| Lamezia Terme | |
|---|---|
| — Comune — | |
| Città di Lamezia Terme | |
|
Lamezia Terme
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Calabria |
| Province | Catanzaro |
| Frazioni | Acquadàuzano, Acquafredda, Annunziata, Bella, Bosco Amatello, Bucolia, Caronte, Carrà, Castagna, Fronti, Gabella, Magolà, Mitoio, San Minà, San Pietro Lametino, Sant'Eufemia Vetere (Sant'Eufemia del Golfo), Serra, Telara, Vallericciardo, Vonio, Zangarona |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Giovanni Speranza (since (April 4, 2005) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 160.24 km2 (61.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 216 m (709 ft) |
| Population (30-04-2011[1]) | |
| • Total | 71,287 |
| • Density | 444.9/km2 (1,152.2/sq mi) |
| Demonym | lametini |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 88046 |
| Dialing code | 0968 |
| Patron saint | St. Peters and Paul |
| Saint day | June 29 |
| Website | Official website |
Lamezia Terme, commonly named Lamezia, is an Italian city of 71,287 inhabitants[2] in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region.
Contents |
Lamezia is located on the eastern border of the coastal plain commonly called Piana di Sant'Eufemia, which was created by drying a wide marshy area.
The municipality of Lamezia Terme was formally created on January 4, 1968. Its territory includes those of the former municipalities 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 an area of great economical expansion in the late 1960s.
While the economic development arrived, although with variabilities, the area of Lamezia saw the increasing power of the local branch of the mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. The municipal administration collapsed twice in 10 years due to mafia infiltrations. Most of the centre-left coalition members elected in 2005 received several death threats.
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 Norman count Robert Guiscard. It was for a 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.
The baths of Sambiase was in a famous Roman itinerary Tabula Peuntigeriana so it was a important destination. The thermal baths of Sambase were great and famous place of comfort and rest for wayfarers, soldiers, messengers, in the ancient times they was called Aque Ange. The Romans knew Sambiase with the name of Turres, there in fact to check the territory they were situated two towers. But Sambiase was already existing during the Greek period first with the name of Melea (here they are placed in fact its ancient boundaries) and then Terina (of which numerous coins have been found again in the fraction Acquafredda and also the tesoretto of Sant'Eufemia preserved in the British Museum). With the fall of the empire,Turres was abandoned and devastated by the Ostrogothic ones Sambiase resources in the 7th century thanks the Basilianis,that escape from Sicily,they installed him in the Calabrian territory. The Basilianis monks made to rise numerous Byzantine monasteries, among which that of St. Blase, from which the city's name derived. The basilianis taught to read and to write to the farmers and they were made important friends among the great Byzantine cities of Italy, Greece and Turkey as Taranto, Naples and Gaeta, thanks to their action the new city, St. Blase, succeeded in exporting its own products, olives, grape, corn, wheat, laughed, to the whole empire. They formed numerous monasteries and churches of orthodox order as those of the Sts.Forty Martyrs, Saint Sophia, St. Costantin etc. important centers of culture comparable to the great European courts . In 10th it had numerous churches, of which today only five remain. Robert Guiscard with his brother Roger during the difficult attempt to conquer Calabria, stopped to the thermal baths together with their team of soldiers. From that period Sambiase became important and famous Norman University among the preferred places of the Norman sovereigns as the Guiscard, Roger,Federick II and Manfredi, they also strengthened the power of some abbeys of Sambiase as St. Costantine. With the Aragonese kingdom Sambiase strengthened its own influence on the central government of Naples, many citizens of the ancient university in fact they invested important court positions as mathematicians, astronomers and chamberlains. Sambiase was a most important for a Spanish and Italian economy. Main point was the strictness and the share of Sambiase to the Italian wars of independence . Giovanni Nicotera was a important personality of Sambiase as Freancesco Fiorentino,Franco Costabile etc.
The current Sant'Eufemia Lamezia does not correspond to the ancient city location. The most ancient settlement was the Greek Terina, whose ruins are nowadays being excavated. Sant'Eufemia Lamezia (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 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 central 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.