Pisticci | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Pisticci | |
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 Coat of arms | |
Location of Pisticci | |
  Pisticci Location of Pisticci in Italy  Pisticci Pisticci (Basilicata) | |
| Coordinates: 40°23′N 16°33′E / 40.383°N 16.550°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Basilicata |
| Province | Matera (MT) |
| Frazioni | Casinello, Centro Agricolo, Marconia, Pisticci Scalo, Tinchi |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Domenico Alessandro Albano |
| Area | |
| • Total | 231 km2 (89 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 364 m (1,194 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2015)[2] | |
| • Total | 17,768 |
| • Density | 77/km2 (200/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Pisticcesi |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 75015 |
| Dialing code | 0835 |
| ISTAT code | 077020 |
| Patron saint | St. Roch |
| Saint day | 16 August |
| Website | www |
Pisticci (Metapontino: Pestìzze; Latin: Pesticium) is a town comune in the province of Matera, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Pisticci is the fourth most populous town in the region and the most populous in the province after Matera. It is known for being the production site of Amaro Lucano, one of the most famous Italian liqueurs.
Saints Peter and Paul Mother Church
The church stands on the site of an early church which dated from 1212, retaining its bell tower and two of its stained glass windows. In 1542 it was expanded by the addition of two extra aisles, constructed by Pietro and Antonio Laviola, two brothers who were later accused of murder in Mantua.
The church is in the Romanesque-Renaissance style, with an angled roof, and is built in the shape of a Latin cross, with three aisles. On the left and right there are small chapels, under which there are buried local important people. Each chapel has a statue by the sculptor Salvatore Sacquegna. The interior walls of the church are decorated with 18th-century pictures painted by Domenico Guarino, among which Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Madonna del Pozzo, and the Mysteries of the Rosary are especially notable.
History
From April 1939 and during World War II, Pisticci was the site of a concentration camp considered the first in Facist Italy.[3][4][5] On 14 September 1943, the Special Air Service raided the camp and freed ≈ 200 prisoners captive there during Operation Speedwell.[6][7] The camp was called "Villaggio Marconi", after Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi, and became what is now Marconia.
References
- ↑ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ↑ All demographics and other statistics from the Italian statistical institute (Istat)
- ↑ Mortimer, Gavin (20 June 2015). "6". The SAS in World War II. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472808769.
- ↑ "I CAMPI FASCISTI - Dalle guerre in Africa alla Repubblica di Salò". campifascisti.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ↑ Capogreco, Carlo Spartaco (2019). Mussolini's camps: civilian internment in fascist Italy (1940-1943). London New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. p. 18. ISBN 978-1138333086.
- ↑ Wharton, James (5 January 2024). "Daring SAS raid to liberate hundreds from concentration camp revealed after 80 years". Forces Network. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ↑ Lewis, Damien (26 Oct 2023). SAS Forged in Hell. Quercus. ISBN 978-1529413823.
On 13 September it set forth, steaming west into 'enemy country', making for a concentration camp that was crammed full of prisoners, a number of whom were Polish. Just as in Nazi Germany, a network of such camps had been strung across Fascist Italy, where the 'enemies of the state' were incarcerated amid inhuman conditions. Situated some eighty kilometres inside German-occupied territory and boasting a guard force commanded by an 'Italian Fascist Colonel', the camp at distant Pisticci was the train's planned destination - that was if it made it through. As the war-train had gathered pace and steamed westwards, at one of the key crossroads Major Cary-Elwes stood guard with a patrol of SAS jeeps, determined to hold the junction and adjacent railway crossing against all adversaries. In that he had succeeded, the special train steaming through unmolested. On 14 September it reached the Pisticci camp unscathed. Upon arrival the SAS had struck by surprise, bursting out of the train and overpowering the camp guards, before springing free 180 'prisoners of mixed nationalities'.