POZZALLO
Pozzallo (33km from Ragusa; 18,000 inhabitants;
20m a.s.l.; zip code 97016, area code 0932) is the only coastal city of the
province. It nestles in a beautiful and much frequented bay.
The importance of Pozzallo goes back to the 14th
century, when it was a strategic military and commercial outpost for the County
of Modica. The Count had a harbor built there, the so-called caricatore,
around which the Scaro,
the earliest quarter, soon grew up. This is one the most picturesque sides in
town, thanks to its narrow, cosy streets. The modern city has grown on a modern
orthogonal urban grid.
HISTORY
The origins of Pozzallo are mostly unknown. The
recovery of ancient coins ranging in date from the 3rd through the 1st
century BC provided evidence for the Byzantine and Roman presence in the area.
Its fresh water reserves made it an important and obliged stop for vessels in
the Mediterranean. The term Pozzallo right means “a well at the
seaside”. During the Arab domination it became a refuge for Arabian warships,
the so-called Dromoni. Because of continued raids by pirates, Giovanni
Cabrera ordered the construction of a lookout tower alongside the Caricatore,
that would be then called the Torre Cabrera. The works started in 1429;
bathed by the sea and built with two metres’ thick walls, loop-holes and over
thirty metres tall, the tower was fundamental to the protect the area. Over the
years, both the Torre Cabrera and the Caricatore grew in importance, as far as
the terrible earthquake that in 1693 razed Pozzallo to the ground. On 12 June
1829 Francis of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies, proclaimed Pozzallo’s
autonomy from the Modica county. The importance of the Torre and the Caricatore
would decline in the 19th century; the former was used as a military
outpost during the World War I and is, today, regarded as a symbol of the city.
ECONOMY
Pozzallo economy mainly relies on the summer
tourism, fishing and agriculture; the carob output is particularly important,
Pozzallo being a major National producer and exporter. Industry has much
developed in recent years; many factories have grown across the area.
TOUR
Pozzallo offers many attractions. The Torre
Cabrera, built by Giovanni Bernardo Cabrera in 1429, is especially
worth-seeing. Recently restored, it is now equipped to receive tourists. Rigth
behind it, stands the Palazzo Musso, a beautiful building in the
liberty-style, dating from 1926. The Villa Tedeschi, rising in the very
town centre, is also worth-mentioning. A group of salty ponds, in the environs
of Pozzallo, are a must-see for bird-watchers.