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Corleone (; or Curliuni ) is a town and comune of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily, Southern Italy.
The town is located in the central part of the Sicilian region, in a mountainous inland area at 542 meters (1,778 ft) above the sea level, protected by a crown of carbonate rock promontories; Rocca di Maschi, Castello Soprano and Castello Sottano. The municipality has an area of 22,912 hectares (56,620 acres) with a population density of 49 inhabitants per Square kilometre.
The area on which Corleone stands has an ancient history, with the first human settlements dating back to the first phase of the Neolithic, in the 6th millennium BC.
The town's altitude and its location in a valley surrounded by hills halfway between Palermo and Agrigento gave Corleone a defensive and strategic advantage over the centuries. In fact, its position allowed to control important communication routes between the coastal areas and the Sicilian hinterland, and the natural protections fortified its defense.
There are several historical theories regarding the origins of the town's foundation. One of the most accredited sources dates it back to the 9th century AD, during the Muslim Sicily. However, archaeological excavations conducted in the late 1990s show that the urban layout dates back to earlier times. According to some sources, the town was founded by Ancient Greece colonists and was a polis called Schera. Recent finds suggest the original layout dates back to prehistoric times.
Corleone was a central place in the history of Sicilian Mafia, the Sicilian Mafia, which established itself in Sicily as a rural phenomenon in the late 19th century. The Mafia arose from the growing power of the Gabellotto, individuals who had obtained concessions on lands belonging to the Sicilian aristocracy thanks to the abolition of feudal privileges in 1812, which caused the Sicilian nobles to abandon the countryside and return to the cities. The gabellotti paid to administer the lands, then divided them into lots and subleased them to peasants and laborers, who were treated like serfs, and their claims were violently repressed with the help of bandits. The institutional weakness following the Unification of Italy in 1861 allowed this new organization, formed by the union of landed exploiters and the rural criminals, and which would ultimately become the Mafia, to gain ever greater control over the rural areas.
The Corleone Mafia Family originated in the early 20th century and was most likely founded by Angelo Gagliano, a Corleone native with a criminal record and known for his violent nature, who later became the first boss of Corleone. Like other mafia clans, the Corleone Family was originally made up of gabellotti and cattle thieves.
The trade unionist and later mayor of Corleone, Bernardino Verro, firmly opposed the advance of the Mafia and fought hard to ensure respect for farmers' rights, agricultural cooperation, and the fair redistribution of landed estates. In 1915, he was killed by an unidentified hitman, on the orders of the mafia boss Angelo Gagliano, who had already attempted to assassinate him in 1910. Verro was the first mayor killed by the Sicilian Mafia.
After World War II, trade unionist Placido Rizzotto led a peasant movement in Corleone for the occupation of uncultivated lands, in order to counter the power of the Mafia and its land-owning management of the territory. This made him a target for the town's clans, particularly for clan leader Michele Navarra, who saw the trade unionist as a threat to his power and control. Rizzotto was kidnapped and assassinated on March 10, 1948. A local shepherd boy, Giuseppe Letizia, was also killed. He had accidentally witnessed the murder, becoming an inconvenient eyewitness for the mafia.
In the 1960s, the Corleone Family became increasingly powerful under the leadership of Luciano Leggio, who stood out for his ruthless ways. The Corleonesi, another local mafia group, led Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and was the most violent faction ever to take control of the organization.
Corleone is also the birthplace of several fictional characters in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, including the eponymous Vito Corleone.
Another belief is that the name derives from an Arab fighter named Kurliyun (cf. Coeur Leon, "Lionheart"), who conquered it for the Aghlabids in 840. (2009). 9781848942493, Hachette UK. ISBN 9781848942493
In 1208, a Muslim uprising succeeded in retaking the town from Christian rule. (2014). 9781317829256, Routledge. ISBN 9781317829256 In 1222, while speaking with the pope, Frederick II of Sicily cited the need to fight the Muslims of Corleone as a reason for his inability to send a large crusader army to Jerusalem. To this day the rock formation Castello Soprano, has a Saracen lookout tower on top of it. (2025). 9788836534036, Touring Editore. ISBN 9788836534036 (2010). 9780803233997, U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803233997 While the town's other rock formation, Castello Sottano, did not preserve its own Saracen fortification, it is still also known as Castello di Saraceni. (2011). 9781556500565, Hunter Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781556500565
Nearly a century later, in 1180, it was Feoffment (deeded) to the new diocese of Monreale. In this period, Corleone was largely repopulated by Ghibellines from Alessandria (modern Piedmont), Brescia and elsewhere—"Lombards" led by Oddone de Camerana. The migrations were encouraged by Emperor Frederick II of Sicily, to strengthen his position against the Guelphs. In 1249, however, he revoked the privilege and gave the city to the royal property, though the migration of the inhabitants from the Po Valley continued until the beginning of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282. Another Camerana, named Boniface, distinguished himself in the revolution of the Sicilian Vespers. He led the insurrection against the Angevins with three thousand people from Corleone, in alliance with the city of Palermo. In recognition, the Senate of Palermo called Corleone soror mea (my sister).
During the reign of Frederick IV of Sicily, called The Simple, the city successfully rebelled against the crown but was recaptured in 1355. Corleone was besieged from Ventimiglia in 1358. During the reign of the four vicars, Corleone became the property of the powerful Chiaramonte family, but in 1391 was donated by Mary Queen of Sicily to Berardo Queralt, canon of Lerida, but he never took possession. Instead, it was occupied by Nicholas Peralta, vicar William's son, but King Martin the Younger returned it to the royal property, confirming its privileges in 1397 and giving it some tax relief.
Remarkable demographic growth was reported in the 15th and 16th centuries, following the arrival of several religious orders.
The nineteenth century ended with the social action by Bernardino Verro, a leader of the social movement Fasci Siciliani. After founding the Fascio of Corleone on April 3, 1893, he founded the new Farm Lease that was entered into between farmers and agricultural Sicilian gabelloti in Congress on July 30, 1893, held in Corleone—so much so that the city began to assume the title of "peasant capital". Corleone contributed to World War I with 105 deaths and numerous injuries on the field. After World War II, a peasant movement occupied vacant lands, led by trade unionist Placido Rizzotto, who was killed by the Mafia.
In 1943, the Duke of Aosta created the title of Count of Corleone, awarded to Arturo Faini for his valour during the Italy occupation of Ethiopia.
Since World War II, Corleone has become notorious for being home to several dangerous bandits and mobsters (including: Michele Navarra, Luciano Leggio, Bernardo Provenzano, Salvatore Riina and his brothers-in-law Calogero and Leoluca Bagarella) who became the protagonists of a violent and bloody mafia power struggle. The mayor of Palermo, Vito Ciancimino, was also born in Corleone and linked to the Corleone clan.
CIDMA has several rooms for visitors: Room of the Folders of the Maxi Trial (), the Room of the Messages, the Room of Pain and the final room dedicated to Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, an Italian general who campaigned against terrorism and was assassinated by the Mafia. The first room contains Maxi-Trial documents which marked a milestone in the fight against Cosa Nostra.
The documents, given to Corleone by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Palermo, are a testimony to the work of magistrates like Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino who paid with their lives for their commitment to the fight against the Mafia. Among the folders there are the confessions of the famous pentito ("repentant") Tommaso Buscetta to Judge Falcone.
In the Room of the Messages, visitors may see the photos of the well-known, Sicilian photographer Letizia Battaglia who had the courage to go on site to capture tragic photographs of Mafia murders. She was able to capture significant details that made her shots documents detailing the murder methods used by the Mafia in the 1970s–1980s. The different positions of the bodies allow visitors to reconstruct the Mafia's strategy.
The Room of Pain houses a permanent exhibition of Shobha, Letizia Battaglia's daughter, who followed in her mother's footsteps, taking photos of the dismay, helplessness, and despair felt by those who have lost someone at the hands of the Mafia. In the room there are also photos of Letizia Battaglia documenting Mafia crimes. This approach allows visitors to understand the cause-effect relationships that exist between the crimes and the consequences they produce in the lives of affected families and the entire community.
The room Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa is dedicated to General Dalla Chiesa. It contains photos of some of the main bosses of the Mafia placed side by side with those in the legal system who fought organized crime.
Local guides also offer tours through the CIDMA.
The adaptation of the town's name into the name of a criminal gang leader in The Godfather is, however, predated by Graham Greene's 1938 novel Brighton Rock, which was made into a popular film in 1947. The leading character crosses the rival gang leader "Colleoni" in the English seaside town of Brighton.
The town is mentioned in Victor Hugo's novel The Man Who Laughs, as the eponymous character briefly serves as Marquis of Corleone.
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