Patti, Italy
Patti is a town in North-Eastern
Sicily,
Italy, administratively part of the
province of Messina, on the western shore of the gulf of the same name. It has 13,224 inhabitants as of December 31, 2004, and it is distant 76 Km from
Messina.
It is connected to the rest of Sicily by train, via the
Patti-San Piero Patti train station, located on the railway line Messina-
Palermo, and the A20 Palermo-Messina highway. It is still known for the ruins of Tindari, famous for its ancient Greece theatre, and the
Villa Romana.
It stands near the site of the ancient
Tyndaris, a
Lacedæmonian colony that had a very flourishing commerce; the magnificent temple of
Mercury in the latter city was despoiled by
Verres. By the time of
Pliny, the sea had encroached greatly upon the shore, and after the foundation of Patti, Tyndaris was almost entirely abandoned; there remains only the church of Santa Maria del Tindaro, with a
Franciscan monastery.
The current town name derives from the name given by its inhabitants after they moved there, following an earthquake that destroyed
Tindari, forcing them to find another place to settle. The new site was named
Epì Akten (Greek for 'on the shore'), from which the contracted name "Patti" derives.
The city was rebuilt by Count Roger, after the Saracens had been driven from Messina (1058). The town was founded by the
Norman king
Roger II of Sicily in
1094. Patti is also famous for its large sandy beaches.
Patti was destroyed by
Frederick of Aragon about 1300, on account of its attachment to the House of Anjou; rebuilt in the sixteenth century, it was sacked by the Ottoman Turks.
The city has a large trade in tunnyfish. In its cathedral is preserved the body of
St. Febronia, virgin and martyr. Three of the bishops of Tyndaris are known: Severinus (501); Eutychius (594), with whose zeal for the conversion of pagans St. Gregory the Great was well pleased; and Theodorus (649).
Count Ruggiero had founded there a
Benedictine abbey, and in 1131 the
antipope Anacletus II made Patti an episcopal see, uniting it with the
Abbey of Lipari. Pope
Eugenius III in 1157 confirmed the action of the antipope, the first legitimate pastor of the see being Gilbertus.
In 1399, Lipari and Patti were separated, and the first bishop of the separate see of Patti was Francesco Hermemir. Other bishops were: Francesco Urvio (1518), who in the course of controversies with the
capitano dello spagnuolo was imprisoned; later he was transferred to the Diocese of
Urgel in Catalonia (Spain); Bartolomeo Sebastiani (1548), distinguished himself at the
Council of Trent, and was Governor of Sicily for three years; Alfonso de los Cameros (1652), the founder of the seminary, restored later by Bishop Galletti (1727);
Cardinal Geremia Celesia, later
Archbishop of Palermo, Bishop of Patti, 1860-71.
The diocese is a suffragan of Messina; it had in the early 20th century 49 parishes, 20,000 inhabitants, 5 religious houses of men, and 15 of sisters, who conduct 4 institutes for girls and several schools.
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