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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Catanzaro
Catanzaro
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula. Inhabitants of Italy are referred to as Italians. Their official language is Standard Italian, descendant of Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin. The word Italy is derived from the Homeric Aeolic word which means bull.
Catanzaro is a city in Calabria, Italy, the capital of the province of Catanzaro and also of the region Calabria since 1970. This town rises on a rock and is split into two parts by the steep Fiumarella valley, the two sections being connected by a huge concrete steel bridge, the Viadotto Morandi, among the highest in Europe, built in 1960 on a design of architect Riccardo Morandi. The beach side neighborhood Catanzaro Lido, located about 5 kilometers south, has a wide promenade and a harbor for small fishing and pleasure boats. There are doubts on the origins of the name. Some say it derived from two Byzantine generals, Kattaro and Zaro, while another theory is that Zaro was the original name of the river Zarapotamo, so that kata Zaro would mean beyond the river. According to Luigi Settembrini, the name could also be derived by the Greek words kata, the antheros on the flowery hills.
The old town was built over three hills namely Saint Trifone or Saint Rocco Hill, Episcopate's Hill and Saint John's Hill in Byzantine times. Catanzaro was since the 11th century the lace capital of the world with a large silkworm breeding, it produced all the laces and linens used in the Vatican and supplied merchants that came from all over Europe to buy the silk in the port of Reggio Calabria soon before Pentecost day. A devastating earthquake in 1783 wiped away churches, palaces and a large part of the population, and a second in 1832 completed the destruction of most ancient historical buildings. Presently, Catanzaro experiences a sharp social, economic and population growth derivative of the strategic position of the locality and the high level of well-being and quality of life that is enjoyed with respect to other places of Italy.
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