The district of Bivona (Italian: Circondario di Bivona) was one of the three districts into which the Italian province of Girgenti in Sicily was divided.. Existing from 1860 to 1927, it comprised thirteen municipalities, grouped into five mandamenti, and traced the territory of the eponymous and previous Bourbon district established in 1812. in the Kingdom of Sicily, when feudalism was abolished in Sicily as a result of the new Constitution. It experienced a phase of decline in the 1860s, the years of the post-unification period, followed by a partial regrowth in the following decade; it was abolished in 1927, when the provincial capital was renamed Agrigento.
The capital of the district was the municipality of Bivona,. already at the head of the district under the Sicilian Constitution of 1812,. which valued its ancient origins, its favorable geographical position within the district, the titles it received (Bivona was the first ducal city of Sicily). and its scholastic tradition due to the presence of an ancient Jesuit college.
Territory
Municipalities and mandamenti The district of Bivona comprised the territory of thirteen municipalities, divided into five mandamenti:In 1861, by special decree, the municipality of Casteltermini was also elevated to the status of chief township (cf. ), as well as Bivona, Burgio, Cammarata and Ribera, which had already been district capitals during the Bourbon period.
Mandamento of Bivona: Bivona (the capital), Alessandria di Sicilia (since 1862 Alessandria della Rocca), Cianciana, Santo Stefano di Bivona Mandamento of Burgio: Burgio, Lucca, Villafranca Mandamento of Cammarata: Cammarata, San Giovanni di Cammarata Mandamento of Casteltermini: Castel Termine, San Biagio Mandamento of Ribera: Calamonaci, Ribera
Area and boundaries The entire district of Bivona covered an area of about 864 km2, equal to the sum of the thirteen municipal territories. The district was bordered to the north by the districts of Corleone and Termini Imerese (in the province of Palermo), to the east by the district of Caltanissetta (in the province of the same name), to the south by the district of Girgenti, and to the west by the district of Sciacca (together with the Bivona district in the province of Girgenti). The Bivona district was bounded by the Mediterranean Sea (Sicilian Channel) to the south, the Platani River to the east, the Verdura River to the west and the Sicani mountain range to the north..
Population In the 19th century, the population of the Bivona district was around 50,000; according to the 1921 census (six years before the suppression), it had 81,462 inhabitants.
History
Garibaldi in Sicily In the first half of 1860, the district of Bivona was the scene of many public order disturbances (the most serious riots occurred in Santo Stefano di Bivona) and was involved in a heated and long-lasting debate caused by some municipalities that wanted to change the administrative structure of territorial districts and wanted to suppress the Bivona district..
The law and order crisis arose right around the time Giuseppe Garibaldi landed in Sicily to liberate the island from Bourbon rule. For about a month, from May 15 to June 10, the district of Bivona remained in the hands of the numerous armed bands, created due to the "state of almost complete dissolution of all social order". in the Bivona district, which carried out robberies and vendettas, not without bloodshed.
The following is a testimony by Onofrio Guggino, Commander of the Militia of the Bivona district, submitted to the Councilor of Public Safety on March 1, 1861:On June 7, 1860, to restore balance to public order, Baron Giuseppe Guggino (president of the Provisional Committee of Bivona and coordinator of the other municipalities in the district) sent a letter to Garibaldi. in which he urged the settlement in Bivona of the district's new governor, Francesco Falsone di Palma di Montechiaro, who partially resolved some problems affecting the district.. On August 26, 1860, the decree for the administrative reorganization of Sicily was passed, to make the island's legislation similar to that of the Kingdom of Savoy:. with the exclusion of the provinces, the old territorial districts changed their names, while keeping their geographical boundaries unchanged. Bourbon districts (the further subdivisions of the districts) became mandamenti.
The problems of the Bivona district The plebiscite for the annexation of Sicily to the Kingdom of Italy under the sovereignty of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, held on October 21 and 22, 1860, turned out to be largely in favor of national unity in the Bivona district as well;. nevertheless, it was precisely in the Bivona district that the highest percentage of votes against it was counted: out of 667 contrary votes cast throughout the Island, 34.5% (equal to 230 votes) were cast only in the territorial constituency of Bivona.
The process of the political and administrative homologation of Sicily to the legislation of the Kingdom of Italy started between the end of 1860 and the beginning of 1861:. in early January municipal and provincial elections were held, in February political ones; in the constituency of Bivona was voted General Giacinto Carini.. During the same period, new officials and employees of the district offices (direct tax agency, registry office, school inspectorate, district sanitary commission, commission of verification of weights and measures) and of the districts (magistrates' courts) were installed in Bivona. The start of the new administrative system showed considerable difficulties especially in the Bivona district, the only one in the province of Girgenti to be separated "by lack of roads and telegraph from any center of government." The new system was not easy to implement. Alessandro Della Rovere, lieutenant of the king, noting the marginalization of the area, considered the Bivona district as a suitable place to send there "for punishment any intendant who deserves a severe measure from the government." An article in the Palermo newspaper Il Precursore, published in 1872, called the Bivona district "the Cayenne of disgraced officials." Other problems were those related to connections and communications between the municipalities in the district: work on the completion of the Corleonese-Agrigentina rolling road was suspended; the construction of roads connecting the various district municipalities had not even begun.
As early as October 12, 1860, the civic council of Casteltermini had proposed its own town as the capital of the entire district: the prodictatorial government, favorable to the proposal, interpellated the provincial council. The latter, in the spring of 1861, proposed the suppression of the Bivona district, a redefinition of the administrative boundaries of the entire province of Girgenti and the establishment of a new district, that of Canicattì.. This proposal created a heated debate between Bivona, Casteltermini, the prodictatorial government and the provincial council: the latter, in its session of October 27, 1863, deliberated the reconfirmation of the existing districts and of Bivona as capital. Considerable influence on the final decision turned out to be the accurate Defense of Bivona as District Capital written by notary Gaetano Picone, born in Bivona but residing in Santo Stefano.
The lack of consideration of the Bivona district had also been manifested in 1861, when the process of defining judicial districts was begun. The provincial council hoped for the establishment of a district court, to be set up alongside that of Girgenti. The new tribunal could have included some of the mandamenti of the Bivona district, which, however, desired its own aggregation to the Girgenti tribunal (with the exception of the mandamenti of Burgio and Ribera, closer to Sciacca). The lieutenancy decree of February 9, 1862 assigned the entire district of Bivona to the judicial district of Sciacca: once again the complaints of the district (especially of the mandamenti of Bivona, Cammarata and Casteltermini) remained unheeded.
The subprefecture of Bivona In 1862 the subprefecture of Bivona was established, replacing the former subprefecture under Bourbon legislation. At its head was the subprefect, the highest authority in the district. The early post-unification years in Sicily were characterized by uncertainty and disappointment for everyone, especially the poorer classes: these were the years of banditry, the development of the Mafia, and the southern question. Such a climate was also felt in the district of Bivona, the only territorial district in the province of Girgenti uncertain of its own survival..
Within the district a series of contributing factors (the immense difficulties in restoring public order; the large number of draft dodgers and deserters who fled to the countryside - particularly to Burgio - to avoid military conscription; the clergy's firm opposition to the laws confiscating property and suppressing religious congregations; hostility toward the "Piedmontese" who had come to Sicily to fill important administrative and political roles) escalated into very strong opposition to the government and the establishment of a pro-Bourbon committee (in Bivona), which was also joined by employees of the local subprefecture.
Beginning in the spring of 1870, a critical period began for the Bivona subprefecture, due to the continuous turnover of its incumbent. and the failure to fill its staff (in the same year the employees went from seven to five; in 1874 they became only three).. The staffing of the sub-prefecture became full again only a few years later: however, during the 1970s, there was no shortage of experienced officials who, despite considerable difficulties, managed to achieve excellent results in line with the "process of social, political, cultural and moral promotion". adopted and promoted by the new government.
The development of the district The 1870s turned out to be crucial for the Bivona district, hitherto subject to the incompetence and neglect of its administrators. The subprefects of this period emphasized the importance of public education, improvement of road conditions and agriculture with a view to a prompt redemption of the district; they also urged the citizens to a more active political life. During these years, despite the difficulties and problems related to the spread of banditry, the government worked effectively in the Bivona district, solving problems related to the inadequacy of the social and administrative structures of the municipalities in the district.. In the span of ten years, all the municipalities in the Bivona district were endowed with urban police, rural police, mortuary police, hygiene and building regulations; the figure of the midwife was incorporated into the workforce; medical practice was established; and work on public lighting, the construction of cemeteries and inter-municipal roads was initiated and partially concluded.