Aspra, Sicily of the town, with local anchovies being exported worldwide. Aspra, Sicily Aspra (Aspira in Sicilian) is a town in the "comune" of Bagheria in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. A village within the municipality of Bagheria, approximately of 3700 inhabitants, by the sea at the East end of the Palermo's Gulf facing the capital city of Sicily. Typical are the wooden boats (lancitiedde in local dialect) vividly colored. The first traces of the town are thought to belong to the period of Arabic domination in Sicily, as it is suspected that the name comes from the Arabic حجر
Valdrada of Sicily Valdrada of Sicily Valdrada of Sicily (died c. 1252) was a Sicilian princess and the Dogaressa of Venice by her marriage to Doge Jacopo Tiepolo (r. 1229–1249). Born at the very latest in 1194, Valdrada was the youngest child of King Tancred of Sicily and Sibylla of Acerra. She married the Doge in 1242, two years after the death of his former dogaressa Maria Storlato. Valdrada has been described as dominant and forceful, and is said to have had a great deal of control over her husband and the affairs of Venice. Following Jacopo's resignation in early 1249, she lived