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 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.
Click here for information
about the August 2008 Reunion in Bryan, Texas
New Group Forming to Aid Highbank Cemetery
If you're planning to be in the Poggioreale area during early November 2008 to early January 2009 and need an English speaking guide who is familiar with the area, please drop me a line. I'm making plans to be there during that time.
Bell Tower in Danger of Collapse
As you can see from the photos below that I took in November of 2005, the landmark bell tower of the Matrice, or Mother Church, in Old Poggioreale is in eminent danger of collapse. Since the 1968 earthquake, all of the Matrice has fallen except for the wall attached to the tower. It would be a shame to lose this symbol of our ancestral town, and I'm hoping to get ideas from viewers of this website as to how we might help save at least this small portion of the old town.
Local politicians have been talking about restoring parts of the old town for years, but so far there has been very little action. I'm happy to report that in the summer of 2008, the first tentative steps were taken to prevent the collapse of Saint Anthony's Church, but the bell tower of the Matrice still urgently needs attention. If you'd like to congratulate the new mayor of Poggioreale on the progress made so far, and encourage more preservation efforts, you can contact him by mail in English or in Italian at:
Dottore Salvaggio, Sindaco
Municipio
91020 Poggioreale (TP)
Italy
You can also contact me with suggestions at: rlowry@poggioreale.net
For more about local efforts in Texas, please click here
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, 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
Access to the website is
free but a password is required. To enter, please send me an e-mail at:
rlowry@poggioreale.net with
your name and the town in which you live. Please be sure your anti-spam software is set to allow you to receive my response. When I send you your user ID
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.
