Paola, Calabria

Paola
—  Comune  —
Città di Paola
Panoramic view
Paola
Location of Paola in Italy
Coordinates:
Country Italy
Region Calabria
Province Cosenza (CS)
Government
 • Mayor Roberto Perrotta
Area
 • Total 42 km2 (16.2 sq mi)
Elevation 94 m (308 ft)
Population (December 31, 2004)
   8,288 men and 8,907 women
 • Total 17,195
 • Density 409.4/km2 (1,060.4/sq mi)
Demonym Paolani
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 87027
Dialing code 0982
Twin cities
 • Frejus, France (1983)
Patron saint St. Francis of Paola
Saint day April 2 and May 4
Website Official website

Paola is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

Contents

Geography

The city borders with Montalto Uffugo and San Benedetto Ullano by the west, Fuscaldo by the north and San Lucido by the south.

History

In July 1555, the Beylerbey of the Mediterranean, Turgut Reis, captured the city.

In the final days of World War II, while almost all the citizens of the city were hiding from the air raids by Allied bomber aeroplanes inside the Monastery of St. Francis of Paola, an 80 kg iron-core bomb fell right in the middle of the agglomeration, but it didn't detonate, in fact widely reputed as a miracle[1]

Main sights

Saint Francis Sanctuary, Del'Annunziata church dome, S. S. Rosario church, Ipogeo di Sotterra church. Saint Francis day party (May 1–4)[2]

Personalities

Paola is the home of St. Francis of Paola and houses a world famous Catholic sanctuary dedicated to the saint.

Transport

Paola railway station, opened in 1895, forms part of the Southern Tyrrhenian railway (Salerno–Reggio Calabria), and is also a terminus of a secondary line, the Paola–Cosenza railway.

Twin towns

See also

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paola_(Italy) Paola] at Wikimedia Commons