Licata (Italie)

Licata (liˈkaːta, lɪˈkaːta; Φιντίας, whence Phintias or Plintis), formerly also Alicata (alɪˈkaːta), is a city and comune located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient Himera), about midway between Agrigento and Gela. It is a major seaport developed at the turn of the twentieth century, shipping sulphur, the refining of which has made Licata the largest European exporting centre, and asphalt, and at times shipping cheese. West of the port city there is a series of pocket beaches separated by wave-cut headlands as high as . (Amore 2002). The settlement was frequented by the Phoenicians who traded there between the 12th and 8th centuries BC. At the end of the 7th century BC the Geloi (inhabitants of ancient Gela, in Magna Graecia) built a fortified station to guard the mouth of the Salso (Himera) river. In the first half of 6th century BC Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigento, built a fortified outpost. The first settlement was probably founded by colonists from Gela. At the Battle of the Himera River (311 BC) near the town, Agothocles was beaten by the Carthaginians and the town fell into their hands. The city itself was re-founded on the right bank of the Salso in 282 BC, by Phintias, tyrant of Agrigentum, who named it for himself (Phintias), after razing the city of Gela and resettling its population here. As late as the 1st century BC, inscriptions and coins show that the inhabitants retained the name Geloi. Phintias was laid out on a great scale, with walls, temples and an agora. The setting took advantage of a small natural harbour, about across, in a bay on the coast that is now infilled. The site was protected by the headland now named Monte San Michele. Phintias, however, never rose to the importance of Gela. At nearby Cape Ecnomus, in 256 BC the Romans won the Battle of Cape Ecnomus in the First Punic War and freed the city from the Carthaginians. In 249 BC it afforded shelter to a Roman fleet which was, however, attacked by the Carthaginians and many of the ships sunk.