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126-470: As in the other Italian constituencies, it has only a procedural goal to choose the elected MEPs inside party lists, the distribution of seats between different parties being calculated at national level (called Collegio Unico Nazionale , National Single Constituency). Due to the significant population difference between the islands, the Constituency does not secure the same amount of representation for

252-708: A brief period in the early 1700s under the Austrian Habsburgs, Calabria came into the control of the Spanish Bourbons in 1735. It was during the 16th century that Calabria would contribute to modern world history with the creation of the Gregorian calendar by the Calabrian doctor and astronomer Luigi Lilio . In 1466, King Louis XI decided to develop a national silk industry in Lyon and called

378-414: A century. The earlier works were mainly dedicated to the evolution of the basement rocks of the area. The Neogene sedimentary successions were merely regarded as "post-orogenic" infill of "neo-tectonic" tensional features. In the course of time, however, a shift can be observed in the temporal significance of these terms, from post- Eocene to post-Early Miocene to post-middle Pleistocene . The region

504-514: A cultural sense and the Greek language did not become extinct on the island, facilitating its re-hellenisation much later under the Byzantines. The once prosperous and contented island went into sharp decline when Verres became governor of Sicily (73 to 71 BC). In 70 BC noted figure Cicero condemned the misgovernment of Verres in his oration In Verrem . Various groups used the island as

630-628: A geographical perspective, also forming a part of Sicily is the Maltese Archipelago, the islands home to the republic of Malta . The autonomous region also includes several neighbouring islands: the Aegadian Islands , the Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria and Lampedusa . The mountains of Sicily form a significant part of the island's diverse landscape, with Mount Etna , one of the world's most active volcanoes, being

756-784: A history of the Goths, the Variae and account of his administrative career and the Institutiones divinarum et saecularium litterarum, an introduction to the study of the sacred scriptures and the liberal arts which was very influential in the Middle Ages. Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor Justinian I, retook Italy from the Ostrogoths between 535 and 556. They soon lost much of Italy to the Lombards between 568 and 590, but retained

882-472: A large number of Italian workers, mainly from Calabria. The fame of the master weavers of Catanzaro spread throughout France and they were invited to Lyon to teach the techniques of weaving. In 1470, one of these weavers, known in France as Jean Le Calabrais, invented the first prototype of a Jacquard -type loom. He introduced a new kind of machine which was able to work the yarns faster and more precisely. Over

1008-531: A large scale. In 1442, the Aragonese took control under Alfonso V of Aragon who became ruler under the Crown of Aragon . In 1501 Calabria came under the control of Ferdinand II of Aragon , whose wife Queen Isabella of Castille is famed for sponsoring the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Calabria suffered greatly under Aragonese rule with heavy taxes, feuding landlords, starvation and sickness. After

1134-779: A maximum width of 110 km (68 mi). Some 42% of Calabria's area, corresponding to 15,080 km , is mountainous, 49% is hilly, while plains occupy only 9% of the region's territory. It is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina , where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km (2 mi). Three mountain ranges are present: Pollino , La Sila , and Aspromonte , each with its own flora and fauna. The Pollino Mountains in

1260-561: A power base at different times: slave insurgents occupied it during the First (135−132 BC) and Second (104−100 BC) Servile Wars . Sextus Pompey had his headquarters there during the Sicilian revolt of 44 to 36 BC. Christianity first appeared in Sicily during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313, when Emperor Constantine the Great lifted the prohibition on Christianity,

1386-480: A rich and unique culture in arts , music , literature , cuisine , and architecture . Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna , the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate . It is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina . It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and

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1512-833: A significant number of Sicilians had become martyrs , including Agatha , Christina , Lucy , and Euplius . Christianity grew rapidly in Sicily over the next two centuries. Sicily remained a Roman province for around 700 years. The Western Roman Empire began falling apart after the invasion of Vandals , Alans, and Sueves across the Rhine on the last day of 406. Eventually the Vandals, after roaming about western and southern Hispania (present-day Iberia ) for 20 years, moved to North Africa in 429 and occupied Carthage in 439. The Franks moved south from present-day Belgium. The Visigoths moved west and eventually settled in Aquitaine in 418;

1638-405: A volcanic complex. The three volcanoes of Vulcano , Stromboli and Lipari are also active, although the last is usually dormant. Off the southern coast of Sicily, the underwater volcano of Ferdinandea , which is part of the larger Empedocles volcano , last erupted in 1831. It is located between the coast of Agrigento and the island of Pantelleria (which itself is a dormant volcano). From

1764-605: Is 25,711 km (9,927 sq mi), while the Autonomous Region of Sicily (which includes the smaller surrounding islands of Lipari , Egadi , Ustica , and Pantelleria ) has an area of 27,708 km (10,698 sq mi). The terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the mountain ranges of Madonie , 2,000 m (6,600 ft), Nebrodi , 1,800 m (5,900 ft), and Peloritani , 1,300 m (4,300 ft), are an extension of

1890-586: Is a region in Southern Italy . It is a peninsula bordered by Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily , and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It has almost 2 million residents across a total area of 15,222 km (5,877 sq mi). Catanzaro is the region's capital. Calabria is the birthplace of

2016-656: Is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea , south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy . With 4.8 million inhabitants, including 1.3 million in and around the capital city of Palermo , it is the most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is named after the Sicels , who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age . Sicily has

2142-816: Is dotted with ancient villages, castles and archaeological parks. Three national parks are found in the region: the Pollino National Park (which is the largest in Italy), the Sila National Park and the Aspromonte National Park . Starting in the third century BC, the name Calabria was originally given to the Adriatic coast of the Salento peninsula in modern Apulia . In the late first century BC this name came to extend to

2268-619: Is due to Sicily being geographically on the northern edge of the African Plate . Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and casts black ash over the island with its recurrent eruptions. It stands 3,403 metres (11,165 ft) high as of September 2024. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps . Etna covers an area of 1,190 km (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 mi). This makes it

2394-780: Is formed by the Apulia Platform, which is part of the Adriatic Plate, and the Ragusa or Iblean Platform, which is an extension of the African Plate. These platforms are separated by the Ionian Basin . The Tyrrhenian oceanized basin is regarded as the back-arc basin . This subduction system therefore shows the southern plates of African affinity subducting below the northern plates of European affinity. The geology of Calabria has been studied for more than

2520-611: Is generally considered part of Southern Italy . The earliest archaeological record of human activity on the island is from around 14,000 BC. By around 750 BC, Sicily had three Phoenician and a dozen Greek colonies along its coasts, becoming one of the centers of Magna Graecia . The Sicilian Wars of 580–265 BC were fought between the Carthaginians and Greeks, and the Punic Wars of 264–146 BC were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Roman province of Sicilia ended with

2646-430: Is influenced by the sea and mountains. The Mediterranean climate is typical of the coastal areas with considerable differences in temperature and rainfall between the seasons, with an average low of 8 °C (46 °F) during the winter months and an average high of 30 °C (86 °F) during the summer months. Mountain areas have a typical mountainous climate with frequent snow during winter. The erratic behavior of

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2772-431: Is seismically active and is generally ascribed to the re-establishment of an equilibrium after the latest (mid-Pleistocene) deformation phase. Some authors believe that the subduction process is still ongoing, which is a matter of debate. Calabria has one of the oldest records of human presence in Italy, which date back to around 700,000 BC when a type of Homo erectus evolved leaving traces around coastal areas. During

2898-816: Is the largest protected natural area of Sicily; it contains the largest forest in Sicily, the Caronia . The Hundred Horse Chestnut ( Castagno dei Cento Cavalli ), in Sant'Alfio , on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna, is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world at 2,000–4,000 years old. Sicily has a wide variety of fauna. Species include the European wildcat , red fox , least weasel , pine marten , fallow deer , wild boar , crested porcupine , European hedgehog , common toad , Vipera aspis , golden eagle , peregrine falcon , Eurasian hoopoe and black-winged stilt . Roe deer were driven to extinction on

3024-607: The Alcantara flows through the province of Messina and enters the sea at Giardini Naxos , and the Simeto , which flows into the Ionian Sea south of Catania . Other important rivers on the island are the Belice and Platani in the southwest. Sicily has for the most part a typical Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ) with mild and wet winters and hot, dry summers with changeable intermediate seasons. On

3150-630: The Elymians and the Sicels . The most prominent and by far the earliest of these were the Sicani , who ( Thucydides writes) arrived from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Catalonia ). Some modern scholars, however, suggest classifying the Sicani as possibly an Illyrian tribe. Important historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of

3276-531: The Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as intra-dynastic quarreling fractured the Muslim government. In 1038, seventy years after losing their last cities in Sicily, the Byzantines under the Greek general George Maniakes invaded the island together with their Varangian and Norman mercenaries. Maniakes was killed in a Byzantine civil war in 1043 before completing a reconquest and the Byzantines withdrew. Later

3402-819: The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) and won, making Sicily–with the exception of Syracuse–the first Roman province outside of the Italian Peninsula by 242 BC. In the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC), the Carthaginians attempted to recapture Sicily. Some of the Greek cities on the island who were loyal to Rome switched sides to help the Carthaginians, prompting a Roman military response. Archimedes , who lived in Syracuse, helped defend his city from Roman invasion; Roman troops killed him after they captured Syracuse in 213 BC. The Carthaginian attempt failed, and Rome became more unrelenting in its annihilation of

3528-519: The Gothic War , it became and remained for five centuries a Byzantine dominion, fully recovering its Greek character. Cenobitism flourished, with the rise throughout the peninsula of numerous churches, hermitages and monasteries in which Basilian monks were dedicated to transcription. The Byzantines introduced the art of silk in Calabria and made it the main silk production area in Europe . In

3654-643: The Kingdom of England . The court of Roger II became the most luminous centre of culture in the Mediterranean, both from Europe and the Middle East, like the multi-ethnic Caliphate of Córdoba , then only just eclipsed. This attracted scholars, scientists, poets, artists, and artisans of all kinds. Laws were issued in the language of the community to whom they were addressed in Norman Sicily, at

3780-656: The Paleolithic period Stone Age humans created the " Bos Primigenius ", a figure of a bull on a cliff which dates back around 12,000 years in the Romito Cave in the town of Papasidero . When the Neolithic period came the first villages were founded around 3,500 BC. Around 1500 BC a tribe called the Oenotri ("vine-cultivators"), settled in the region. Ancient sources state they were Greeks who were led to

3906-529: The Peloritano Mountains (although some authors extend this domain from Naples in the north to Palermo in the southwest). The Calabrian area shows basement (crystalline and metamorphic rocks) of Paleozoic and younger ages, covered by (mostly Upper) Neogene sediments. Studies have revealed that these rocks comprise the upper part of a pile of thrust sheets which dominate the Apennines and

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4032-715: The Pleistocene epoch around 8000 BC. The Elymians , thought to have come from the area of the Aegean Sea , became the next tribe to join the Sicanians on Sicily. No evidence survives of warring between tribes, but the Sicanians moved eastwards when the Elymians settled in the northwest corner of the island. The Sicels are thought to have originated in Liguria ; they arrived from mainland Italy in 1200 BC and forced

4158-566: The Qanat to improve irrigation systems for agriculture. Around 1050, the western half of Sicily was ethnically and culturally distinct from central and eastern Sicily. During this time, there was also a small Jewish presence in Sicily, evidence seen in the catacombs discovered on the island. Palermo was initially ruled by the Aghlabids ; later it was the centre of the Emirate of Sicily, which

4284-406: The Strait of Messina , about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide in the north, and about 16 km (9.9 mi) wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km (170 mi) long measured as a straight line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km (110 mi); total coast length is estimated at 1,484 km (922 mi). The total area of the island

4410-686: The Tyrrhenian coast of Lucania), Laüs (on the border with Lucania) and Scidrus (on the Lucanian coast in the Gulf of Taranto ). Locri was renowned for being the town where Zaleucus created the first Western Greek law, the "Locrian Code" and the birthplace of ancient epigrammist and poet Nossis . The Greek cities of Calabria came under pressure from the Lucanians who conquered the north of Calabria and pushed further south, taking over part of

4536-549: The name of Italy , given to it by the Ancient Greeks who settled in this land starting from the 8th century BC . They established the first cities, mainly on the coast, as Greek colonies and during this period Calabria became the home of key figures in history such as Pythagoras , Herodotus and Milo . In Roman times, it was part of the Regio III Lucania et Bruttii , a region of Augustan Italy . After

4662-542: The "Giants of the Sila" and can reach up to 40 m (130 ft) in height. The Sila National Park is also known to have the purest air in Europe. The Aspromonte massif forms the southernmost tip of the Italian peninsula bordered by the sea on three sides. This unique mountainous structure reaches its highest point at Montalto, at 1,995 m (6,545 ft), and is full of wide, man-made terraces that slope down toward

4788-421: The "Great Wood of Italy", is a vast mountainous plateau about 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level and stretches for nearly 2,000 km (770 sq mi) along the central part of Calabria. The highest point is Botte Donato , which reaches 1,928 m (6,325 ft). The area boasts numerous lakes and dense coniferous forests. La Sila also has some of the tallest trees in Italy which are called

4914-659: The 1060s the Normans , under the leadership of Robert Guiscard 's brother, Roger I of Sicily , established a presence in this borderland , and organized a government modeled on the Eastern Roman Empire and was run by the local magnates of Calabria. Of note is that the Normans established their presence here, in southern Italy (namely Calabria), 6 years prior to their conquest of England, (see The Battle of Hastings ). The purpose of this strategic presence in Calabria

5040-435: The 11th century, the Norman conquest started a slow process of Latinization. In Calabria there are three historical ethnolinguistics minorities: the Grecanici , speaking Calabrian Greek ; the Arbëreshë people ; and the Occitans of Guardia Piemontese . This extraordinary linguistic diversity makes the region an object of study for linguists from all over the world. Calabria is famous for its crystal clear sea waters and

5166-507: The 1979 electoral law, asserting that the single constituency penalises Sardinian candidates. This Italian elections -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about the European Union is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sicily Sicily ( Italian : Sicilia , Italian: [siˈtʃiːlja] ; Sicilian : Sicilia , Sicilian: [sɪˈ(t)ʃiːlja] ; officially Regione Siciliana )

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5292-444: The 455 sack of Rome, at Agrigento, but were defeated decisively by Ricimir in a naval victory off Corsica in 456. The island remained under Roman rule until 469. The Vandals lost possession of the island 8 years later in 477 to the East Germanic tribe of the Ostrogoths , who then controlled Italy and Dalmatia. The island was returned to the Ostrogoths by payment of tribute to their king Odoacer . He ruled Italy from 476 to 488 in

5418-408: The Arabs failed to make permanent gains. They returned to Syria with their booty. Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century. The Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II moved from Constantinople to Syracuse in 660. The following year he launched an assault from Sicily against the Lombard Duchy of Benevento , which occupied most of southern Italy. Rumors that the capital of the empire

5544-494: The Athenian army and their ships, selling most of the survivors into slavery . The Greek kingdom of Syracuse controlled most of eastern Sicily while Carthage controlled the western side. The two cultures began to clash, leading to the Greek-Punic wars (between 580 and 265 BC). The Greek states had begun to make peace with the Roman Republic in 262 BC, before the Romans sought to annex Sicily as their republic's first province . Rome attacked Carthage's holdings in Sicily in

5670-409: The Burgundians settled in present-day Savoy in 443. The Vandals found themselves in a position to threaten Sicily – only 100 miles away from their North African bases. After taking Carthage, the Vandals, personally led by King Gaiseric , laid siege to Palermo in 440 as the opening act in an attempt to wrest the island from Roman rule. The Vandals made another attempt to take the island one year after

5796-425: The Byzantine Emperor. Therefore, during the sixth century, under the Ostrogoths' rule, Romans could still be at the center of government and cultural life, such as the Roman Cassiodorus who, like Boethius and Symmachus, emerged as one of the most prominent men of his time. He was an administrator, politician, scholar and historian who was born in Scylletium (near Catanzaro). He spent most of his career trying to bridge

5922-414: The Calabrian part of the duchy was conquered by the Lombards during the eighth and ninth centuries AD, the Byzantines continued to use the name Calabria for their remaining territory in Bruttium. Originally the Greeks used Italoi to indicate the native population of modern Calabria, which according to some ancient Greek writers was derived from a legendary king of the Oenotri, Italus . Over time

6048-408: The Expedition of the Thousand, an invasion led by Giuseppe Garibaldi , and a plebiscite. Sicily was given special status as an autonomous administrative division on 15 May 1946, 18 days before the 1946 Italian institutional referendum . Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria . To the north-east, it is separated from Calabria and the rest of the Italian mainland by

6174-400: The Greeks started to use Italoi for the rest of the southern Italian peninsula as well. After the Roman conquest of the region, the name was used for the entire Italian peninsula and eventually the Alpine region too. The region is generally known as the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula , and is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km (154 mi), with

6300-476: The Italian Constitutional Court. Likewise, the proposal to split the constituency has been blocked by the Italian Parliament. In 2019, Rome's lack of intercession to the appeals made by the national party secretariats in Sardinia saw Sardinia's chance to gain a seat in the European Parliament fade away once again. In 2022, in response to a request from the Sardinian Regional Council, Regional Affairs Minister Roberto Calderoli declared his readiness for an amendment to

6426-611: The Lucanians and Bruttii sided with Pyrrhus and provided contingents which fought with his army. After Pyrrhus was eventually defeated, to avoid Roman revenge the Bruttii submitted willingly and gave up half of the Sila, a mountainous plateau valuable for its pitch and timber. Rome subjugated southern Italy by means of treaties with the cities. During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) the Bruttii allied with Hannibal , who sent Hanno , one of his commanders, to Calabria. Hanno marched toward Capua (in Campania) with Bruttian soldiers to take them to Hannibal's headquarters there twice, but he

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6552-410: The Normans invaded in 1061 and after taking Apulia and Calabria , Roger I occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Roger I was victorious at Misilmeri . Most crucial was the siege of Palermo, whose fall in 1071 eventually resulted in all Sicily coming under Norman control. The conquest was completed in 1091 when they captured Noto the last Arab stronghold. Palermo continued to be

6678-413: The Normans previously constructed. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, Calabria was controlled by the Capetian House of Anjou , under the rule of Charles d’Anjou after being granted the crown of the Sicilian Kingdom by Pope Clement IV . In 1282, under Charles d’Anjou, Calabria became a domain of the newly created Kingdom of Naples , and no longer of the Kingdom of Sicily, after he lost Sicily due to

6804-548: The Pythian Games, nine events in the Nemean Games and ten events in the Isthmian Games and also Astylos of Croton , who won six running events in three Olympics in a row. Through Alcmaeon of Croton (a philosopher and medical theorist) and Pythagoras (a mathematician and philosopher), who moved to Kroton in 530 BC, the city became a renowned center of philosophy, science and medicine. The Greeks of Sybaris created "Intellectual Property." The Sybarites founded at least 20 other colonies, including Poseidonia ( Paestum in Latin, on

6930-446: The Romans and Calabria was put under a military commander. Nearly a decade after the war, the Romans set up colonies in Calabria: at Tempsa and Kroton (Croto in Latin) in 194 BC, Copiae in the territory of Thurii (Thurium in Latin) in 193 BC, and Vibo Valentia in the territory of Hipponion in 192 BC. Starting in the third century BC, the name Calabria was given to the Adriatic coast of the Salento peninsula in modern Apulia . In

7056-497: The Sicanians to move back across Sicily and to settle in the middle of the island. Other minor Italic groups who settled in Sicily included the Ausones ( Aeolian Islands , Milazzo ) and the Morgetes of Morgantina . The Phoenician settlements in the western part of the island predate the arrival of Greek colonists. From about 750 BC, the Greeks began to live in Sicily ( Ancient Greek : Σικελία – Sikelia ), establishing many significant settlements. The most important colony

7182-432: The Sicilian Maghrebides . The Neogene evolution of the Central Mediterranean system is dominated by the migration of the Calabrian Arc to the southeast, overriding the African Plate and its promontories. ) The main tectonic elements of the Calabrian Arc are the southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt, the "Calabria-Peloritani", or simply Calabrian block and the Sicilian Maghrebides fold-and-thrust belt. The foreland area

7308-496: The Sun " and would later defend Galileo Galilei during his first trial with his work "A Defense of Galileo", which was written in 1616 and published in 1622. In 1613 philosopher and economist Antonio Serra wrote "A Short Treatise on the Wealth and Poverty of Nations" and was a pioneer in the Mercantilist tradition. During the 17th century, silk production in Calabria begin to suffer by the strong competition of new-raising competitors in Italian Peninsula and Europe (France), but also

7434-422: The Tyrrhenian Sea can bring heavy rainfall on the western slopes of the region, while hot air from Africa makes the east coast of Calabria dry and warm. The mountains that run along the region also influence the climate and temperature of the region. The east coast is much warmer and has wider temperature ranges than the west coast. The geography of the region causes more rain to fall along the west coast than that of

7560-504: The age of seven or eight until 17 or 18 Theodoric had become a Byzantine hostage; he resided in the great palace of Constantinople, was favored by Emperor Leo I ( r.  457–474 ) and learned to read, write and do arithmetic. After taking areas occupied by the Vandals in North Africa, Justinian I retook Italy as an ambitious attempt to recover the lost provinces in the West. The re-conquests marked an end to over 150 years of accommodating policies with tribal invaders. His first target

7686-430: The beginning of the tenth century ( c.  903 ), the city of Catanzaro was occupied by the Muslim Saracens , who founded an emirate and took the Arab name of قطنصار – Qaṭanṣār. An Arab presence is evidenced by findings at an eighth-century necropolis which had items with Arabic inscriptions. Around the year 1050, Catanzaro rebelled against Saracen dominance and returned to a brief period of Byzantine control. In

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7812-405: The best examples of unspoiled coastal wilderness in Sicily. Marine Life of the Straits of Messina includes varieties of birds and marine life, including larger species such as greater flamingo and fin whale . The name Sicilia was given to the Roman province in 241 BC. It is named after the Sicels , who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age . The ancient name of

7938-436: The capital under the Normans . The Normans formed a small but violent ruling class. They destroyed many of the Arab towns in Sicily, and very few physical remains survive from the Arab era. The Norman Hauteville family appreciated and admired the rich and layered culture in which they now found themselves. They also introduced into Sicily their own culture, customs, and politics from Normandy . Many Normans in Sicily adopted

8064-433: The church of Rome to that of Constantinople, placing the island within the eastern branch of the Church. In 826 Euphemius , the Byzantine commander in Sicily, having apparently killed his wife, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor Michael II caught wind of the matter and ordered general Constantine to end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' head. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine, and then occupied Syracuse; he, in turn,

8190-402: The coast of Calabria with his fleet, took Hipponium and forced the Bruttii into unfavourable peace terms. However, they soon seized Hipponium again. After Agathloces' death in 289 BC the Lucanians and Bruttii pushed into the territory of Thurii and ravaged it. The city sent envoys to Rome to ask for help in 285 BC and 282 BC. On the second occasion, the Romans sent forces to garrison the city. This

8316-406: The coasts, especially in the southwest, the climate is affected by the African currents and summers can be hot. Snow falls above 900 metres, but it can fall in the hills. The interior mountains, especially Nebrodi , Madonie , and Etna , enjoy a mountain climate, with heavy snowfalls during winter. The summit of Mount Etna is usually snow-capped from October to May. In the summer, the sirocco –

8442-479: The cultivation of mulberry was difficult in Northern and Continental Europe, merchants and operators used to purchase in Calabria raw materials to finish the products and resell them for a better price. The Genoese silk artisans used fine Calabrian silk for the production of velvets. In particular, the silk of Catanzaro supplied almost all of Europe and was sold in a large market fair to Spanish, Venetian , Genoese , Florentine and Dutch merchants. Catanzaro became

8568-411: The divides of East and West, Greek and Latin cultures, Romans and Goths, and official Christianity and Arian Christianity , which was the form of Christianity of the Ostrogoths and which had earlier been banned. He set up his Vivarium (monastery) in Scylletium. He oversaw the collation of three editions of the Bible in Latin. Seeing the practicality of uniting all the books of the Bible in one volume, he

8694-470: The duchy of Calabria. Around the year 800, Saracens began invading the shores of Calabria, attempting to wrest control of the area from the Byzantines. This group of Arabs had already been successful in Sicily and knew that Calabria was another key spot. The people of Calabria retreated into the mountains for safety. Although the Arabs never really got a stronghold on the whole of Calabria, they did control some villages while enhancing trade relations with

8820-437: The east coast, which occurs mainly during winter and autumn and less during the summer months. Below are the two extremes of climate in Calabria, the warm mediterranean subtype on the coastline and the highland climate of Monte Scuro. Calabria is commonly considered part of the "Calabrian Arc", an arc-shaped geographic domain extending from the southern part of the Basilicata Region to the northeast of Sicily , and including

8946-417: The eastern world. In 918, Saracens captured Reggio (which was renamed Rivà ), holding many of its inhabitants to ransom or keeping them prisoners as slaves. It is during this time of Arab invasions that many staples of today's Calabrian cuisine came into fashion: Citrus fruits and eggplants for example. Exotic spices such as cloves and nutmeg were also introduced. Under the Byzantine dominion, between

9072-438: The end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century, Calabria was one of the first regions of Italy to introduce silk production to Europe. According to André Guillou, mulberry trees for the production of raw silk were introduced to southern Italy by the Byzantines at the end of the ninth century. Around 1050 the theme of Calabria had 24,000, mulberry trees cultivated for their foliage, and their number tended to expand. At

9198-706: The entirety of the Salento, when the Roman emperor Augustus divided Italy into regions. The whole region of Apulia received the name Regio II Apulia et Calabria . By this time modern Calabria was still known as Bruttium , after the Bruttians who inhabited the region. Later in the seventh century AD, the Byzantine Empire created the Duchy of Calabria from the Salento and the Ionian part of Bruttium. Even though

9324-705: The fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Sicily was ruled during the Early Middle Ages by the Vandals , the Ostrogoths , the Byzantine Empire , and the Emirate of Sicily . The Norman conquest of southern Italy led to the creation of the County of Sicily in 1071, that was succeeded by Kingdom of Sicily , a state that existed from 1130 until 1816 under various dynasties, and in 1816 it

9450-440: The first King of Sicily and formed what would become the Kingdom of Sicily , which lasted nearly 700 years. Under the Normans southern Italy was united as one region and started a feudal system of land ownership in which the Normans were made lords of the land while peasants performed all the work on the land. In 1147, Roger II of Sicily attacked Corinth and Thebes , two important centers of Byzantine silk production, capturing

9576-472: The growth of smallholdings , undermining the dominance of the latifundia . The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. The language spoken in Sicily under Arab rule was Siculo-Arabic and Arabic influence is present in some Sicilian words today. Although long extinct in Sicily, the language has developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta today. A description of Palermo

9702-406: The habits and comportment of Muslim rulers and their Byzantine subjects in dress, language, literature, even to the extent of having palace eunuchs and, according to some accounts, a harem. While Roger I died in 1101, his wife Adelaide ruled until 1112 when their son Roger II of Sicily came of age. Having succeeded his brother Simon as Count of Sicily, Roger II was ultimately able to raise

9828-453: The highest and most notable peak. Other important mountain ranges include the Nebrodi , Madonie and Peloritani mountains ranges. Several rivers drain the island, most of which flow through the central area and enter the sea at the south of the island. The Salso flows through parts of Enna and Caltanissetta before entering the Mediterranean Sea at the port of Licata . To the east,

9954-670: The interior, probably after they defeated the Thurians near Laus in 390 BC. A few decades later the Bruttii took advantage of the weakening of the Greek cites caused by wars between them and took over Hipponium, Terina and Thurii. The Bruttii helped the Lucanians fight Alexander of Epirus (334–32 BC), who had come to the aid of Tarentum (in Apulia ), which was also pressured by the Lucanians. After this, Agathocles of Syracuse ravaged

10080-600: The invaders; Roman consul M. Valerian told the Roman Senate in 210 BC that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily". As the Roman Republic's granary , Sicily ranked as an important province, divided into two quaestorships : Syracuse to the east and Lilybaeum to the west. Roman rule introduced the Latin language to the island, which underwent a slow process of latinisation but Sicily remained largely Greek in

10206-524: The island (dating to the second half of the third millennium BC) seem to offer new insights into the culture of primitive Sicily. The impact of at least two influences is clear: the European one coming from the Northwest, and the Mediterranean influence of an eastern heritage. The original classical-era inhabitants of Sicily comprised three defined groups of the ancient peoples of Italy : the Sicani ,

10332-561: The island is Trinacria (Greek Τρινακρία "having three headlands") for its triangular shape, likely a re-interpretation of earlier ( Homeric ) Thrinacia . The Greek name was rendered as Trīnācrĭa in classical Latin ( Virgil , Ovid ). Humans first colonized Sicily towards the end of the Late Pleistocene , around 16,000 years ago, by people associated with the Epigravettian culture. Discoveries of dolmens on

10458-609: The island was turned into an agricultural region. This gradually dried the climate, leading to a decline in rainfall and the drying of rivers. The central and southwest provinces are practically devoid of forest. In Northern Sicily, there are three important forests; near Mount Etna, in the Nebrodi Mountains and in the Bosco della Ficuzza Natural Reserve near Palermo . The Nebrodi Mountains Regional Park, established on 4 August 1993 and covering 86,000 hectares (210,000 acres),

10584-403: The island. The Sicilian wolf ( Canis lupus cristaldii ) was an endemic wolf subspecies that was driven to extinction in the 20th century. During the Late Pleistocene , a species of dwarf elephant , Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis inhabited the island, with its latest records on Sicily dating to around 20,000 years ago. The Riserva naturale dello Zingaro (Zingaro Natural Reserve) is one of

10710-624: The island. Linguistically, the island shifted from being one-third Greek- and two-thirds Arabic-speaking at the time of the Norman conquest to becoming fully Latinised . In terms of religion the island became completely Roman Catholic (bearing in mind that until 1054 the Churches owing allegiance to the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople belonged to one Church); Sicily before the Norman conquest

10836-519: The lace capital of Europe with a large silkworm breeding facility that produced all the laces and linens used in the Vatican . The city was known for its fabrication of silks, velvets, damasks and brocades. In the 15th century, Catanzaro was exporting both its silk cloth and its technical skills to neighbouring Sicily . By the middle of the century, silk spinning was taking place in Catanzaro, on

10962-524: The largest city, Syracuse, held out until 878 and the Greek city of Taormina fell in 962. It was not until 965 that all of Sicily was conquered by the Arabs . In the 11th-century Byzantine armies carried out a partial reconquest of the island under George Maniakes , but it was their Norman mercenaries who would eventually complete the island's reconquest at the end of the century. The Arabs initiated land reforms , which increased productivity and encouraged

11088-410: The largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy , being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius . In Greek mythology , the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus , the god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea , to the northeast of mainland Sicily form

11214-550: The late first century BC this name came to extend to the entirety of the Salento, when the Roman emperor Augustus divided Italy into regions and modern Calabria was known as Regio III Lucania et Bruttii. After sacking Rome in 410, Alaric I (King of the Visigoths) went to Calabria with the intention of sailing to Africa. He contracted malaria and died in Cosentia ( Cosenza ), probably of fever. Legend has it that he along with

11340-462: The mainland Apennines . The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast. In the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains , 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur -producing area throughout the 19th century, but have declined since the 1950s. Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. This

11466-487: The most senior administrative officials) in 523. He was praetorian prefect (chief minister) under the successors of Theodoric: under Athalaric (Theodoric's grandson, reigned 526–34) in 533 and, between 535 and 537, under Theodahad (Theodoric's nephew, reigned 534–36) and Witiges (Theodoric's grandson-in-law, reigned, 536–40). The major works of Cassiodorus, besides the mentioned bibles, were the Historia Gothorum,

11592-637: The name of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor. The Vandals kept a toehold in Lilybaeum , a port on the west coast. They lost this in 491 after making one last attempt to conquer the island from this port. The Ostrogothic conquest of Sicily (and of Italy as a whole) under Theodoric the Great began in 488. The Byzantine Emperor Zeno had appointed Theodoric as a military commander in Italy. The Goths were Germanic, but Theodoric fostered Roman culture and government and allowed freedom of religion. In 461 from

11718-512: The new Ostrogoth king Totila counterattacked, moving down the Italian peninsula, plundering and conquering Sicily in 550. Totila was defeated and killed in the Battle of Taginae by Byzantine general Narses in 552 but Italy was in ruins. At the time of the reconquest Greek was still the predominant language spoken on the island. Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman in 652, but

11844-442: The north of the region are rugged and form a natural barrier separating Calabria from the rest of Italy. Parts of the area are heavily wooded, while others are vast, wind-swept plateaus with little vegetation. These mountains are home to a rare Bosnian Pine variety and are included in the Pollino National Park , which is the largest national park in Italy, covering 1,925.65 square kilometres. La Sila , which has been referred to as

11970-799: The population of this constituency that has an equal number of MEPs. Being the Sardinians a recognized minority language group (unlike Sicily), the Association for the Protection of the Rights of the Sardinians appealed to the courts, so as to see their right to be granted a fixed number of MEPs, as is already the case for the equally recognised minorities of the Aosta Valley , Trentino and Friuli , but such demands have been rejected by

12096-475: The rebellion of the Sicilian Vespers . During the 14th century, would emerge Barlaam of Seminara who would be Petrarch 's Greek teacher and his disciple Leonzio Pilato , who would translate Homer's works for Giovanni Boccaccio . While the cultivation of mulberry was moving first steps in northern Italy , silk made in Calabria reached the peak of 50% of the whole Italian/European production. As

12222-859: The region by their king, Oenotrus . However it is believed they were an ancient Italic people who spoke an Italic language. During the eighth and seventh centuries BC, Greek settlers founded many colonies (settlements) on the coast of southern Italy. In Calabria they founded Chone ( Pallagorio ), Cosentia ( Cosenza ), Clampetia ( Amantea ), Scyllaeum ( Scilla ), Sybaris ( Sibari ), Hipponion ( Vibo Valentia ), Locri Epizephyrii ( Locri ), Kaulon ( Monasterace ), Krimisa ( Cirò Marina ), Kroton ( Crotone ), Laüs ( comune of Santa Maria del Cedro ), Medma ( Rosarno ), Metauros ( Gioia Tauro ), Petelia ( Strongoli ), Rhégion ( Reggio Calabria ), Scylletium ( Borgia ), Temesa ( Campora San Giovanni ), Terina ( Nocera Terinese ), Pandosia ( Acri ) and Thurii , (Thurio, comune of Corigliano Calabro ). Rhegion

12348-639: The region. The 10th-century church in Rossano, together with the "twin" church of Sant'Adriano in San Demetrio Corone (foundation 955, rebuilt by the Normans on the, still, visible foundations of the previous Byzantine church), are considered between the best preserved Byzantine churches in Italy. They were both built by St. Nilus the Younger as a retreat for the monks who lived in the tufa grottos underneath. The present name of Calabria comes from

12474-500: The sea. Most of the lower terrain in Calabria has been agricultural for centuries, and exhibits indigenous scrubland as well as introduced plants such as the prickly pear cactus . The lowest slopes are rich in vineyards and orchards of citrus fruit, including the Diamante citron . Further up, olives and chestnut trees appear while in the higher regions there are often dense forests of oak, pine, beech and fir trees. Calabria's climate

12600-794: The settlers built many temples throughout Sicily, including several in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento . Politics on the island became intertwined with those of Greece; Syracuse became desired by the Athenians who set out on the Sicilian Expedition (415–413 BC) during the Peloponnesian War . Syracuse gained Sparta and Corinth as allies and, as a result, defeated the Athenian expedition. The victors destroyed

12726-544: The simultaneous growth of prices, and became one of the most important Mediterranean markets for silk. In 1563 philosopher and natural scientist Bernardino Telesio wrote "On the Nature of Things according to their Own Principles" and pioneered early modern empiricism. He would also influence the works of Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Giordano Bruno, Tommaso Campanella and Thomas Hobbes. In 1602 philosopher and poet Tommaso Campanella wrote his most famous work, " The City of

12852-494: The south for around 500 years until 1059–1071, where they thrived and where the Greek language was the official and vernacular language. In Calabria and towns such as Stilo and Rossano and San Demetrio Corone achieved great religious status. From the 7th Century many monasteries were built in the Amendolea and Stilaro Valleys and Stilo was the destination of hermits and Basilian monks. Many Byzantine churches are still seen in

12978-622: The status of the island to a kingdom in 1130, along with his other holdings, which included the Maltese Islands and the Duchies of Apulia and Calabria . Roger II appointed the powerful Greek George of Antioch to be his "emir of emirs" and continued the syncretism of his father. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and politically powerful, becoming one of the wealthiest states in all of Europe—even wealthier than

13104-420: The time when the culture was still heavily Arab and Greek. Governance was by rule of law which promoted justice. Muslims, Jews, Byzantine Greeks , Lombards, and Normans worked together fairly amicably. During this time many extraordinary buildings were constructed. However this situation changed as the Normans imported immigrants from Normandy , England , Lombardy, Piedmont, Provence and Campania to secure

13230-407: The town had about 16,000 inhabitants, its silk industry kept 1,000 looms, and at least 5,000 people, busy. The silk textiles of Catanzaro were not only sold at the kingdom 's markets, they were also exported to Venice, France, Spain and England. In the 16th century, Calabria was characterized by a strong demographic and economic development, mainly due to the increasing demand of silk products and

13356-874: The treasure of Rome were buried under the bed of the River Busento. With the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire in 476, Italy was taken over by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer and later became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 489. The Ostrogothic kings ruled officially as Magistri Militum of the Byzantine Emperors and all government and administrative positions were held by the Romans, while all primary laws were legislated by

13482-505: The two islands: the elected MEPs usually come only from Sicily and leave out Sardinia . The latter does not usually have its own representatives, unless they get enough votes in Sicily too (like in 2014) or some Sicilian MEPs resign, leaving space for the Sardinian candidates. Critics of the Italian law defining the constituency boundaries have compared this electoral imbalance with Malta , an island country with less than ten percent of

13608-401: The weavers and their equipment and establishing his own silkworks in Calabria, thereby causing the Norman silk industry to flourish. In 1194, Frederick II , took control of the region, after inheriting the Kingdom from his mother Constance, Queen of Sicily . He created a kingdom that blended cultures, philosophy and customs and would build several castles, while fortifying existing ones which

13734-493: The west; Val Demone in the northeast; and Val di Noto in the southeast. As dhimmis , that is as members of a protected class of approved monotheists, the Eastern Orthodox Christians were allowed freedom of religion , but had to pay a tax, the jizya (in lieu of the obligatory alms tax, the zakat , paid by Muslims), and were restricted from active participation in public affairs. By the 11th century,

13860-531: The wind from the Sahara – can be felt. Rainfall is scarce, and in some provinces a water crisis can occur. According to the Regional Agency for Waste and Water, on 10 August 1999, the weather station of Catenanuova (EN) recorded an unofficial maximum temperature of 48.5 °C (119 °F). On 11 August 2021, a new highest temperature record for Europe with a reading of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F)

13986-441: The years, improvements to the loom were ongoing. Charles V of Spain formally recognized the growth of the silk industry of Catanzaro in 1519 by allowing the city to establish a consulate of the silk craft, charged with regulating and check in the various stages of a production that flourished throughout the sixteenth century. At the moment of the creation of its guild, the city declared that it had over 500 looms . By 1660, when

14112-461: Was Sicily, leading to the Gothic War (535–554) between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire . Justinian's general Belisarius was assigned to the military task. Sicily was used as a base for the Byzantines to conquer the rest of Italy, including Naples , Rome, and Milan . It took five years before the Ostrogoth capital Ravenna fell in 540. However,

14238-584: Was born in San Marco Argentano , would be one of the leaders in the first crusade. Of particular note is the Via Francigena , an ancient pilgrim route that goes from Canterbury to Rome and southern Italy, reaching Calabria, Basilicata and Apulia, where the crusaders lived, prayed and trained, respectively. In 1098, Roger I of Sicily was named the equivalent of an apostolic legate by Pope Urban II . His son Roger II of Sicily later became

14364-506: Was defeated and driven out to North Africa. He offered the rule of Sicily to Ziyadat Allah , the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia , in return for a position as a general and a place of safety. A Muslim army was then sent to the island consisting of Arabs , Berbers , Cretans , and Persians . The Muslim conquest of Sicily was a see-saw affair and met with fierce resistance. It took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered;

14490-505: Was defeated on both occasions. When his campaign in Italy came to a dead end, Hannibal took refuge in Calabria, whose steep mountains provided protection against the Roman legions. He set up his headquarters in Kroton and stayed there for four years until he was recalled to Carthage. The Romans fought a battle with him near Kroton, but its details are unknown. Many Calabrian cities surrendered to

14616-667: Was given by Ibn Hawqal , an Arab merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb, called the Al-Kasr (the palace), is the centre of Palermo to this day, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of al-Khalisa (modern Kalsa ) contained the Sultan 's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices, and a private prison. Ibn Hawqal estimated there were 7,000 butchers trading in 150 shops. The Muslim rule introduced lemons, oranges and sugar cane, as well as cotton and mulberries for sericulture, and introduced

14742-687: Was in Syracuse ; others grew up at Akragas , Selinunte , Gela , Himera and Zancle . The native Sicani and Sicel peoples became absorbed into the Hellenic culture with relative ease, and the area became part of Magna Graecia along with the coasts of the south of the Italian peninsula , which the Greeks had also colonised. Sicily had fertile soils, and the successful introduction of olives and grape vines fostered profitable trading. Greek culture significantly centered around Greek religion , and

14868-591: Was part of the episode which sparked the Pyrrhic war. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC the cities of southern Italy, which had been allies of the Samnites, were still independent but inevitably came into conflict as a result of Rome's continuous expansion as their expansion in central and northern Italy had not been sufficient to provide new arable lands they needed. During the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC)

14994-417: Was set near the city of Syracuse . Total precipitation is highly variable, generally increasing with elevation. In general, the southern and southeast coast receives the least rainfall (less than 50 cm (20 in)), and the northern and northeastern highlands the most (over 100 cm (39 in)). Sicily is an often-quoted example of man-made deforestation , which has occurred since Roman times when

15120-400: Was the birthplace of one of the famed nine lyric poets , Ibycus and Metauros was the birthplace of another, Stesichorus , who was amongst the first lyric poets of the western world. Kroton spawned many victors during the ancient Olympics and other Panhellenic Games. Amongst the most famous were Milo of Croton , who won six wrestling events in six Olympics in a row, along with seven events in

15246-633: Was the first who produced Latin Bibles in single volumes. The most well-known of them was the Codex Grandior which was the ancestor of all modern western Bibles. Cassiodorus was at the heart of the administration of the Ostrogothic kingdom. Theodoric made him quaestor sacri palatii (quaestor of the sacred palace, the senior legal authority) in 507, governor of Lucania and Bruttium, consul in 514 and magister officiorum (master of offices, one of

15372-459: Was to be moved to Syracuse probably cost Constans his life, as he was assassinated in 668. His son Constantine IV succeeded him. A brief usurpation in Sicily by Mezezius was quickly suppressed by this emperor. Contemporary accounts report that the Greek language was widely spoken on the island during this period. In 740 Emperor Leo III the Isaurian transferred Sicily from the jurisdiction of

15498-554: Was to lay the foundations for the Crusades 30 years later, and for the creation of two Kingdoms: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Kingdom of Sicily. Ships would sail from Calabria to the Holy Land. This made Calabria one of the richest regions in Europe as princes from the noble families of England, France and other regions, constructed secondary residences and palaces here, on their way to the Holy Land. Guiscard's son Bohemond , who

15624-661: Was under the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch. After Pope Innocent III made him Papal Legate in 1098, Roger I created several Catholic bishoprics while still allowing the construction of 12 Greek-speaking monasteries (the Greek language, monasteries, and 1500 parishes continued to exist until the adherents of the Greek Rite were forced in 1585 to convert to Catholicism or leave; a small pocket of Greek-speakers still live in Messina). Calabria Calabria

15750-563: Was under the nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid Caliphate . During the reign of this dynasty revolts by Byzantine Sicilians continuously occurred especially in the east where Greek-speaking Christians predominated. Parts of the island were re-occupied before revolts were quashed. Under the Arab rule the island was divided in three administrative regions , or "vals", roughly corresponding to the three "points" of Sicily: Val di Mazara in

15876-544: Was unified with the Kingdom of Naples into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . From the 1282 Sicilian Vespers until the 1860 Expedition of the Thousand , Sicily was ruled by Aragon and then Spain , either in personal union with the crown or by a cadet branch , with the exception of a period of Savoy and then Habsburg rule in 1713–1735. The island became part of the newly unified Italy in 1860 following

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