Bust Giuseppe Coppola - Erice

This bust of Giuseppe Coppola , born in Erice in 1821, is located in the Balio city park.

After Napoleon was defeated, a new kingdom was founded in 1815, which was the union of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples . They were together called the “Two Sicilies” for a long time. The New Kingdom marked the end of the feudal system and the establishment of a modern state with centralized power. Erice lost its old privileges and became a secondary capital. Trapani became the most important valley city.

Several uprisings took place in Sicily against King Ferdinand II, who ruled from 1830 to 1859. One of the main leaders of the protest was Giuseppe Coppola, an aristocrat from Erice.

He took part in the riots of 1848 and continued to conspire even after their failure; he was imprisoned in Favignana. During the Battle of Calatafimi on May 15, 1860, he led a squad of 800 infantry and 25 cavalry, after which he followed Garibaldi to the Park and Palermo during the " Expedition of the Thousand" , which marked the end of the "Two Sicillies". Shortly afterwards, in March 1861, the new Kingdom of Italy was formally established.

Willem Vandenameele