CATANZARO: capital of Calabria

settembre 01, 2022

Dear readers, let's go to the center of Calabria where the city know as the two seases is located, rich in History and cultural heritage.

panorama of Catanzaro, wow!!!!

(foto by Rocco Del Franco)

another perspective: Catanzaro seen from the cathedral roof

History - Catanzaro was founded as a military stronghold in the late of IX century a.D at the behest of the Byzantine general Niceforo Foca as part of liberation of Calabria by Saracens.

People from riviera took refuge near the fortress, becoming a village and after some time an important byzantine center with a fortified citadel built by the new Byzantine general Flagizio (IX-X century a.D.).

NOTE - Catanzaro in the X century a.C. was provided with a praitorion (palace-fortified with citadel), where the imperial governor resided.

Nowaday due to urban remaking it is not certain of the exact location.

Catanzaro with the byzantines was important centre for silk production and city of trade and economic hub throughout the middle ages and renaissance.

Numerous spinning mills were born in the city between X and XI century.

the city of Catanzaro which, with the birth of Consulate of the Art of Silk in 1519 and the drafting of the statutes in the same century, sees ricognized the role of "guardian" of the silk art spread by the Byzantines, starting from the early Middle Ages, from Calabria and Sicily to the rest of Italy.

NOTE: Catanzaro in the Middle Ages was also one the few Italian cities to produce famous velvet.

CURIOSITY: The art of silk processing was on of the Byzantine legacies of Calabrian history, perhaps most important, the one that ensured Calabria and especially its capital, an undisputed success throughout Europe.

In fact so much was the value of the fabrics produced in the Catanzaro spinning mills that they became one of the most requested goods in the fairs and markets of the old continent.

In XV century the catanzaresi were called by King of France Louis XI for born spinning mills in Lione for produced the silk.

the most old church in Catanzaro (XI-XII century)

dedicated to St. Omobono, a textile merchant and available to the poors lived in the XI century.

(foto internal by Francesco Cuteri)

The Normans in the XI century a.D. built a great fortress and established the episcopal see, and with them the city grew in importance.

Catanzaro Cathedral facade

(foto by Regione Calabria)

The San Giovanni monumental complex stands on the area of the norman castle erected in the XI century a.D. by Robert d'Altavilla so-called Guiscard and partially destoyed in the XV century.

Materils from the castle were used for building Church of St. John Baptist and Evangelist (1563) and then of the convent (1664).