15 Facts About Gela

Gela is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily.

Gela is part of the Province of Caltanissetta and is the only in Italy with a population and area that exceed those of the provincial capital.

Gela was founded in 698 BC by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete; it was an influential polis in Sicily in the 7th and 6th centuries BC and became one of the most powerful cities until the 5th c BC.

Archaeology has shown that the acropolis of Gela was occupied during the Copper Age in the 4th millennium BC and during the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC.

Gela was founded around 688 BC by colonists from Rhodes and Crete, 45 years after the founding of Syracuse.

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Gela immediately had violent clashes with the Sicani of the area: Antiphemus waged a war against the city of Omphace, not far from Gela.

Gela flourished and the expansionist policy of the tyrants of Gela, in particular Cleander and especially Hippocrates, led to the city founding a series of satellite colonies, including Akragas, and managed to subdue several cities: Kallipolis (according to some, today's Giarre), Leontini (Lentini), Naxos (Giardini-Naxos) and Zancle (Messina).

In 425 BC during the Sicilian wars, Gela was an ally of Syracuse, while Kamarina was on the opposing side although they were traditional allies.

Gela fought the Sicilian League that pushed back the Athenian attempt to conquer the island in 415 BC.

Gela asked for the help of Dionysius I of Syracuse but Dionysius did not arrive and, after heroic deeds, the following year, Gela was ruined and its treasures sacked.

In 397 BC, they returned in Gela and joined Dionysius II in his struggle for freedom from the invaders and in 383 BC their independence was acknowledged.

The new settlement was located west of ancient Gela, and was provided with a castle and a line of walls.

In World War II, during the during the initial assault on 9 July 1943 of the Allied invasion of Sicily, the U S 1st Infantry Division and the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion landed on the beaches of Gela, which were strongly defended by the Livorno Division.

Gela is situated on the Mediterranean coast at the estuary of Gela river on the south-western side of Sicily.

Gela has a borderline semi-arid climate and a Mediterranean climate (Koppen: Csa), and receives just enough precipitation to avoid being classified as semi-arid.