COMISO
Generic information
Province of: Ragusa
Elevation: 209 m
Population: 29,000
GPS coordinates
Latitude: 36.947147
Longitude: 14.605876
Map
Web site
Italian version: www.sicilianelmondo.com
Photos
Description
Comiso (Sicilian: Còmmisu) is an Italian municipality in the Province of Ragusa in Sicily.
Geography
Comiso consists of three boroughs: Comiso, Pedalino, and Quaglio. It lies some 22 km west of Ragusa in the South of Sicily. The main productive sectors are agriculture (wine and vegetables) and trades, including smithery, cabinet making and marble work.
Neighboring communities are: Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa, and Vittoria.
History
Comiso has in the past been incorrectly identified with the ancient Greek colony of Casmene.
Under the Byzantines a new borough began to grow on Comiso's present site around the monasteries of St. Nicolò and Saint Blaise, expanding further under the later Norman and Aragonese domination of Sicily. It was later a fief of the Chiaromonte, Cabrera and Naselli families: the latter, counts of the city from 1571, boosted the economy of the city and built new district outside the ancient walls.
Comiso was devastated by the 1693 earthquake and rebuilt on the same spot as the old ruins in the Sicilian Baroque style.
The United States Air Force deployed Ground Launched cruise missiles (GLCM) to Comiso Air Base in June 1983. The missiles were eventually dismantled after the Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed by the former Soviet Union and the United States on 8 December 1987. The last 16 GLCMs left Comiso Air Base in 1991.
Main sights
Hot Springs, first constructed during the Roman era, with remnants of mosaics dating from the 2nd century CE.
Mother Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, from the 15th century, greatly damaged by the earthquake of 1693. It has a nave and two aisles, with rich internal decorations dating from the 17th century. The high altar has a painting representing the Nativity of the Virgin, attributed to Carlo Maratta.
Church of San Filippo Neri (16th century), with the annexed Oratory.
Church of San Francesco dell’Immacolata, built in the 13th century, with a quadrangular cloister was added in the 15th century. The church houses the burial chapel of the Naselli barons, with a funerary monument of Baldassarre II Nasellil attributed to Antonello Gagini.
The Neoclassicist Church of the Annunziata (16th century), rebuilt from 1772 to 1773 when a baroque façade was added. The interior has precious artworks dating from the 15th century onwards, as well as a marble font by Mario Rutelli (1912).
Castello Naselli, originally an octagonal Byzantine fortress renovated in the 14th century.
Peace Pagoda : on 24 May 1998,[1] the Reverend Gyosho Morishita of the Nipponzan-My?h?ji Buddhist Order dedicated a stupa at Comiso, near the NATO base.
Notable people
Salvatore Adamo
Gesualdo Bufalino
Salvatore Fiume
Giuseppe Bellio (Italian-American Mafioso)
Transportation
Comiso is connected to the nearby towns and cities by bus service and has a train station, which lies on the Syracuse - Licata line. The train journey to Ragusa is 30 minutes, to Syracuse 2 hours 30 minutes, and to Licata 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Comiso Airport is located only 5km north of the town and it should re-open in 2009.
The main roads serving Comiso are the SS.115 (Sud Occidentale Sicula) and the SS.514 (di Chiaramonte).
From Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comiso&oldid=283874167>.