Lamezia Terme

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Comune di Lamezia Terme
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Calabria
Province	Catanzaro (CZ)
Mayor	Giovanni Speranza (since (April 4, 2005)

Elevation	216 m
Area	160.2 km²
Population
- Total	70,501
- Density	440/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	38°58′N, 16°18′E
Gentilic	Lametini
Dialing code	0968
Postal code	88046
Frazioni	Acquadàuzano, Acquafredda, Caronte, Gabella, Fronti, Mitoio, S. Minà, S. Eufèmia Vetere, Vonio
Patron	St. Peters and Paul
- Day	June 29
Website: www.comunelamezia.it

The quarter of St. Theodore on the hill commanded by the ruins of the Norman-Hohenstaufen castle.

Lamezia Terme is a city and a commune in the province of Catanzaro (Calabria) in Italy. It is the major city on the Tyrrhenian Sea side of Italy in the 500 km-stretch from Salerno to Reggio Calabria.

Map showing the position of Lamezia Terme in the province of Catanzaro.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Main sights
4 Transportation
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Lamezia is 35 km from Catanzaro, 70 km from Cosenza and 135 km from Reggio Calabria. The city is site on the eastern border of the coastal plain commonly called Piana di Sant'Eufemia, in the middle of the Calabrian coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, which was created by drying a wide marshy area. The commune's center is located approximatively midway in the isthmus separating the Tyrrhenian from the Ionian coast.

[edit] History

The commune of Lamezia Terme was formally created on January 4, 1968. Its territory includes those of the former communes of Nicastro, Sambiase, Sant'Eufemia Lamezia. The controversial fusion was intended to create a stronger entity capable of a more powerful economical development in what was considered on of the areas of greatest economical expansion in the late 1960s.

While the purposed economical development arrived, although with variabilities, the area of Lamezia saw the increasing power of the local branch of the mafia, 'Ndrangheta. The communal administration was sacked two times in 10 years for mafia infiltrations. The majority of the centre-left coalition elected in 2005 received several death threats.

[edit] Nicastro

Main article Nicastro

Nicastro's origins trace back to the 9th century, when Calabria was part of the Byzantine Empire, when a fortress called Neo Castrum ("New Castle") was created. A great Benedictine abbey, St. Eufemia, was founded here in 1062 by the Normand count Robert Guiscard. It was for long time a fief of the Caracciolo family and, later, to the D'Aquino. The city was nearly destroyed after an earthquake in 1638 (more than 100 inhabitants died), and the abbey was turned into ruin. The castle, built by the Normans and enlarged by Emperor Frederick II and the Angevine kings, crumbled down. Floods and a further earthquake followed in the 18th century.

Nicastro experienced the highest rate of emigration during the late 19th and the early 20th century (some 8,000 citizens), as well as after World War II.

[edit] Sambiase

Sambiase was created around the 10th century around a monastery dedicated to St. Blaise, from which the city's name derived. It had numerous churches, of which today only five remain.

[edit] Sant'Eufemia

The current Sant'Eufemia does not correspond to the ancient city location. The most ancient settlement was the Greek Terina, whose ruins are nowadays being excavated. Sant'Eufemia (nowadays Sant'Eufemia Vetere) was created, upon a hill not long after the 1638 earthquake. The current quarter was built in the Fascist era after the drying of a marshy area.

The Bastion of Malta in Lamezia (1550).

[edit] Main sights

The Castle is today an ensemble of ruins occupying the summit of a hill 320 m high. It was built, according to some scholars[1], by the Bruttii or by Greeks colonists. The current structure dates probably from the Norman domination, although some structure existed at the time of the Ostrogoth king Teia. In 1122 Pope Callixtus II resided here for fifteen days. Later, the castle was enlarged by Constance of Hauteville and his son Frederick II, as well as by the Angevines. The castle was heavily damaged by the earthquakes of 1609, 1638 and 1783, and subsequently abandoned.
The Bastion of the Knights of Malta is a massive, well-preserved watchtower built in 1550 by the Spanish viceoroy of Naples Pedro de Toledo. It was assigned to the Knights, who had a fief in the neighbourhood. Ruins of several other watchtowers are in the area.
Near Sant'Eufemia, the ruins of the Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria di Corazzo can be seen. It was founded around 1060. Joachim of Fiore was an abbot here, and Bernardino Telesio wrote many of his philosophical works here in 1554. The abbey of the 40 Martyrs, created in the 9th-10th century, is still active.
The Diocesan Museum houses an Arab-Norman ivory case (12th century), paintings of 17th-18th centuries and other works.

[edit] Transportation

The central location of Lamezia Terme in Calabria has made it the main transportation hub of the region. The city is situated adjacent to the infamous A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria Motorway, and the SS.288 State Route runs to Catanzaro from Lamezia.

The railway station, on the main line leading from Reggio to Naples, is a major terminal for goods traffic. Secondary branches connect to Catanzaro and Crotone.

Lamezia is the site of the Lamezia Terme International Airport, built in 1976. The airport has both national and international connections.