Cassaro

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Comune di Cassaro
Image:Cassaro-Stemma.png Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Sicily
Province	Syracuse (SR)
Mayor

Elevation	560 m
Area	19.4 km²
Population
- Total	961
- Density	50/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	°′″, °′″
Gentilic
Dialing code
Postal code

Cassaro is a town and municipality in the province of Syracuse of Sicily (Italy). The name is originally from the Arabic word Kasár (Arabic: قصر), meaning "Castle". Cassaro is 52 kilometers from Ragusa and 35 kilometers west from the city of Siracusa.

[edit] History

According to the Capibreve of Silvestri, in the Middle Ages the town belonged to the Spadafora family. Margherita Moleti Spadafora married the Baron Pietro Siracusa, who belonged to one of the oldest families in the town of Noto and was also Baron of Monastero and Xiridia. The Siracusa family (formerly known as "Zaragoza") is of Spanish origin, documented in Sicily since 1283. Members of this Family has been also the lords of [Collesano], counts of Villalta and duque of Casteldimirto. Records are in the State Archiv of Palermo (Fondo Protonotaro). Beatrice Siracusa, the only daughter of the above mentioned Pietro and Margerita Siracusa (who are also ancestor of the Queen Paola of Belgium) married Pietro Gaetani Baron of Sortino. Beatrice died with her son Guido during the earthquake of 1452. Their possessions passed to her son Cesare, ancestor of the actual Princes of Cassaro.^[1]

Amongst the primary monuments in Cassaro is the Mother Church dedicated to Saint Peter (started in the 17th century and ended in 1730) and the Church of Saint Anthony the Abbot (17th-18th century).

People from Cassaro are mocked by the people from the nearby Ferla with the Italian saying: I pà, ghi vini a Costa 'i Tavà, a cogghiri i fia e fiapà, which means: "Father, come to the Tavà Coast and pick the fruits of the prickly pears".