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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Alcamo
Alcamo
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Alcamo is the fourth largest city situated in the province of Trapani located in north-western Sicily, Italy. This community was founded in 828 by the Muslim commander al-Kamuk after whom it has been named, though other sources date its origin to 972.
The first document mentioning Alcamo is from 1154 which is a document by the Arab geographer Idrisi. Not many years later, ibn Jubayr described the city as a beleda which means a town with mosques and a market. In the middle ages this town was mainly inhabited my Muslim people, who conversely became to decrase after the Norman conquest of Sicily that begun in 1060.
Alcamo, in the 14th century had some 3,000 inhabitants. In the late 16th-century the population was devastated by epidemic, but progressively recovered, increasing to 13,000 in 1798. Four years later the feaudality was abolished and the city became a direct royal possession. In 1829 a cholera plague killed again much of the population which was a fate which repeated in 1918, this time due to the Spanish influenza.
A city known for its historic myths and traditions, scenic beauty, cooperative people and luxurious hotels and cottages, Alcamo is one of the favorite holiday destinations for most of the vacation lovers.
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