Legends of the Island of Females


leggende-isola-delle-femmine

Soleermetico - CC4.0

The legends that revolve around the Island of Females and its tower explain the origin of the name of this island.
A first story suggests that the name of the Island of Females derives from the presence of a women's prison that stood on the island in ancient times, even if archaeological excavations have never confirmed this hypothesis.
A second legend tells of a group of women , thirteen Turkish maidens, who having become guilty of grave sins, were embarked by their relatives in a ship and sent adrift. After days of wandering at the mercy of winds and storms, the boat landed on an islet in the bay of Carini. Here the women lived for seven long years until the repentant relatives looked for them, and when they found them they decided to settle on the mainland, forming a town that they called Capaci, or here peace, and giving the name of "island of females" to the islet. where the women had lived.
A third legend tells of Lucia, a beautiful girl of the village in love with one of her young countrymen, and who therefore refused the amorous offers of a rich and arrogant gentleman who, conspicuously rejected, out of anger he had her kidnapped and locked up in that tower. The girl rather than surrender preferred to let herself die of hunger and pain. It is said that even today in stormy days, his desperate lament can be heard echoing among the ruins of his prison with an infinite poignant melancholy. and tells that the island was the residence of beautiful girls who were granted, for the duration of a moon, that is a month, to the young warriors who had distinguished themselves in battle.

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