BOVA. - B. is a small town in the Aspromonte facing Capo Spartivento. Together with S. Lorenzo, Africo, Roccaforte, Condofuri and Roghudi, it forms a small ethnic enclave with a language of distinctly Greek derivation.
It does not appear in classical antiquity, but only in the Byzantine-Norman period.
As a diocese, it does not appear in the Notitiae of the Diataxis, so it is uncertain whether it was established by the Byzantines or the Normans. Some think that B. OPPIO (v.) were Greek dioceses established by the Normans to compensate Reggio for the loss of Tuariana and Vibona, which were assigned to the Latin diocese of Mileto and subject to the Holy See. However, Norman policy is ill-suited to this supposition: they never founded a Greek diocese, but on the contrary, Latinized several Greek dioceses, beginning with Reggio. The existence of a bishop named Luminoso, who in 649 subscribed to the Synod of Pope Martin, is an unfounded supposition. He was in fact “Episcopus Bononiensis” and not “Boveniss,” as some have read.
B. has always been a suffragan of Reggio and is the diocese that maintained the Greek rite the longest, suppressed only in 1574 by Bishop Giulio Stauriano.
Within its territory there were many Greek monasteries, including those of S. Leone, S. Maria de Torreto, S. Pantaleone, S. Maria de Traiecto, S. Niccolò de Alefido, etc. The patron saint of the diocese, St. Leone or Leontius, was a Greek monk, native of B. or more likely of Africo. Some also recall a St. Elia of B.; but this refers to St. Elia of Reggio, called the Speleota, who lived in the 9th–10th century. The relics of St. Leone are venerated in the Cathedral, which is dedicated to S. Maria dell’Isola (Presentation).
The town of B. does not exceed 2,500 inhabitants and has a rather meagre life; greater development is promised by B. Marina, 12 km distant. Its territory is very restricted and, overall, does not exceed 30,000 inhabitants, scattered across 9 communes and 17 parishes. Since 1941, the Archbishop of Reggio has united the administration of B. to his own person.