Cefalù

Of Siculian foundation, in the fourth century BC the Greeks gave the indigenous settlement the name of Kephaloídion, evidently derived from its situation on a lofty and precipitous rock, forming a bold headland (Greek: κεφαλή, kephalḗ, 'head') projecting into the sea. Despite the Greek origin of its name, no mention of it is found in the works of Thucydides, who says that Himera was the only Greek colony on this coast of the island.[1] It is possible that Cephaloedium was at this time merely a fortress (φρούριον, phroúrion) of Magna Graecia belonging to the Himeraeans and may have been peopled by refugees after the destruction of Himera, who settled alongside the native Sicels.

Its name first appears in history at the time of the Carthaginian expedition under Himilco, 396 BC, when that general concluded a treaty with the Himeraeans and the inhabitants of Cephaloedium.[2] But after the defeat of the Carthaginian armament, Dionysius the Elder made himself master of Cephaloedium, which was betrayed into his hands.[3] At a later period it was again independent, but apparently on friendly terms with the Carthaginians. It was attacked and taken by Agathocles, 307 BC.[4]

In the First Punic War, it was reduced by the Roman fleet under Aulus Atilius Calatinus and Scipio Nasica, 254 BC, but by treachery and not by force of arms.[5] Cicero speaks of it as apparently a flourishing town, enjoying full municipal privileges; it was, in his time, one of the civitates decumanae which paid the tithes of their corn in kind to the Roman state and suffered severely from the oppressions and exactions of Gaius Verres.[6] It also minted coins. No subsequent mention of it is found in history, but it is noticed among the towns of Sicily by the geographers Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy, and at a later period its name is still found in the itineraries.[7]

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the town remained part of the Byzantine Empire and the settlement was eventually moved from the plain to the current spur for defense. This occurred among many cities during the Byzantine era, as the Mediterranean was no longer solely controlled by the empire and was subject to Arab incursions. The old town was never entirely abandoned. In 858, after a long siege, it was conquered by the Aghlabids. For the following two centuries, it was part of the Emirate of Sicily.

In 1063, the Normans captured it. In 1131, Roger II, king of Sicily, transferred it from its almost inaccessible position to one at the foot of the rock, where there was a small but excellent harbor. There he ordered construction of the present Norman-style cathedral. In addition to Arabs, the area was still inhabited by its original Greek speakers (today called Byzantine Greeks, then called Rûm i.e. 'Romans,' by the Arabs), and these Christians were still members of the Greek Orthodox Church.[8] Between the 13th century and 1451, the city was controlled by different feudal families, and then it became a possession of the Roman bishops of Cefalù.

During the Risorgimento, the patriot Salvatore Spinuzza was shot here in 1857. Cefalù became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

^ vi. 62 ^ Diod. xiv. 56 ^ Ibid. 78. ^ Id. xx. 56. ^ Id. xxiii., Exc. Hoesch. p. 505. ^ Cic. Verr. ii. 5. 2, iii. 43. ^ Strab. vi. p. 266; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 3; Itin. Ant. p. 92; Tab. Peut. ^ Loud, G. A. (2007). The Latin Church in Norman Italy. Cambridge University Press. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-521-25551-6. ISBN 0-521-25551-1" "At the end of the twelfth century ... While in Apulia Greeks were in a majority – and indeed present in any numbers at all – only in the Salento peninsula in the extreme south, at the time of the conquest they had an overwhelming preponderance in Lucaina and central and southern Calabria, as well as comprising anything up to a third of the population of Sicily, concentrated especially in the north-east of the island, the Val Demone.