Obelisk

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The obelisk, erected in 1997 in the heart of the town’s main square to celebrate the fourth centenary of the licentia populandi, stands 12 meters high and is the work of the artist Salvatore Montebello.

Obelisco

Clad in white travertine from Alcamo and red stone from Piana degli Albanesi – the same colors that recall the Mother Church – it rests on a pavement bordered in white with a red center. Above it rises a square prismatic bench in travertine that supports a cruciform plinth, joined by four red panels. These panels hold square bronze tiles (30 cm each) depicting: the logo of the Fourth Centenary, Saint Rosalia, patron saint of Delia, the coat of arms of the Lucchese family, founders of the town, and the municipal emblem.

On the plinth stands a red square prism (3 x 1.30 m), oriented toward the four cardinal points, which supports bronze panels narrating the history of the community from the Middle Ages to the year 2000:

West, facing the Castellaccio: the medieval history of Delia, with the castle and the War of the Vespers, in which the hamlet took part with six archers and six ounces of gold, depicted together with horses, soldiers, and swords. At the bottom appears the “Beautiful Lady of the Castle,” her face melancholy, as remembered by the chronicler Niccolò Speciale.

South, facing the open countryside: the agro-pastoral civilization, with a shepherd grazing his flock and his tools for making ricotta and cheese, a farmer with his mule and working tools, and a woman carrying the truscia (bundle) on her head.

East, facing the Mother Church: religious and popular traditions, from the procession of the Holy Urn to Holy Week with the Scinnenza of Good Friday and the Ncuentru of Easter Sunday, represented by banners. Also depicted are “la vampa” of the Immaculate Conception and culinary traditions such as the cuddrireddra and muffuletta.

North: the twentieth century, with the two world wars (bombs, helmet, bayonet, tank), emigration (farewells, railway, cardboard suitcase), building expansion, and progress in education and agriculture, symbolized by the tractor and the cultivation of grapes and peaches.

The obelisk culminates skyward with a tapering cruciform top in white travertine, a symbol of elevation and continuity.

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