Born Joanne Stefani Germanotta, Lady Gaga was raised in Manhattan, but her melodramatic excess and sense of the theatrical baroque might spring from her Sicilian cultural matrix.
Her grandfather came from Naso, a small, isolated, aristocratic town with 4,000 residents only an hour away from Messina.
“If it is true that Lady Gaga has such a strong connection to Sicily, she should visit Naso,” says Carmen Caliò, municipal secretary of Naso. The eccentric singer left a piece of her heart in Milan instead: during a concert, her new-found cousins were shown as a spectacle of dancing lights. “Maybe she should care more about her village of origin if she is truly tied to her roots,” Caliò insists.
Naso civil registration lists three branches of the Germanotta family starting in the 1800s when the census began. “The Germanottas all lived in the hamlet of Cresta,” explains Marisa Paternò, civil registration officer of Naso. “Here in town we don’t know which branch of the family is really related to Lady Gaga,” Marisa notes. But on Jan. 18, the celebrity dedicated a Milanese show to her Sicilian cousins. “Today I met them for the first time,” she said on stage. “They came from Sicily to see me. I am thinking about how my grandparents abandoned such a beautiful place and all the sacrifices they made. Being here makes me feel I have made them proud.”
But the inhabitants of Naso say they don’t know those claimant cousins, an elderly gentleman named Giuseppe Germanotta from Milazzo, who showed up with companion Maria. Locals found the story enigmatic and a little suspicious. Even the Mayor Daniele Letizia seemed perplexed. Maria, however, was seen more than once at the Naso town hall, probably to conduct genealogical research.
“Also in 2012 there were some Germanottas who claimed kinship with Lady Gaga,” says Marisa. “They made journalists believe that. But the entire story was mendacious because Lady Gaga’s grandfather Antonino Germanotta left for America while the claimants’ grandfather lived in Naso all his life,” she says.
“And by the way all three branches had an Antonino Germanotta,” Marisa notes, including her branch of the family. Marisa’s mother, Rosa Germanotta, descends from one of the three branches. “My grandfather Calogero’s half-brother was called Antonino and migrated to US,” she reveals.
In 2012 the mayor asked the singer for support after a major landslide. “But maybe she never got that message carried in the Italian press,” says Marisa, who would like to hear from Lady Gaga’s father. “So we all understand better.”
On a daily basis, Marisa conducts genealogical research on behalf of various persons in the US. “A few days ago, some came from Milwaukee, Pennsylvania, to see the original birth certificates of their grandparents. They were so thankful, and had tears in their eyes. You can’t imagine what I feel every time,” she says. “Two days ago, another person sent me an orchid with a card saying: you have been a flower to me like this flower I send.” Naso is a solitary garden. The name is of Greek origin and a Greek-Arabic combination that translates as giardino solitario and isola felice.
“Art could transform the entire economy of this place filled with opulence,” says Caliò.
Two-minutes by car from the busy seaside resort of Capo D’Orlando, Naso faces the Aeolian Islands, one of the most historically intriguing archipelagos. When Caravaggio left Milan for Rome at age 20, he initially gained employment with the Nasitano painter Lorenzo Carli.
“We hold records of Carli’s certificate of baptism,” she says with pride.“There are visible traces of his work all over.” In the mother church, the chapel of the rosary is regarded as one of the least-known treasures, remaining obscure because it is a location with a Templar connection. The chapel’s carvings depict symbols revered by the Knight Templars such as the shell, the pomegranate, the pine cone and the eight-pointed star. Visitors are astounded that such a mysterious site can exist in such an isolated setting.
“We believe Naso was on the path of the Templars,” says Caliò. “Certainly, we have proof of the presence of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem. They took care of the sick at the Ospedale dei Bianchi,” she says.
Another chapel within the Ecclesia Matrix is said to hold a piece of the true cross of Christ. The precious relic is brought in procession on the occasion of the Jubilee Year. San Cono, a Basilian monk born in Naso in 1139, is the patron saint. “When he died at 97 on a Good Friday, the bells rang by themselves,” she says. His relics – the skull and left forearm – are kept in the Temple Saint Cono’s catacombs. They are carried in procession along with a bust of the saint on Sept. 1. He protects against ear and nose ailments. He was depicted with dark skin as he were “scuro in volto,” because he was giving a threatening look to the Moors who could never invade the town.
Naso is a great hidden spot. Shouldn’t Lady Gaga find out? “The mayor is available to confer honorary citizenship on her,” says Caliò.
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