Comiso

Comiso
Comune
Comune di Comiso

The Fountain of Diana in Comiso.

Coat of arms
Comiso

Location of Comiso in Italy

Coordinates: 36°57′N 14°36′E / 36.950°N 14.600°E / 36.950; 14.600
Country Italy
Region Sicily
Province / Metropolitan city Ragusa (RG)
Frazioni Pedalino, Quaglio
Government
  Mayor Filippo Spataro
Area
  Total 64.93 km2 (25.07 sq mi)
Elevation 209-270 m (−677 ft)
Population (January 2007)
  Total 29,647
  Density 460/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Comisani
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 97013
Dialing code 0932
Patron saint Saint Blaise
Saint day Last Sunday of July
Website Official website

Comiso, Sicilian: Còmmisu, is an Italian comune in the Province of Ragusa in Sicily.

Geography

Comiso has two frazioni, Pedalino and Quaglio. It lies some 22 kilometres (14 mi) west of Ragusa in the South of Sicily. The main productive sectors are agriculture (wine and vegetables) and trades, including smithery, cabinet making and marble work.

Neighboring communities are: Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa and Vittoria.

The Comisana breed of sheep takes its name from Comiso.

History

Comiso has in the past been incorrectly identified with the ancient Greek colony of Casmene.

Under the Byzantines a new borough began to grow on Comiso's present site around the monasteries of St. Nicolò and Saint Blaise, expanding further under the later Norman and Aragonese domination of Sicily. It was later a fief of the Chiaromonte, Cabrera and Naselli families: the latter, counts of the city from 1571, boosted the economy of the city and built new district outside the ancient walls.

Comiso was devastated by the 1693 earthquake and rebuilt on the same spot as the old ruins in the Sicilian Baroque style.

The United States Air Force deployed Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) to Comiso Air Base in June 1983. Women from Italy, Europe, and other parts of the world created a peace camp in Comiso in 1983 to protest the building of the base. They were inspired by women activists at the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in England.[1]

The missiles were eventually dismantled after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was signed by the former Soviet Union and the United States on 8 December 1987. The last 16 GLCMs left Comiso Air Base in 1991 and the American-occupied part of the base was returned to Italian control.

Main sights

Notable people

Transport

Comiso is connected to the nearby towns and cities by bus service and has a railway station, which lies on the Syracuse - Licata line. The train journey to Ragusa is 30 minutes, to Syracuse 2 hours 30 minutes, and to Licata 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Comiso Airport is located only 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of the town. It was previously a military base and it re-opened as a civil airport in 2013.

The main roads serving Comiso are the SS.115 (Sud Occidentale Sicula) and the SS.514 (di Chiaramonte).

References

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.