Legend of the Beautiful Angelina
The legend of the beautiful Angelina tells of a great love and a faithful handmaid and explains the origin of village of Francavilla.
Legend has it that, in the small village of Castiglione di Sicilia, lived a beautiful young woman named Angelina, always accompanied by her faithful handmaid Franca. The girl was the daughter of the powerful lord of the Castiglione fiefdom, Admiral Ruggero di Lauria, who often hosted prominent personalities of the French nobility, since at that time Sicily was under the Angevin domination.
Some French nobles of returning from the castle of Castiglione, they told the court about Angelina's beauty. Thus it was that the dauphin of France wanted to go to Sicily himself to meet her. Once on the island, the French royal met Angelina and immediately a deep love was born between the two young men.
But just then the Sicilian Vespers broke out, and the two lovers suddenly rediscovered themselves as enemies: he as heir to the throne of France and she as a Sicilian. The French dolphin was forced to return to France but promised Angelina to return. When the girl had seen three fires being lit on Mount Rotondo, that would be the moment to reunite.
The day came when the French dolphin returned to Sicily. On the occasion of a party organized by Ruggero di Lauria on 10 August, Angelina understood that her beloved had returned to take her with him: during the dinner the diners had talked about a man they had met that day in the woods and who had declared to them of having come to take back the doe he had injured.
Throughout the night Angelina stood guard at the window, waiting to see the three fires light up, but, feeling rather sleepy, she asked her trusty handmaid, Franca, to watch over for her. The handmaid carried out the order and in fact warned the mistress that she had seen the established signal. With a lamp he signaled that he had received the signal, so that the dolphin could approach safely along with his servants. Once on horseback, the two lovers fled kissed by the darkness of the night and, leaving Sicily, were free to live their love. from Castiglione di Sicilia, the village of Francavilla di Sicilia, which took its name precisely.
