Alcamo Visit: Impellizzeri, Milano, and Adamo Ancestral Town

 

We had a whirlwind and exciting few days visit to Alcamo, Sicily this year. Alcamo is in the western part of Sicily in Trapani province, but it is close to Palermo province. 

Alcamo is the ancestral home town of three of John's grandparents. You can see the influence of having three grandparents from this region in John's most recent DNA estimate.

Alcamo is also John's comune as related to his Italian citizenship (e.g. where his own records are held and processed). We were very excited for our visit, as we planned to check out ancestral addresses, go to see the ancestral church, and to just experience the vibe of the city. Most of all, we were looking forward to meeting some of John's Impellizzeri cousins! Our friend Francesco Curione, who assisted in obtaining records several years ago, kindly made arrangements for several additional fun activities, like looking at ancestral civil and church records. And then there were some unexpected events that made our trip even more special!

Getting to Alcamo

Alcamo was a little tricky because the train station is in the outer part of the town. Since our experience was that it is virtually impossible to get taxis, It was a couple of days before our trip researching the bus option, when John was struck with a bad case of vertigo! (We think our apartment had mold, as he had in 2019 experienced a bad bout of vertigo we believe was mold-allergen induced.) When it was the day before we were to depart and he was still experiencing some spinning, I knew I wouldn't be able to manage public transportation with him in this state. I reached out, panicked, to Francesco. He calmly and kindly offered to pick us up in Palermo and drive us to Alcamo. 

By the time we met Francesco at the meet-up point the next day, John's spinning was much reduced (and went away while we were in Alcamo, lending support to my apartment mold theory). We had a fun drive, chatting with Francesco and seeing the scenery. When we arrived to Alcamo, Francesco suggested we make our picture.

That's kilometers, remember! Il mare!

We've arrived!

When we return to the car ... our first surprise. Francesco receives a message from Antonina, the clerk in the records office. She has just processed the request for transcription of Emily's birth certificate. Emily's Italian citizenship has been recognized! 

It was very cool to see Emily's and John's actual Italian birth records (up until now we had only seen extracts, which are those used for various bureaucratic tasks). And, yes, they still are found in these giant books just like the old records!

Going for the Identity Card

Francesco had a surprise for John. We were headed off to the office where John could get his Italian identification card. 

Francesco helping John fill out the paperwork ... tada!

Fiat Panda police vehicle. Francesco says this would be a perfect vehicle model for us.

The Castle and Passeggiata

Our business for the day complete, we headed off to see Castello dei conti di Modica, right in the city centre! Then it was time for drinks, food, and passeggiata. 

This fountain in front of the castle has Alcamo's symbol, the flying eagle.

Castle courtyard exteriors. This medieval castle was built around 1350. 

Castle interiors. The castle was used as a dwelling and defensive structure until the 16th century. Since that time it has served as a prison, stables, and municipal offices. Today it houses a cultural museum, as well as a wine museum.

One of the cultural displays was on puli siciliani. These handcrafted treasures have been made by the same family since 1823. As Francesco talks about in this video, this was the Netflix of the Sicilian ancestors. 

In the wine museum, we learned that Alcamo is an important area for wine production, particularly white wines. We wanted to be sure to try some during our visit!

Aperol Spritz and snacks.

Scenes from passeggiata. Francesco is really fun to hang with!

Enjoying a Catarratto wine by a local winemaker.

Coffee with Civic Leaders

The next morning, up for a full day of activities that Francesco had planned for us. 

Our B&B had a very nice breakfast and great view. You can find a short video of the Alcamo landscape in the folder link further down in the post.

As we approached the main piazza, we ran into Vittorio Ferro, Alcamo's vice-mayor.* Francesco explains why we are there and Vittorio invites us to sit and have a coffee. Another of the mayor's council, Caterina Camarda*, joins us. (*I don't understand the political structure of the city, this is how they were introduced in translation.) They were very genuine and welcoming, and they were also interested in looking at the family trees that I brought along. Both Vittorio and Caterina were pointing to surnames they recognized. In another bit of synchronicity, the artisan who makes the pupi siciliani came along, and we got to meet him too. Vittorio generously invited us to return to Alcamo at the end of the month for the opening of a renovated theatre, but we ended up not being able to go. I'm really sad that we missed this opportunity.

Comune Office

Next we were off to the comune office to look at records. We were excited to meet clerk Antonina De Blasi, because she's played an important role in John's citizenship recognition. Antonina had kindly pulled several books with ancestor records, based on information I provided Francesco. We had hoped we might find some information on the unidentified sister of Benedetta Adamo from Virg's photo bin, but she remains elusive.

Meet the Mayor

Another surprise in store ... Francesco had arranged for us to meet Alcamo's mayor, Domenico Surdi. We sat and chatted for about half an hour and had pictures made. His office also gifted us with two books related to Alcamo culture. Again, we were overwhelmed with how welcoming everyone was.

When we were making pictures, John told Domenico about the PR term "grip and grin," which the mayor found very amusing. Looks like Alcamo has a bright, youthful leadership team!

Lunch

We followed all these fun activities with a delicious lunch at La Giara, a restaurant owned by Antonina's daughter and son-in-law. It was quite a feast! Another of Antonina's daughters, Giorgina, joined us and helped with translation. Both are lovely ladies, and we hope to meet with them again in the future.

Visit Chiesa di Santi Paolo e Bartolomeo

John: The visit to my grandparent's church was quite an experience. It was really emotional to be in the church where they, and their ancestors before them, had been baptized and married. 

This church was constructed in the late 1600s in the Baroque style. Excited to go inside!

Francesco had contacted the priest and arranged for us to view the baptismal record for all 3 of my grandparents. The priest was very welcoming and left us to explore the records. These were in amazing shape, and both Chris and I were moved to see and touch the actual records after only seeing digital images of them.

The books! I could spend the whole day here.

Giovanni Impellizzeri baptism record.

Maria Milano baptism record.

Benedetta Adamo baptism record.

We also stood at the baptismal font where all the grandparents were baptized. Amazing that it was the same font used all those years ago. 

This was a fantastic part of our Alcamo visit. We were both thrilled that Francesco had managed to line up so many visits related to my ancestors. It was, as Francesco often says, like stepping into a time machine! 

Walk of Ancestral Streets

The next day, using research Chris gathered from their records, we visited the Alcamo addresses where my grandmothers, grandfather and maternal great-grandfather were born. We could only get close as it is always possible the building numbers had changed. Still it was fascinating to think these were the sites of their childhoods. At each place, we made a short video, but they are too large in size to upload into the blog. However, if you'd like to 'walk' along with us, you can watch the videos in this shared Google folder.

Our walk, starting from Sui tetti b&b

First stop was the birthplace of Benadetta Adamo Ciacchella. Amazingly, the street was about 50 yards from our Airbnb!

Benedetta (and her brother Vincenzo) were born at Via Cardella 11

#11 is a two story house on a small street, close to the primary road that runs through the city center.

Next on to Maria Milano Impellizzeri's address, which was less than a 10 minute walk away.

Maria was born at Via Guarrasi 11. Other siblings were born at different addresses. We don't know if that means they moved several times or if they were born at a family member's house?

Via Guarrasi 11 and 13. Thirteen was a very busy bike shop. Guarrasi is also a street close to the main road in the city centre.

Maria's address was walking distance from Benadetta's birthplace even though, as I understand it, they did not know each other until John's father's family rented the upper portion of the house from his maternal grandfather. The women became very close friends. 

Maria and Benedetta at John's christening, 1960.

Maria and Benedetta at a family get-together. Cousin Frank Ponzetti believes this was taken at a "trouseau display." Pictured from left bottom, clockwise: Aunt Mary Ciacchella, Joe Ciacchella, Grandma Mary Impellizzeri, Grandma Benedetta (Adamo) Ciacchella, Frank Ponzetti, Peter Ciacchella, Virginia Impellizzeri Ciacchella, Joe Impellizzeri. 

Another interesting tidbit learned in Alcamo is that the surname Milano is actually Milana. However, Maria's birth record, as well as her father's, clearly states Milano. So we remain in the dark as to how and why the family name changed.

Next up on our walk was a visit to Alcamo's mother church, Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta. 

While more of John's immediate ancestors were baptised and/or married at Chiesa di Santi Paolo e Bartolomeo, many of his more distant ancestors were baptised and/or married at the mother church. Traditions of the ancestors were that the marriage took place at the bride's parish. Typically, children were also baptised at the place of the marriage. So, in the records we see shifting back and forth between parishes when the bride and groom were from different parishes. We are fortunate that both parishes have online records available that go back quite far.

Exteriors and interiors of Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta.

Next on the route was the birthplace of great-grandfather Antonio Milano. 

Antonio Milano was born at Via Ferrantelli 24. Antonio's birth record was one of the challenging ones to find. As you can see, his father and surname are incorrectly listed. The notation on the side explains the mistake.

Via Ferrantelli is a rather long street near the castle and park.

 

Taking a pause at the park.

Onward to the birthplace of Giovanni Impellizzeri. This was in a part of town outside of the city centre.

Giovanni Impellizzeri was born at Via Pugliese 151 or 101

We couldn't find the house number on this street. 

Our ancestral home hunt completed, we had one more stop on our journey, Via Bonventura. This street is where cousin John Impellizzeri said he was standing in the photo below, when he visited Impellizzeri cousins many years ago. After hearing this street name, I recalled that some of Giovanni Impellizzeri's siblings who died young, died at Bonaventura 10. Perhaps the Impellizzeris moved from Pugliese to Bonaventura at some point? John and I wanted to go find this spot. We made a left off of Pugliese and walked along a busy street with many businesses. 

Vespa!

We were hungry by this point, so we stopped at a bakery to get some sfincione that we could eat sitting at a bench. John was excited to find pignolata! And, another great door.

Finally, we made it! 

John: It is incredible that these homes still exist and are occupied by families to this day! I was struck by how close these homes were to each other. Alcamo has grown considerably since, but the historic center is still vibrant and fully functioning.

Cousin Visit

This visit was the culmination of many, many hours of research. The detailed backstory of that is in another blog I'm still working on, but briefly ... I first had to identify via records the six brothers (names unknown) of John's maternal grandfather, Giovanni Impellizzeri, who remained in Sicily. (Thanks to dear Uncle Tony who told me there were six, which helped focus my research!) 

Uncle Tony (right) and one of his Alcamo cousins, Giuseppe Impellizzeri. Resemblance!

Once that was completed, I needed to identify the brothers' descendants. This was not possible with records, as for privacy reasons more contemporary records are not published yet. So, I put out a call on the Facebook group Sei di Alcamo. I was able to connect with descendants of two of Giovanni's brothers! The descendants of Giuseppe had mostly moved to Torino, and I learned of only one of John's mother's generation still living (who has since passed).  

Giuseppe Impellizzeri, brother of John's grandfather Giovanni. (Giuseppe in photo above is one of his sons.)

I met one descendant of the brother Francesco whose family was still in Alcamo, his granddaughter Brigida. We began communicating over Facebook. When it was time to visit Alcamo, Brigida arranged a get-together where we could meet her, her siblings, her parents, and their grandchildren.

Francesco Impellizzeri, brother of John's grandfather Giovanni.

John: Alcamo was an amazing experience in so many ways. But, as I told Chris, more important to me than all of the other things was meeting my cousins. 

It is hard to describe the feeling of belonging I felt when I looked in the eyes of these people I was meeting for the first time. We were all so excited! We had so much to say to each other. Cousin Elena, the oldest grandchild of our hosts had a big task communicating everything everyone wanted to say. We didn't make it easy since we all were talking at once! This truly felt like home. 

My mother's first cousin, Vincenzo, and I kept looking at each other. I'm sure he saw the same recognition in me that I saw in him. Glimpses of my Mom, Uncle Tony, Uncle Joe, Aunts Josie, Francis and Sarah all looking back at me through him. An expression, a smile, a mannerism or a look in his eye all contained flashes of my beloved Impellizzeri elders. 

John and his mother's cousin Vincenzo. I wish I had taken more pictures. We were so busy enjoying our visit that I didn't get many.

I saw glimpses in each of his children as well. I get a bit choked up as I write this. It is a testament to the power of famiglia. I am forever grateful to Chris and Brigida for bridging the gap of years and distance to make this happen!

Our cousins gifted us these delicious items from Brigida's farm.

Procession and a Pizza

After our visit, Brigida drove us back to the city centre so that we could watch the Good Friday procession. It was cool to sit on the steps of Sts. Paul and Bartholomew and imagine that John's ancestors probably sat on those steps as well as they watched various processions.

If you'd like to see some video clips from the procession, you can go to this link.

After the procession it was pretty late and we hadn't yet had dinner. We went to a local restaurants, which was packed at 9 p.m., and had these yummy pizzas.

Our visit complete, we got up early to make sure we could figure out where the bus stop was ... no easy challenge! On the route back to our temporary home of Palermo we saw some new vistas, while savoring the memories of our Alcamo experience.