Comiso | ||
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Comune | ||
Comune di Comiso | ||
The Fountain of Diana in Comiso.
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Location of Comiso in Italy | ||
Coordinates: 36°57′N 14°36′E / 36.950°N 14.600°E | ||
Country | Italy | |
Region | Sicily | |
Province / Metropolitan city | Ragusa (RG) | |
Frazioni | Pedalino, Quaglio | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Filippo Spataro | |
Area | ||
• Total | 64.93 km2 (25.07 sq mi) | |
Elevation | 209-270 m (−677 ft) | |
Population (January 2007) | ||
• Total | 29,647 | |
• Density | 460/km2 (1,200/sq mi) | |
Demonym(s) | Comisani | |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
Postal code | 97013 | |
Dialing code | 0932 | |
Patron saint | Saint Blaise | |
Saint day | Last Sunday of July | |
Website | Official website |
Comiso, Sicilian: Còmmisu, is an Italian comune in the Province of Ragusa in Sicily.
Comiso has two frazioni, Pedalino and Quaglio. It lies some 22 kilometres (14 mi) west of Ragusa in the South of Sicily. The main productive sectors are agriculture (wine and vegetables) and trades, including smithery, cabinet making and marble work.
Neighboring communities are: Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa and Vittoria.
The Comisana breed of sheep takes its name from Comiso.
Comiso has in the past been incorrectly identified with the ancient Greek colony of Casmene.
Under the Byzantines a new borough began to grow on Comiso's present site around the monasteries of St. Nicolò and Saint Blaise, expanding further under the later Norman and Aragonese domination of Sicily. It was later a fief of the Chiaromonte, Cabrera and Naselli families: the latter, counts of the city from 1571, boosted the economy of the city and built new district outside the ancient walls.
Comiso was devastated by the 1693 earthquake and rebuilt on the same spot as the old ruins in the Sicilian Baroque style.
The United States Air Force deployed Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) to Comiso Air Base in June 1983. Women from Italy, Europe, and other parts of the world created a peace camp in Comiso in 1983 to protest the building of the base. They were inspired by women activists at the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in England.
The missiles were eventually dismantled after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was signed by the former Soviet Union and the United States on 8 December 1987. The last 16 GLCMs left Comiso Air Base in 1991 and the American-occupied part of the base was returned to Italian control.