Calabria history

The region is a fascinating fusion of hundreds of miles of scenic coastline with mountainous hinterland — the imposing Pollino chain in the North, the Sila forested plateau at the centre and the Serre and Aspromonte chains in the South. The mountains being so near to the sea, the rivers, called 'fiumare', are very short and stay dry for most of the year.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages

In the 8th century BC Calabria became a colony of the Greeks, who founded the cities of Reggio Calabria, Sibari and Crotone. In the 4th century BC, the region was occupied by the Bruttii, who during the Punic wars sided with Hannibal against the Romans. In 132 BC, it was conquered by the Romans and included in the Third Region as Brutium, while the name Calabria was used only for the Salento Peninsula.

After the Roman Empire was split into Western and Eastern (with capital Byzanthium), Calabria stayed under the Byzanthines until the Lombards occupied it in the 7th century AD. In 885, Byzanthine General Niceforo Foca defeated Lombards and Saracens recovering the region. Later on it was conquered by the Normans (1060), then by the Swabians, the Anjou and the Aragonese.

From 15th Century onwards

Against the Aragonese domination there were peasants' riots in 1459 and a famous rebellion led by Tommaso Campanella in 1599. he 19th century saw the rise of patriot movements (the Carboneria) and riots, until in 1860 the population rose to support Garibaldi after he landed with his 'red shirts' at Melito against Spanish occupation.

As all the Kingdom of Naples, Calabria was then united to the newly established Kingdom of Italy. The decades that followed saw an increase in poverty and emigration, also due to the great disparity between the rich industrial regions of Northern Italy and the agricultural, poorer South.

Operazione finanziata dal Piano di Azione e Coesione (PAC) Calabria 2014/2020 — Asse 3 "Competitività dei sistemi produttivi" — Obiettivo specifico 3.4 Incremento del livello di internazionalizzazione dei Sistemi Produttivi