ISOLA DELLE FEMMINE | PALERMO | SICILIA | MAVIC AIR 3 CINE - AVATA DRONE FOOTAGE 07/05/2024

Описание: ISOLA DELLE FEMMINE | PALERMO | SICILIA | MAVIC AIR 3 CINE - AVATA DRONE FOOTAGE 07/05/2024

Isola delle Femmine (Sicilian: Isula dî Fìmmini) is an Italian town in northwestern Sicily, administratively part of the Metropolitan City of Palermo.Despite its name, which can be translated in English as "The Island of Females", the town is located in mainland Sicily. The name of the town was chosen after the name of the small island that sits just off shore from it when it became an independent municipality from the neighboring city of Capaci in 1854. The reason for this choice of name was a natural one based upon the combined history of the town and the island, a history that also explains the origin of the Island’s name. The etymology of the name is based partly in legend and partly in fact. One legend concerns a letter Pliny the Younger is said to have written to Emperor Trajan describing a prison for women that he saw on the island. There are no reports of artifacts of a prison on the island, in spite of the fact that cisterns dating to the Carthaginian period, 100–200 years before Pliny's letter, have been found and still exist along with supporting documentation. The cisterns were used to ferment mixtures of fish scraps, spices, and oils into a sauce called garum, which was highly-prized in the Roman era. Finding such a letter would give credence to the legend but not finding such a letter would not disprove it because the letter might be one that did not survive. The legend of a prison appears to have given rise to many variations, possibly the most imaginative being a story that thirteen Turkish maidens, condemned for serious crimes, were set adrift at sea by relatives only to be shipwrecked on this small rocky island where they lived alone for seven years before they were found by their relatives, having had a change of heart. None of these similar legends are supported by any documentation or artifacts on the island.There is another legend that the island was used as a refuge for women and children when a serious disease spread through the village so as to prevent them from being afflicted by the illness. The source of this legend is not known, but again there are no reports of artifacts of living quarters for such a refuge, and any such use of the island at that date should have been well documented.A better documented legend relates to Euphemius. One version has him as the Byzantine governor of the province of Palermo while another claims that he was an admiral who killed the governor and declared himself emperor of Sicily. In the latter version, Michael II sent troops to retake the island. Euphemius then invited Muslims from North Africa to help him battle the emperor’s troops. Euphemius was killed in battle, but the Muslims remained to occupy Sicily for two centuries. What this has to do with Isola delle Femmine is not explained, but if it was referred to as "island of Euphemius", this would have been in Latin insula Euphemii. Then conjecture is that this gradually evolved to "insula Femi", then "insula Fimi", then "Isula di Fimmini", then "Isola delle Femmine". It does seem clear that the people of the area remember parts of this legend, as evidenced by "Lungomare Eufemio" street and a Hotel Eufemia are located in Isola delle Femmine. There was even a soccer team called Eufemia.Another possible origin of the name starts with the fact that a structure called a tonnara (derived from the Italian "tonno", meaning "tuna") was built, connecting Isola delle Femmine to the small island across from it. A large net was stretched between them in order to catch Bluefin tuna that normally passed through the passageway. Some traces of these tonnaras remain on the mainland. The date of its construction is not known, but it existed during the Norman rule of Sicily (1061 to 1189) and likely was built during the Moslem rule (902 to 1061). Legend has it that this tonnara was given the Arabic name for "mouth" or "entrance" which is pronounced as one would pronounce an English word written as "fim". "Fim" was Latinized into "fimis" and then into "fimi".In 1176, William II of Sicily granted large amounts of land to the Abbey at Monreale. This grant was contained in a decree document that not only included statements listing the properties granted to the Abbey but also specified rights and privileges granted for use of the properties. It also included the statement: "... cum omnibus iusticis et pertinentiis suis eidem onasterio concedimus et donamus tunnarium quoque quae est in insula quae dicitur Fimi prope Portum Gali". Translated into English, it reads: "... with all the responsibilities and appurtenances, to the monastery is granted and donated the tonnara which is on the island called Fimi, near the Port of Galus...".

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