Ciminna is a Sicilian

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 city in the province of Palermo

Province of Palermo

The Province of Palermo is a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. The Province of Palermo has 82 comuni , 1,239,272 inhabitants, and is 4,992 km² .-External links:...

, located approximately 30 miles south east of its capital, Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

. The city's economy is derived mainly from agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and traditional crafts. Ciminna is located at the very top of a mountain in the Madonie

Madonie

The Madonie are one of the principal mountain groups in Sicily, southern Italy, part of the Sicilian portion of the Apennines. It is located in Palermo Province...

 (Madunìi) mountain range, about a 45-minute drive from Palermo.

The artist (and Franciscan priest) Pasquale Sarullo

Pasquale Sarullo

Pasquale Sarullo was a 19th-century Franciscan friar, priest and artist. A native of Ciminna, in the province of Palermo, Italy, his work was appreciated by his contemporaries and had an international circulation....

 was born in Ciminna.

History

Its ancient history shows evidence of Punic and Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 settlements as well as Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 and Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 rule.
There are Greek ruins overlooking the town which may be a temple to Demeter (Mother Earth), dating back to the time before Christ.

Culture

The mountaintop city's vibrant culture is centered around its annual festivals and religious processions. These include the ancient La Festa del SS. Crocifisso (Feast of the Holy Crucifix), for one week culminating on the Sunday and Monday of the first weekend of May (held every year since 1651); and the Feast of San Vito, patron saint of the city, held in early September.

Other processions and festivals include the Feast of San Sebastian (January 20); Il Carnevale di Ciminna (Carnival similar to Mardi Gras); The Feast of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph, March 16-19);
Riti della Passione: La Settimana Santa a Ciminna (The Rites of the Passion & Holy Week before Easter); U Prucettu d'ì Malati (April 19); the Feast of San Francesco di Paola (April 22-26) 2009; The Solemn Feast of the Body of God (Solennità del Corpus Domini (third week of May);The Feast of Mary of the Rosary (Maria SS. del Rosario, last Sunday of September); The Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the "Triumph" procession (Maria SS. Immacolata e "U Triunfu", Dec. 8 and the Saturday night following).

In 1963, Luchino Visconti

Luchino Visconti

Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...

 chose Ciminna as the backdrop to the film The Leopard

The Leopard (film)

The Leopard is a 1963 Italian film by director Luchino Visconti, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel of the same name.-Cast:* Burt Lancaster as Prince Don Fabrizio Salina* Claudia Cardinale as Angelica Sedara / Bertiana...

(Il Gattopardo, by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa , was a Sicilian writer. He is most famous for his only novel, Il Gattopardo which is set in Sicily during the Risorgimento...

) which starred Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...

, Terence Hill

Terence Hill

Terence Hill is an Italian actor. He is best known for starring in multiple action and western films together with his longtime filmpartner Bud Spencer.-Biography:...

, Alain Delon

Alain Delon

Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon is a French actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 was already being compared to French actors such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot...

 and Claudia Cardinale

Claudia Cardinale

Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...

.