Augusta Visit: Ciacchella (Moschitto, Barbarino) Ancestral Home Town

 

Part of our Sicilian adventure was to visit John's ancestral home towns. In May, we visited the comune of Augusta, which is where John's paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Ciacchella, was from. 

Augusta is on the eastern side of the island of Sicily, found in the province of Siracusa (Syracuse). We stayed on the island / peninsula portion because that is where the historical center of Augusta is located. As you can see from its location, it's no surprise that all of the Ciacchella ancestors we have identified worked in fields related to fishing / sailing or in the salt flats (saline).

Workers in the saline, Augusta. At least two Ciacchella cousins are in this photo.

Area of the saline today.

Giuseppe Ciacchella at his marriage to Benedetta Adamo in 1919 and in his naturalization document photo in 1934 (when petition was made).

Giuseppe Ciacchella's direct ancestor tree.

Even though only one grandparent was from Augusta, we spent 9 days here, as we have identified more cousins from this lineage who live there than those in Alcamo (ancestral town of the other 3 grandparents). In addition to looking up ancestral homes during our visit, we had hoped to meet some of these cousins.

While we've identified more cousins in this line, they are more distant cousins than in John's other three grandparent lines. This is because all of the siblings of Giuseppe Ciacchella died young, so the cousins we do have are descendants of further back generations in the Ciacchella, Moschitto, and Barbarino lines (I think there are many DNA matches in the Tringali line as well, but I haven't successfully sorted any out yet.)

Giuseppe Ciacchella's siblings

As far as we've been able to identify, Giuseppe had five sisters. Two died in childhood (Rosaria Maria, first use of the name, and Maria), another at age 19 (Rosaria Maria, second use of this name), just after marrying. The fourth (Teresa) I've not found any additional records for, so at this point assuming she also died at a young age. The fifth, Carmela, lived to age 50, but I haven't been able to find any descendants so far. 

Carmela attempted to enter the U.S. in November 1913. You can see on her manifest that she was hospitalized, discharged, and eventually deported. She was back in Sicily in April 1914 for her marriage to Francesco Russo. 

The mother, Giuseppa Moschitto, has the disease thalassemia in her line, and several distant Moschitto cousins died young. While it is not always fatal, especially today, in past times the disease could lead to severe anemia and death. 

We saw these posters for blood donors, we think for thalassemia, all over Sicily.

Giuseppa herself died relatively young at age 32. This could have been from a childbirth complication, but since I've found no children born the year she died, I'm leaning toward her having died of some complication from thalassemia. I'm hypothesizing that the disease ran in this family, perhaps especially among the females. It seems that Giuseppe was not a carrier of the disease, as none of his Ciacchella descendants have this disorder. 

After meandering around to see the mother church and main piazza, as well as one of the waterfront areas, we were off for our first home site visit ... the death address for Giuseppa Moschitto, 41 Via Magara. In addition to this being listed as the address on Giuseppa's death record, all of her children were listed as being born on Magara (although the birth records, unfortunately, only list the street name, not the number).

One waterfront area. Nice and sunny!

Augusta comune office and Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta. Decorations were up at the latter for the upcoming Festa di San Domenico. We caught some of the earlier aspects of the celebration but missed the main festival days by just a couple of days.

Short video of a children's dance for the festival. The streets were so beautifully lit every night. It felt like Christmas!

During this festival time, many businesses had these models of various Augusta buildings displayed.

Back to Via Magara...

Some views of Via Magara.

41 Via Magara. One can never be sure if the numbers are still correct, but we try to get as close as possible. This building looked pretty original. It was for sale. 

Across the street and down a bit we found the remains of this 16th century church that was destroyed by bomb 13 May 1943. Since the Allied forces captured Augusta on 12 July 1943 as part of Operation Husky, the bombing must have been done by Allied forces, but we haven't been able to find any history on this specific event. 

I also had addresses for Giuseppe Ciacchella's maternal grandmother, Carmela Barbarino, as well as for his paternal grandfather, Domenico Ciacchella, so we went on the hunt for those next. 

Visiting 59 Megara, death address for Carmela Barbarino (2nd great-grandmother, mother of Giuseppa Moschitto, maternal grandmother of Giuseppe Ciacchella).

Visiting 304 Epicarmo, death address for Domenico Ciacchella, paternal grandfather of Giuseppe Ciacchella.

I had one more ancestor address, 19 Via Xiacche, death address of Rosaria Maria Ciacchella, Giuseppe Ciacchella's sister. (Note in the video I misstate the ancestor the address is associated with.)

 

This ancestral home was very near our apartment. Photo is view from end of street.

While were out and about, we also searched for the ancestral home of a distant DNA cousin of John's, Robert. I still haven't figured out exactly how they are related, but I think we are about a generation away from resolving it. Anyway, I had told Robert I'd get some media of his ancestral home. This video is a little longer. If you are interested in seeing another street in Augusta (also a street in Ciacchella records), you can click on the link above. 

We also spent some of our time exploring the historical center of Augusta. We went to the large public gardens, a castle, the city gate, and the mother cathedral / piazza. 

We had mixed feelings about the Giardini Pubblici. On the one hand, there were lots of mature trees providing shaded places to stroll and sit. There were also several monuments to explore. Small numbers of people were out walking in this area at various times we visited. However, some portions of the gardens are neglected, including what must have once been a beautiful bandstand. I often thought about Giuseppa and the others of John's ancestors perhaps wandering these gardens, visiting with their children and meeting with friends and family.

 

As you walk down a large hill toward the city gate, you can see the impressive Swabian Castle. The castle began construction in 1232 under Frederick II of Swabia who realized the location's strategic advantage. The interior has undergone many changes over time, as has its usage (including as a customs warehouse and a prison). It was restored in the 1990s, but now is closed and appears to be in disrepair. We don't know the circumstances of its current state, but it sure seems like a loss for such an historic structure it to be in this condition.

The beautiful city gate, Porta Spagnola, was constructed 1681-1682. Damaged by an earthquake in 1990, it was restored in 2005.

The mother church sits on the Piazza Duomo. This was a nice area to sit and enjoy watching everyday life. It was a popular spot, with people always there, regardless of the time of day we visited.

We popped inside to explore one day. Many beautiful details to enjoy.

Below, I asked John to write about his feelings and observations from our Augusta visit. I have added in photos and photo commentary. I, too, really enjoyed meeting and spending time with Nelly, Carmelo, and Salvatore. Wonderful people and new friends!

John ...

Augusta proved to be another wonderful experience from this trip. Of course it was amazing to visit and be in a place where my ancestors lived their lives, but what made this visit really special was meeting cousins I had never met. 

I miei cugini, Nelly and Salvatore.

Nelly is related on the Ciacchella side, while Salvatore is related on the Moschitto side, via the maternal line Barbarino. Nelly is my 3rd cousin, once removed, and Salvatore is my 5th cousin.

When Salvatore showed us this photo of his father Nicolino, who recently passed, both John and I immediately thought of his Uncle Buster (Sebastiano). Nicolino and Sebastiano are 4th cousins.

Nelly showed us this photo of her father Domenico, we again both thought, "He looks like someone in the family." After a day, we thought, "duh." Look at the resemblance to young John! John and Domenico are 3rd cousins.

Nelly Ciacchella and her husband Carmelo were very warm and welcoming. We had so much fun and laughter despite our language differences. We got together multiple times.

They were gracious in taking us on a day trip to Siracusa and Ortigia (where Carmelo is from). 

At the entrance to Ortigia Island (the historical city centre of the city of Siracusa).

Remnants of the Temple of Apollo, 6th century BC.

Fountain of Arethusa, a natural fresh water fountain, where papyrus grows.

With Carmelo as our knowledgeable tour guide, we saw much beautiful architecture and learned about the history of this lovely place.

And we enjoyed some beautiful sea views.

It was a tad warm. Nelly and John seeking the shade. Carmelo said it is because they have the hot Ciacchella blood. 😂

After our tour, we sat down to enjoy some refreshments at this cafe where a very talented band was playing. In the background you can hear we are having a conversation! Nelly and Carmelo were both so kind with my limited Italian conversational skills. We had many laughs and good times.

En route back to the car, we passed a panini stand where we found ... a Ciacchella! Sergio, is John's 3rd cousin, 1 x removed. I see a family resemblance, do you? (Sorry, picture a little blurry because it was getting dark outside.)

In Catania, it was a thrill walking through the piazza and hearing Carmelo calling out, "Ciacchella, Ciacchella"! We did not know they were in town! We enjoyed another great visit while they waited for their daughter to finish a course she was taking there.

Having fun meandering around Catania together.

Salvatore Conca also proved to be a wonderful cousin we met in Augusta. He kindly spent time showing us all around Augusta. It seemed everyone in town knew Salvatore! 

We even got to experience an event together on the anniversary of a WWII bombing that happened just before the Allied invasion of Sicily (the one discussed above!). Many Augustians were killed in this air raid. 

After the ceremony, Salvatore called ahead to a restaurant he said was the perfect place to try local pasta and other dishes. Chris had a wonderful pasta dish, and I got to try a regional favorite, cavallo. Delicious! It was so good the first time we went back for another dinner a few days later.

Cavallo and Fried Seafood Platter at 448.

Salvatore met with us again later in our trip to share passeggiata along Augusta's pretty lungomare. 

Salvatore was charming and a perfect host, and he is also a talented photographer as evidenced by his lovely photos of Augusta below.

Che bella!

We know now that we always have a place to go and friends to meet up with when we are in Sicily!