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The first evidences of human settlements in the valley
date back to the late Copper Age/beginning of the Ancient
Bronze Age (necropolis in Marca). After the arrival of
the Greeks in Naxos in 735 BC, the Sicilians were forced
to look for shelter in the hinterland: some time after,
the area of Francavilla housed a Calcidese colony, of which
we know the rich sanctuary of Demetra and Kore (6th century
BC).
Other settlements rose in Contrada Giardinelli and Contrada
Sant'Anastasia (Randazzo) along the banks of the river,
which in the classical age was called "Onobala".
After the Roman period, during which Tauromenio was a flourishing
center, the Byzantines occupied the whole valley, leaving
among the other things precious church evidences. Gaggi
and Graniti were the first hamlets populated by the Arabs
after the Islamic conquest.
 In
the year 1060/1 the Normans began to free Sicily; the Alcantara
valley played an important strategic role in this process,
since it was crossed by an inner major road connecting
Messina with Palermo, which later became the Via Regia.
Castiglione passed to the State property, Francavilla became
an important inhabited garrison, and Randazzo, divided
into three ethnic groups (Greeks, Gaul-Italics, and Latins)
continued to be a self-managed town during the whole medieval
period. In the 16th century, the passage of the Emperor
Karl V aroused a great deal of interest in these places.
 The
Sicilian political crisis of the 17th century contributed
to impoverish the economy, also because of the spread of
investitures of nobility (2,044 barons in the Island, without
considering the other titles). The 18th century had a promising
beginning since, after the terrible 1693 earthquake which
spread death and destruction in all eastern Sicily, the
reconstruction works involved also the social and economic
aspects. In 1719, during the Spanish attempt to re-conquer
the Island, a decisive battle was fought with the Austrians
in Francavilla. However, it was in the 19th century that
the Bourbons issued new laws and fixed a final order for
the several new-born Communes, improving the social conditions
of the citizens.
The arrival of Garibaldi in 1860 and the dissolution of
the religious corporations in 1866 did not change the condition
of the Sicilians. After the period of the great migration
(beginning of the 20th century), it will be necessary to
wait until the end of World War II to see a real cultural
and economic recovery by our Municipalities. |
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