Mezzojuso (Palermo Province) is a hill town 40 km. from Palermo, alt. 534 m., on the eastern slopes of the Rocca Busambra, in the basin of the River San Leonardo, area 49.4 sq. km., pop. over 3100, post-code 90030, tel. 091. Economy: forest agriculture, sheep farming, wood handicraft.
The Arab hamlet called Manzil Yusuf (village of Joseph) is the origin of the name and the town. By the mid 15th century, it was repopulated by Albanian(Arberesh) refugees. It remained a feudal territory until 1832.
It has two churches on the main piazza, one eastern (San Nicolo) and one Latin Rite (L'Annunziata). There's also a (Eastern) Monastary in town that practices document preservation.
The Stato Civile (with its very helpful staff) is located near the top of the hill with narrow, winding streets, it's a delightful town!
On the last Sunday of Carnival is the annual presentation of Mastro di Campo, a large theatrical production in 15th century costumes.
Churches (Piana degli Albanesi Diocese) include the following:
Families researched in those records include the following:
Links to other sites about Mezzojuso include:
My latest book on CD is titled Sicily, Part 1 and Part 2 is now available on 2 CDs. With a file for each town (plus many other files), it relates the history of Sicily as reflected in the photos, records and festivals of its towns. It contains over 2500 text and photo files and can be ordered at CD order.
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