says in this regard: “[...] In 840 Sciacca was subjugated by the Arabs with the promise of obedience and tribute, and one  says that its name comes from 'Syac', which in Arabic language means 'bath'. Unfortunately, it seems that this word 'does not exist', at least it is not in Belot (...) Sacco says that  ‘ the word ‘sciacca’ is nothing but the feminine active participle of  first conjugation of the  [Arabic] verb ‘Saqqa’ , which takes the idea of ‘separate’, ‘split’, ‘crack’  (.. .) Since the Arab writers used this name preceded  by the article ('As Saqqah'), this shows that they regarded the term as belonging to their language, because in Arabic the article pre-sets only to geographical names, which are of indigenous origin (...) 'As Saqqah' means the "separating" [...]" (Sacco mentioned in the 'Archive' is Giuseppe Sacco ( See “Storia della città di Sciacca”, Napoli, 1925), who actually proposed an etymology that even today, as we said, is the most reliable. ‘Belot’ is J.P. Belot instead, who wrote the "Dictionnaire Francais-Arabe" [Beyrout, 1913]).

Sciacca, in effect, separates  Mazara from Girgenti. In fact, this etymology is correct, if we take into account that in reality Sciacca is a "border town", and for this reason it was always the center of battles between the Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans. Very interesting are the notations of Francesco Savasta, who   assumed Sciacca such as a name of Arab origin: "[...] Sciacca is written in Latin with the letter 'S'; however, it was originally written with the letter ‘X’, that is  ‘Xacca’, and rightly so, because this name derived from the Arabic name ‘Xech’, which translated into the vernacular means “Mistress”, and" Governor ", [...]" ( See Francesco Savasta, “Il famoso caso di Sciacca” ["The famous case of Sciacca”], Palermo, Pensante, 1843:  1-3). In conclusion, Sciacca would be the "Separating" and "Governor" of its territory; after all the two etymologies are not far one another, giving both the concept of  “important city”, at least for its position of the border town, and in any case, as we have seen, albeit with some nuance of meaning, no scholar  questions the origins of the Arab name of the city.

With regard to the presence of the "X" instead of "S", the notation of Savasta is also confirmed by the production of majolica, of which Sciacca is justly famous. Writing a book for collectors of majolica, L. De Mauri states that "[...] the factory of [tiles] Sciacca is coeval with that of Palermo and Trapani. The Majolica of Sciacca [dating from the seventeenth century] have many similarities with those of Palermo, but a trained eye can distinguish (...) They often bear the initials SPQR, or SPQS, and the date. (...) The brand SPQS means 'Senatus Populusque Saccensis' ["The Senate and the people of Sciacca"], and sometimes instead of "S" appears  the 'X' ('Xaca' instead of 'Saca') . We don’t understand the meaning of 'R' in “SPQ-R”, perhaps due to the fact that the uneducated potters  of Sciacca certainly copied the code from the vessels that came from the continent [...]" (See L. De Mauri, “L'amatore di maioliche e porcellane” ["The Lover of Ceramics and Porcelain"],  Milan, Hoepli, 1988:  223). Turning now to historical data, we observe that the antiquity of Sciacca is attested  by some writers such as Pomponius Mela (first century AD), who wrote that “inter Pachynum et Lilybaeum Agragas est et Heraclea et Thermae” ( See Pomponii Melae, “De Chorographia Libri Tres” edited by G. Parthey, Berolini, 1867: 59, II, lines 118-119), namely that "between Pachino and Lilibeo there were three cities, that is " Agragas "," Heraclea "and "Thermae" ( “Terme=Sciacca”) and by Strabo (58-25 BC), “Thermà Selinoùntia” [VI, 275] (“Baths of Selinunte”). As we said, after the destruction of Selinunte, many took shelter to "Thermae", which became more populouse. Since it is a border town ("The Separating"), it was for long times contended among the Greeks, Carthaginians, and finally by the Romans, who conquered it after the First Punic War. With the Roman conquest, Sciacca became a city  certainly important, a role he held through the centuries, as the town post office in Sicily. The fall of the Roman Empire also marked the end of the prosperity of Sciacca, who suffered the destructive invasions of the Vandals and the Goths. Defeated by Justinian, Sicily came under the dominion of the Byzantines. During the Byzantine rule  some hermit monks settled in the territory of Sciacca, including San Calogero, who christianized some people in several places of Sicily. He staid in Sciacca  as a hermit in a cave on Mount Kronio, now also known as  Mount San Calogero. However were the Arabs  that marked forever the history (other than the name) of Sciacca; since the ninth century they had begun a policy of expansion in the Mediterranean and in 827 conquered Mazara and finally, with a widespread penetration in eastern Sicily, in 840 they conquered also "Thermae", which became under their rule "As Saqqa(h)" or Sciacca. So Al Idrisi (1099-1165) talked about it: "[...] From Girgenti to 'As Saqqah' along the sea, a day's journey, that is 25 miles. The land of Sciacca is situated on the seashore, on a site open and smiling. (...)  Sciacca is in the same territory as 'Qal at al ballut' , (the 'fortress of the oaks', City of ‘Caltabellotta’). It is a good castle and a  towering fortress [...]" (See M . Amari, “Biblioteca Arabo-Sicula”, Loescher, 1880, Vol I: 77-78). 

The Arabs later fortified the city with massive walls and a tower, which were further strengthened under the Normans and Frederick II (1194-1250). Count Roger (1031-1101) in fact built the famous "Old Castle". Sciacca was dominated by the Normans and their descendants for many years, in particular, it was ruled by the descendants of Giliberto Perrollo, a Burgundian came to Sicily in the wake of Count Roger, whose daughter he married. Since 1208 Sciacca and Sicily was ruled as the powerful figure of Frederick II and then by his descendants until the advent of Charles of Anjou (1226-1285). Sciacca also participated in the so-called "War of the Vespers" against the rule of  Anjou. Then the city was ruled by Guglielmo Peralta (died in 1392), who was responsible for the construction of the "New Castle". Throughout the sixteenth century Sciacca was the center of the struggles between the powerful local families of Peralta,  Perrollo and Luna. Between the seventeenth and much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the city was ruled first by the Spanish and then by the Bourbons, until the unification of Italy (1861).