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I PARCHI LETTERARI "IN THE DIMENSION OF THE JOURNEY" -
THE PLACES: PALMA DI MONTECHIARO
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“A small city belonging to the Prince
of Lampedusa, located in a pleasant valley, not
far from the sea. I have never seen a place that
has such rural harmony as the Valley of Palma”
(Swinburne) |
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The city, “rich with almond and carob trees” (Stolberg),
was founded in 1637 by Carlo Tomasi, the Prince of
Lampedusa. One of his descendants was the writer
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896-1957) author of the
novel that became famous after his death, The Leopard,
published in 1958. Three kilometres to the west of the
city centre, on a rocky terrace that overlooks the sea
there is a castle that is owned by the family of Tomasi
di Lampedusa. The manor house, with its irregular shape
and which was constructed around a square-shaped tower
was built in 1358, probably by Federico III Chiaramonte,
the Count of Modica. In 1850, the castle passed to Mario
Tomasi, the progenitor of the Lampedusa and the
Gattopardi families and remained in the family’s
possession until 1957, the year that the writer passed
away.
“... nearPalma the countryside becomes beautiful
again, with a splendid alternation of hills and valleys
covered in olive and orange groves (the oranges are a
bit smaller, but are the finest and most flavourful that
I have ever tasted)...” (Seume)
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Regione Calabria
