Polizzi Generosa

The site on which stands the village of Polizzi Generosa was attended since the VI century B.C. as documented by archaeological finds including a coin anepigrafa imerese. Punic discoveries in the urban area were studied by Sardo-Spagnuolo (1942). A necropolis of classical and Hellenistic was discovered by Contino (1986), which reports the archaeological finds which occurred in 1978 and 1980. Subsequently the Hellenistic necropolis came to light during the construction of the new technical institute for surveyors and the finds are today exposed in the local museum. In the IV century B.C., the village, thanks to its strategic position along the border between domains punics and those Syracusans, had to have a stable garrison and a fortress manned by mercenary militia originating in Campania, as attested by the discovery of a storeroom monetale in the fifties of the twentieth century. Roman ruins are also documented by Contino (1986).

The toponym Polizzi, of greek origin (at least byzantine), derives from a toponym compound terminating in Polis (city), and this is confirmed both by the handwriting of Bulis geographer Idrisi to both from the documentation of the norman period that presents the runes Polis, Polyclinic etc., Latinized into Politium and Policium. In the same way in which the toponym Byzantine Milas (formerly Milai) became Milazzo, so Polis is hesitant in Polizzi. It is instead totally devoid of any foundation the thesis that would like the toponym originated by two homonymous noble families (cited a as Palizzi Palici, or Palizzolo, the other simply as Polizzi), both very powerful in Sicily of the XIV century, because it happened exactly the opposite. The toponym Polizzi is, in fact, previous to the last names of these two noble families. The Palizzi of Norman origin, whose members overlapped various fillers including giustizieri captains, members of the companies of the whites of Monte San Giuliano and Catania, peace of Palermo, of the order of Jerusalem, during the reign of Peter II of Aragon (1337 - 1242) and Ludovico his son (1342 - 1355), guided with the Chiaramonte faction Latina who is opposed to that of the Catalans. According to Amari (1880) The site of Polizzi you would identify with the city of King (Basileopolis) documents the Byzantines and Arabs, built in 880. In the Norman-Swabian period the town has its period of prosperity by entering the orbit regia and then becoming a State town. In this period it was developed a Casale (borgo suburban) that took its name from the little church of S. Peter outside the walls, of which there remain some vestiges. The decadence of the town begins with the plague of 1575-76 which decimates the population. At the end of the nineteenth century there was a revival of the town as evidenced by the presence of various commercial activities.

The municipal territory is part of the Park of the Madonie and this makes it a true paradise for the variety of flora and fauna that populate it. Thanks to different climatic conditions, the park offers spectacular landscapes in all periods of the year. In order to better enjoy these natural wonders were created several nature trails to be covered on foot, on horseback or by bicycle.

Thanks to its climate and the type of terrain the territory of Polizzi has loaned to the cultivation of typical "bean badda", a Slow Food Presidium, so named for its rounded shape, another characteristic of this bean is its color. It is found in two variants: ivory with rosy stains or ivory with violet stains tending to black.