There is a lot of uncertainty about the name of the city: there are those who claim that it derives from siliqua (carob) and those from Sicla, the mint implanted there by the Romans. But most scholars agree that the name of the town derives from Siculo king of the Siculi, one of the three peoples (the other two are the Sicani and the Elimi) who settled in Sicily in classical times (probably the origin of the city is to be counted between 1500 BC and 800 BC).
The various sources of the history of Scicli tell us that during the period of ancient history the country, as well as a large part of Sicily, was besieged by different peoples: Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines. In the year 864 the Muslims arrived in Scicli.
It was they who changed the name Siculi to “Siklah” or “S. CLAH “. In the territory of Scicli, in addition to some traces still evident in our language, such as “Donnalucata”, “I Chiani” etc …, they introduced new cultures such as that of the carob tree, cotton, olive trees, sugar cane.
From the Normans to Fascism
In 1091 the Normans led by Ruggero d’Altavilla arrived in Scicli and it is in this period that the event that celebrates the Madonna dei “Milici” takes place every year. The Angevins also arrived and in 1282 Scicli, Modica and Ragusa, like all the other Sicilian cities, chased them and took refuge in Malta. Peter of Aragon arrived, who to support the war against the Angevins ordered the collection of gabelles and imposed the contribution of the “believer”, consisting of benefits in kind: cereals, wine, livestock etc …, causing general discontent. A vast conspiracy was formed against King Peter, in which the Castellani of the County of Modica also took part, which was born right under the Aragonese. Scicli belonged to the county of Modica which existed until 1834. The seventeenth century is remembered for a series of misfortunes: years of big floods and storms (1612, 1615, 1618) alternated with years of total drought (1611, 1616); in 1619 there was an invasion of locusts, and in 1626 Scicli was the only town in the county to be invaded by the plague. The century ended with the earthquake of 11 January 1693, due to which all the convents, monasteries and churches fell. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are also remembered for the numerous academies that sprang up all over Sicily and also in Scicli. The first Academy of Scicli was that of the “Invillupati”, which ran from 1624 to 1693; resources after the earthquake with the name of “Redivivi”. The eighteenth century (eighteenth century) was not particularly significant, as the city was involved in its reconstruction after the 1693 earthquake. In the 19th century the provinces were divided into districts and these into districts. Scicli was the district capital of the Modica District. In this century the various carbonate motions that erupted throughout Italy had a great echo also in Sicily. In 1820 Palermo, Catania, Messina and later other municipalities had arisen. The uprisings of ’20 followed those of ’37 and ’48 which served to Sicily to break away from Naples, giving itself as its Constitution that of 1812. But after 1849, as a result of the propaganda of the Central Mazzinian Committee, the Sicilian patriots embraced the cause of the Italian Unity. The terrain prepared by the Sicilian conspirators, who had accepted Mazzini’s unified program, made possible the victory of the Thousand Garibaldini against the Bourbon troops. So it was that on June 7 the people of Scicli proclaimed the annexation to Piedmont, with Garibaldi supreme dictator of the island. But the Piedmontese government, in taking and administering the southern provinces, showed that it did not want to take their traditions and needs into consideration. The Sicilians found themselves subject to a centralizing power that presented the bill of liberation by imposing the burden of the Public Debt and introducing the mandatory military leverage. The general discontent thus led to the insurrection of Palermo in 1866, but the insurgents were soon forced to yield. If on the one hand the spirit of rebellion continued to meander in Sicily on the other the conditions of the working classes were becoming more and more difficult due to the crisis of agriculture and the lack of industrial resources. The privileged classes saw that the only way to save themselves from economic ruin was to maintain political power by using any means: corruption, intimidation, refusal to hire workers and where there was recourse to the mafia ( The Southern Question). Meanwhile, new liberating ideas came from outside and around 1873-74 also in Scicli a worker association “I Figli del Lavoro” was founded. In this context, it is worth remembering the figure of Francesco Mormina Penna, who kept Mazzini’s cult alive in Scicli and who was part of the Sixties Insurrectional Committee. Later the Sicilian Fasci dei Lavoratori arose in Sicily: in Scicli it was formed in 1893 with 200 members. From there to a few years the first red flags appeared and the celebration began on May 1st. The specter of Socialism and Communism began to disturb the sleep of the middle-class bourgeois. In 1915 the news of the outbreak of the war arrived, at the end of which a plaque was commemorated in memory of the Fallen on the right side of the municipal building and two other tombstones were placed inside the Church of San Giovanni, with the name of all the Fallen of the our city and a crypt was built, where some bodies were placed, brought from the war cemeteries. Subsequently began the Fascist twenty years which led to the Second World War which in Scicli made itself felt with the air raids of the English “fire-spitters”, who sowed bombs among our peaceful cliffs. People dug their shelters in the rocks of the hills, meanwhile struggling with hunger. On the morning of July 10, in front of the mouth, the sea was black with enemy ships. From the north-east part, towards Catania, the sky was covered with smoke and flames. Already in the night, numerous American paratroopers had landed in the countryside, spreading rapidly throughout the territory. A few days ago, from the Balata, some howitzer shots were fired: the Allies wanted to make sure that there would be no resistance. In fact, the paratroopers were able to peacefully take over the Town Hall, where an American officer took office to administer the Municipality. In our territory there were no complaints of abuse, violence and crimes, committed elsewhere by the colored soldiers and especially by the Germans who never had room here. numerous American paratroopers had landed in the countryside, spreading rapidly throughout the territory. A few days ago, from the Balata, some howitzer shots were fired: the Allies wanted to make sure that there would be no resistance. In fact, the paratroopers were able to peacefully take over the Town Hall, where an American officer took office to administer the Municipality. In our territory there were no complaints of abuse, violence and crimes, committed elsewhere by the colored soldiers and especially by the Germans who never had room here. numerous American paratroopers had landed in the countryside, spreading rapidly throughout the territory. A few days ago, from the Balata, some howitzer shots were fired: the Allies wanted to make sure that there would be no resistance. In fact, the paratroopers were able to peacefully take over the Town Hall, where an American officer took office to administer the Municipality. In our territory there were no complaints of abuse, violence and crimes, committed elsewhere by the colored soldiers and especially by the Germans who never had room here. where an American officer took office to administer the Municipality. In our territory there were no complaints of abuse, violence and crimes, committed elsewhere by the colored soldiers and especially by the Germans who never had room here. where an American officer took office to administer the Municipality. In our territory there were no complaints of abuse, violence and crimes, committed elsewhere by the colored soldiers and especially by the Germans who never had room here.