Somewhere is a wonderful, 19th century hand-drawn map of Petralia Sottana, with a handwritten, numbered list of buildings and householders’ names. When I originally posted this map circa 2000, it was on the internet, courtesy of the Petralia Sottana Library. The map is part of someone’s private collection and is no longer available online.

The Map.

Based on the fact that my second great grandfather’s name is listed on the map (born circa 1840) but my great grandfather’s is not (born 1862), I estimate this map to have been drawn somewhere between 1860-1880, before my great grandfather struck out on his own.

The town is divided into three districts: The Quartiere del Casale (yellow buildings on the right of the map), the Quartiere della Pusterna (blue buildings on the bottom left) and the Quartiere del Carmine (red buildings at the top). There are 165 buildings on this list, some of them churches. The buildings are numbered in a fairly sequential order.

Also of note is that in some Petralia Sottana civil records, the Quartiere in which the person or couple resided is noted in the record. In addition, on birth records, very often at the bottom of the record the parent’s neighbors are listed, especially the more prominent ones. Depending on the time frame of the civil record event (birth, death, etc.), between such record notations and this map you may get an idea of where your relative lived. Dreamy, right?

I have transcribed the map number and name of each house, as listed on the map. I am not an Italian writing expert (though I’m better than I used to be), many of the names are difficult to read and a few are cut off, so do not assume that the names in my list are absolutely correct. However, I am familiar with many (most) of the surnames here, and there are definitely spelling variations.

Here is a larger, black and white copy of the map (thanks, Jack!).

Here is the name list.

The value of this map is that you may be able to determine earlier generations of your surname. Please use these lists as a guidepost, since it was created in an unknown point in time. Make sure you use other sources to validate the names here.

If you have a name correction or suggestion on a more logical name or spelling, please let me know.

The names are not indexed at present. Have fun!

Name List Hints
Surnames are CAPITALIZED
The designation “D.” means “Don” (a respectful title for a man, usually denoting a proprietor, a priest or a landowner)
The designation “Da.” means Donna (madam or lady, usually denoting a proprietor or landowner, or the widow of one)
“M.” means Maestro (a respectful title for a man)
Chiesa is a church
Churches and public buildings are italicized in the name list

Spelling rules for abbreviations of names