Poggioreale is a small farming community of about 1800 people located
in the inland portion of far western Sicily, in the Italian province of
Trapani. Located near the tip of the boot of Italy, Sicily is the largest
island in the Mediterranean Sea. Because of its strategic location and
fertile soil, world powers have fought to possess Sicily for centuries.
The name Poggioreale comes from the two
Italian words 'poggio', meaning hill and 'reale', meaning royal.
The town is located on the southern exposure of Mount Castellazzo, popularly known as Castellaccio, which
has been long rumored as the site of an ancient town founded by the
Trojans who were fleeing the destruction of their city by the
Athenians. Unfortunately this myth has not been substantiated by the
several archaeological digs over the years. Nevertheless, the site has
a commanding view of the Belice River Valley that the founders from
nearby Gibellina considered to be fit for royalty. This photo is a view
of the Mother Church, or Matrice, as seen from Piazza Elimo.
Poggioreale was founded in 1642 and suffered extensive damage in the 1968 earthquake which also destroyed the neighboring towns of Salaparuta and Gibellina. The new town of Poggioreale was constructed a few miles to the southeast. Although nothing remains of the old towns of Salaparuta and Gibellina, many buildings still stand in the abandoned Old Poggioreale, making it a popular site for pilgrimages by Poggiorealesi and their descendants around the world.
This website is dedicated to my parents, Judge Robert Lee Lowry and Kitty Higginbotham Lowry, and to the friendly and generous people of the present day town of Poggioreale, to whom I am forever in debt. It is currently (and continuously) under construction by Robert Lowry Jr. of Houston, Texas, USA. My paternal grandparents were Antonino Loria and Anna DeNina, both born in Poggioreale. They raised a family of twelve children in the Brazos River Valley in central Texas, not far from Bryan. This website is part of my attempt to contact, and to create a permanent record of the many families that trace their origins to Poggioreale - families that are now represented in countries throughout the world.
I am also very grateful to the many, many people who have helped this website take shape over the years, most of them also descendants of the brave souls who reluctantly left Poggioreale with the hope of finding a better life. Their stories and photos are included inside.
Many families left Poggioreale around 1800 to settle the new towns of Roccamena and Camporeale, both just a few miles north of Poggioreale. If you are descended from one of these families and would like to exchange family information, please contact me at the address at the bottom of this page.
The Reunion of Poggioreale Families 2011 took place in Houston on August 7th. As with past reunions, it exceeded our expectations with 570 plus in attendance from Italy, Australia, Canada and all over the United States. When time permits, I'll post more details along with photos here on the website. Thank you to everyone who helped make it a memorable event!
If you would like to receive one or both of our newsletters, please contact me at the address at the bottom of this page. The larger newletter, now going out to more than 850 addresses, includes happenings in Poggioreale and news of the communities of Poggiorealesi descendants throughout the world. The second, which is e-mailed to about 50 addresses, highlights those Poggioreale families and their descendants that lived in the communities of Highbank and Marlin, Texas.
You'll need to set the poggioreale.net address as a "safe sender" or the newsletters may go automatically to your junk mail folder without your knowing it. If your address is @juno.com, @hotmail.com or @msn.com, the spam filtering programs that these companies use will not permit you to receive mail from my address, even though everyone on our mailing list has requested to be there. If you use one of these services, please try a free Yahoo.com e-mail account, or similar.
Highbank, Texas and its Catholic Cemetery
Some of the more common surnames in Poggioreale (past and present) are Abbate, Accardo, Accurso, Agosta, Alesi, Allegro, Aloisio, Ancona, Anselmo, Apicella, Arcuri, Augello, Bella, Blanda, Bufalo, Burgano', Cacioppo, Calamia, Camardo, Campisi, Cangelosi, Cangemi, Cannatella, Cannella, Cannizzaro, Cantavespri, Caronna, Cascio, Catalano, Ceneri, Ciaccio, Chiappetta, Ciancetta, Clesi, Coltello, Console, Corte, Cuccia, Cunzulo, Cutelli, de Paula, de Petra, DeNina, Dibenedetto, Failla, Falco, Falsone, Fasullo, Fazzino, Fontana, Furmuso, Gagliano, Garacci, Giacone, Gracciano, Guarisco, Ienna, Impastato, Ippolito, La Rocca, Labruzzo, La Vite, Leggio, Leto, Lombardo, Loria, Mangogna, Maniscalco, Margiotta, Martorana, Messina, Milazzo, Milici, Monticciolo, Mule', Palasota, Palazzotto, Palermo, Pizzolato, Ricca, Roppolo, Sacco, Salsiccia, Salvaggio, Salvato, Sancetta, Scamardo, Scardino, Scarpinato, Sparacino, Stagno, Stillone, Strada, Stranci, Termine, Todaro, Tritico, Tusa, Valvo, Varisco, Vella, Venezia, Viola, Zinnanti, and Zummo
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and password, you can enter the website by clicking below. Passwords are periodically re-set, but you are welcome to request another at any time.
Archived copies of the Newsletters
