CALABRIA

CALABRIA. - I. GEOGRAPHY.

By this name in antiquity was designated the Salentine Peninsula, and only after the 7th century the other, more extensive, region which lies south of the Pollino massif, separating from the Italian mainland between the Gulf of Policastro and the mouth of the Sinni River, and extending westward. The region is almost entirely mountainous (22.4% of the territory) or hilly, with peaks rising above 1,500 m (M. Cocuzzo, 1,541 m) and massifs with high plateaus (Sila, Aspromonte) also elevated to nearly 2,000 m (M. Botte Donato, 1,929 m; M. Montalto, 1,956 m). The watercourses, more torrents than rivers (fiumare), have created, with their abundant detritus, short alluvial plains (below 100 m: the Crati, the plain of Sibari; the Amato, that of S. Eufemia) which together cover only 14% of the surface of Calabria. The climate, typically subtropical Mediterranean along the coasts, assumes a continental character inland, with cold, rainy winters in the higher areas, and a tendency toward a certain thermal imbalance between the two coastlines, the Ionian being warmer and drier.

Once lush with forests, Calabria still stands out among the regions of southern Italy for the extent of its wooded areas and specialized tree crops (48%). Especially the coastal strip is adorned with splendid olive groves, citrus orchards, and fruit trees. Calabria ranks first in Italy for the production of bergamot (Reggino), citrons, and chestnuts, second for other citrus fruits, olive oil, and dried figs (Catanzarese); similarly notable are the quantities of cocoons, fruit, legumes, etc., which are marketed nationally. Agriculture employs more than three-fifths of the active population; on the other hand, industry (18%) and crafts (6%) are very modest.

The fertility of the soil and the traditional frugality of its people explain the relatively high (though below the national average) population density (133 inhabitants per km²). The highest densities correspond to southern Calabria, the Cosenza valley, and the Catanzaro isthmus. Very populous settlements are rare: only the comune of Reggio exceeds 100,000 inhabitants (the city itself has 60,000); followed by Catanzaro with 35,000 and Cosenza with 32,000. More than two-thirds of the Calabrians live in comuni with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants.

The current administrative division perpetuates, under different names, the traditional partition into *C. citeriore* (Cosenza), *ulteriore prima* (Reggio), and *ulteriore seconda* (Catanzaro), whence the still not infrequent use of *Calabrie* in place of *Calabria*. Here are the relevant statistical data:

| Provinces (and population of the comuni) | No. of comuni | Area in km² | Census population | D. C. | Population per km² | I. I. 18-48 in 1000 |
|------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------|-------------------|-------|--------------------|----------------------|
| Catanzaro (57,613) | 155 | 5,232 | 606,364 | 116 | 704 | |
| Cosenza (60,216) | 153 | 6,673 | 587,025 | 88 | 680 | |
| Reggio (139,598) | 93 | 3,189 | 578,262 | 182 | 650 | |
| Calabria | 401 | 15,094 | 1,771,651 | 117 | 2,034 | |

As of January 1, 1948, the population of Calabria was estimated at over 2 million.

CALABRIA. - II. HISTORY.

In antiquity it was called *Bruttium*, from its first inhabitants, akin to the Lucanians, who dwelt there, and it formed an integral part of Magna Graecia. When, in the 7th century, the Byzantines lost control of the old Calabria, i.e., the Salentine Peninsula, they transferred the name to Bruttium, which from then on has always retained its current designation. In the Augustan division of Italy, Bruttium, together with Lucania, formed the third region.

The Christian origins of Bruttium are traced to St. Paul, who, on his journey to Rome, stopped for a day in Reggio (Acts 28:13). According to later legends, one of his disciples, Stephen of Nicaea, together with a certain Suera, is said to have continued his work. Also legendary are the presence of St. Peter in the region, the preaching of St. Mark in the Crati Valley, and St. Dionysius the Areopagite as bishop of Crotone. It is certain that Christianity penetrated early into Calabria, through the very active ports of Reggio, Locri, Crotone, Thurii, and Vibona in continuous contact with the East; Christian inscriptions found at Reggio, Tauriano, Tropea, and elsewhere demonstrate that the Gospel took root first in the maritime cities and advanced from south to north. The hierarchy, according to a testimony of St. Athanasius, was already established in the first half of the 4th century. At the beginning of the 5th century, Pope Innocent I (401–417) addressed the bishops of Bruttium, Maximus and Severus. At Tauriano and Blanda in Italy, inscriptions have been found with the names of the bishops Leucosius and Julian, both married (4th–5th centuries). In the letters of St. Gregory the Great, eleven dioceses of Bruttium are mentioned: Reggio, Locri, Squillace, Minervium, Crotone, Thurii, Cosenza, Nicotera, Tauriano, Vibona, and Tempsa.

Following the Iconoclastic Controversy, the patrimony of the Roman Church in the region was confiscated by the emperor of Byzantium, and the dioceses, reduced to obedience to the patriarchate of Constantinople, were obliged to adopt the Byzantine rite.

Greek. In the 9th century the ecclesiastical district was reorganized; the two metropolitan sees of Reggio and S. Severina were established, and other dioceses such as Rossano, Cassano, Bisignano, Oppido, and Nicastro took the place of those that had been destroyed, namely Turio, Tempsa, Miria, etc.

Monasticism, already present in the region before St Gregory the Great, became firmly established through Cassiodorus, who founded the two celebrated monasteries of Vivarium and Castellese near Squillace. But soon the Latin monks were supplanted by the Greeks, who also penetrated into the remote and rugged recesses of the region, forming hermitages (notably that of the Mercurion in the north-western part of Calabria) and famous monasteries, which transformed Calabria into a new Thebaid. Among these monasteries, particular attention should be given to those of the Patirion near Rossano; of St Adrian near S. Demetrio Corone; of St John of Stilo; of St Philaretus near Seminara; and of St Bartholomew of Trigonio near Sinopoli. The precious Greek manuscripts produced in these monasteries are today scattered in various libraries across Europe. Holiness flourished remarkably, with about forty Calabro-Greek saints, including St Elias of Reggio, St John Teristi, St Gregory of Cassano, St Fantinus, St Nilus, and St Bartholomew of Simeri.

The Normans began the conquest of Calabria in 1054 and virtually completed it in 1064. They restored to Rome the jurisdiction usurped by Byzantium, while leaving the existing ecclesiastical district unchanged, and even adding other dioceses such as Miletus and S. Marco in place of the destroyed Taurianum and Vibona, and of Malvito. To them is owed the re-Latinization of Calabria and the great favour shown to the Benedictine, Carthusian, and Cistercian monastic orders: thus arose the rich and powerful Benedictine abbeys of S. Euphemia and of the Most Holy Trinity of Miletus; the Carthusian monastery of S. Stephen of the Wood at Serra S. Bruno, where the founder of the Carthusians himself died; and the Cistercian monasteries of Sambucina, Corazzo, and La Matina, whose art triumphed in the cathedral of Cosenza, consecrated in 1222. From the Cistercians sprang the abbot Joachim of Fiore (q.v.), who in 1189 laid the foundations of the Florense Congregation with its centre at S. Giovanni in Fiore.

The Normans were succeeded by the Swabians (1195–1264). During the long reign of Frederick II, Calabria achieved great economic progress; but the Swabians pursued a disastrous religious policy that led to their downfall. Under the Angevins religious conditions improved considerably; yet the long War of the Sicilian Vespers devastated Calabria (1282–1304). The Spanish viceregal government, which lasted for more than two centuries, was ruinous for Calabria (16th–17th centuries). In the 13th century the Franciscans of Calabria had their martyrs in Morocco (1227); the Dominicans were entrusted with the church of S. Matthew in Cosenza (1240).

The 15th century is dominated by the figure of St Francis of Paola, founder of the Order of Minims. At the same time the reformed Dominican Congregation was taking root in the region through the blessed Paul of Miletus. Even more important reforms were carried out in the 16th century: two Augustinian Congregations emerged, the so-called Zumpani Congregation, through the blessed Francis of Zumpano, and that of Collorito, through the blessed Bernardino of Rogliano. The Capuchin reform had its promoters in the blessed Ludovico and Bernardino of Reggio. In this same century eminent Calabrian churchmen made their mark through their learning: the three Calabrian cardinals—Paolo Parisio of Cosenza, Guglielmo Sirleto of Guardiavalle, and Vincenzo Lauro of Tropea; Colantonio Ruffo of Scilla was the first general of the Basilians; Filippo Gesualdi of Castrovillari was general of the Conventuals; Silvestro Papalò of Monteleone was of the Capuchins; Theophilus of Tropea, a Dominican, was the first commissioner of the Holy Office; his fellow friar Tommaso Campanella of Stilo, also a Calabrian, likewise achieved distinction.

Five Calabrian religious of the 17th century were raised to the altars by the Church: Umile of Bisignano, a Franciscan; Nicholas Saggio of Longobardi, a Minim; Angelo Falcone of Acri, a Capuchin; Paul Navarro of Laino and Camillus Costanzo of Bovalino, martyrs of the Society of Jesus in Japan.

The 18th century was one of decline, aggravated by the disastrous earthquake of 1783 and by the jurisdictionalist policy of the minister Tanucci. The 19th century was distinguished by the heroic virtues of the Venerable Bernardo Maria Clausi of S. Sisto, a Minim, and Gesualdo Melacrino of Reggio, a Capuchin.

The 20th century has seen the establishment of the two regional seminaries of Reggio and Catanzaro, which have contributed substantially to the intellectual and spiritual formation of the clergy. V. also BASILIANS OF ITALY; ITALO-ALBANIANS; ITALO-GREEKS.

Also to be consulted: D. Taccone-Gallucci, Le epigrafi cristiane del Bruxio, Reggio Calabria 1904; P. Orsi, Istruzioni cristiane di Taurania nei Bruzi, in Arch. stor. della C., 2 (1914), pp. 225–36; A. Crispo, Le antichità cristiane della C. pre-bizantina, in Arch. stor. Cal. e Lucania, 14 (1943), pp. 3 ff., 110 ff., 209 ff.; F. Russo, La metropoli di S. Severina, in Arch. stor. Cal. e Luc., 16 (1947), pp. 1–20. Francesco Russo

III. Art of Calabria – Christian art, after the barbarian invasions had almost obliterated every trace of the flourishing preceding Greek and Roman civilization, began to reappear in Calabria when

The Eastern monks. Even before the clear reflections of Byzantine architectural civilization appeared in the baptistery of S. Severina (9th century), in the cathedral of Stilo, and in S. Marco of Rossano (10th–12th centuries), small churches arose in Calabria resembling the shrines of the Hellenic regions of Armenia and Anatolia. Later, elements derived from Siculo-Muslim architecture brought decorative elegance to Byzantine buildings. The new spirit and orientation also influenced painting, sculpture, and the minor arts, of which only scant remains survive. The celebrated Rossano Gospels of the 6th century is a precious document of manuscript illumination, while the Cross of the cathedral of Cosenza is a typical example of Byzantine goldsmithing.

Norman rule sparked intense activity, especially in the field of construction, which manifested itself above all in the churches built by the monks of St. Nilus, which took on distinctive features and thus came to be known as “Nilian churches.” Following the churches and monasteries erected by the Normans came numerous sacred buildings constructed by the Benedictines and later by the Florensians. The type of temple with a Greek cross and a central dome characteristic of Nilian churches was replaced by the basilican type with a Latin cross, but even after the advent of the Normans, the influence of Siculo-Muslim art continued to manifest itself in decoration. Marble workers and craftsmen, perhaps from Sicily, imported the art of decorating floors and architectural members with geometric mosaics Cosmati (v.).

The fertile architectural productivity was encouraged and aided by the Swabians. In 1222, the cathedral of Cosenza was inaugurated, in which, for the first time, Cistercian Gothic elements appear in the apse and façade. During the subsequent Angevin-Durazzesque period, Calabria also participated in the architectural renewal fostered by the Angevins; in this period, painters, sculptors, and decorators from other regions worked in Calabria. The frescoes in the crypt of S. Francesco at Irsina, the tomb of the Sangineto in the church of S. Maria della Consolazione at Altomonte, and the mausoleums of Ademaro Romano at Scalea and the Carafa at Caulonia show how painting in Calabria was dominated by distant reflections of the art of Cavallini and Siena, and sculpture by that of Tuscan Gothic, which reached the southernmost tip of the peninsula through Neapolitan works.

As in all of southern Italy, the Renaissance did not take root in Calabria with distinctive features, but there are a fairly large number of works of art imported from other regions. A true artistic revival occurred in Calabria only in the 17th century. Stuccowork, marbles, wood carvings, decorated ceilings, stalls, carved chairs and seats, damasks and velvets produced by the famous silk workshops of Catanzaro enriched churches and patrician homes, while the textiles of Longobucco and other towns of the Sila—fine examples of a popular textile art—demonstrated the vitality of a tradition that went back to the Durazzesque period. Neapolitan painters such as Antonio Sarnelli and Niccolò Rossi, Flemish artists such as Guglielmo Borremans, and architects and stone carvers traveled throughout the region to build palaces and decorate facades and interiors. But towering above all is the great figure of Mattia Preti, called the Calabrian Knight, whose production triumphantly closed the cycle of 17th-century Neapolitan painting.

In architecture and decoration, the Baroque continued to dominate in the 18th century. During the 19th century, Calabrian artists decisively oriented themselves toward the forms flourishing in Naples.

IV. Folklore

Calabria is one of the regions where popular traditions are best preserved, giving a picturesque imprint to the life of the towns. The costumes of the various colonies add liveliness and variety: Neo-Greek in southern Aspromonte, Albanian in the provinces of Cosenza and Catanzaro, Waldensian in Guardia Piemontese (Cosenza). Although the use of traditional costume is rapidly disappearing, it still survives in various towns, preserved in the beauty, richness, and originality of the different styles of dress and their ornaments. It appears especially during religious and family festivals. In S. Giovanni in Fiore, the women’s costume is entirely black, except for the white of the shirt and the headscarf, but in general Calabrian women wear wide pleated skirts of silk in bright colors—red or blue—a bodice with a velvet corset, sleeves attached with ribbons over wide embroidered shirts. The finest examples can be seen in Castrovillari, Luzzi, Tiriolo, Nicastro, Gioiosa Ionica, Lungro, and Cardeto. The men’s costume, with its characteristic conical hat adorned with ribbons, short jacket of fustian with metal buttons, velvet doublet, short breeches of cloth or velvet, woolen stockings, and on the feet the “calandrello” or “porcine,” similar to clogs, is now less common. Simpler and more ancient is the costume of shepherds and fishermen. As a vow to the Addolorata, women dress in black with a large white cord at the waist; as a vow to St. Anthony, they wear a friar’s habit, and so on; the use of such garments is also frequent among children.

In some towns, the funeral lament performed by professional mourners survives; some of these songs, similar in meter and style to the Corsican “voceri,” resonate with intense maternal love. But the most interesting manifestations are linked to

The great religious festivals and customs in which the strong devotional sentiment of the Calabrian people is expressed in original and often moving forms. Sanctuaries and pilgrimages are especially dedicated to the cult of the Virgin: notable among these are those of Our Lady of Consolation, patroness of the city of Reggio; of Our Lady of the Chain near Cosenza; and of Our Lady of Porto Salvo near Sannise (Catanzaro). An important centre of popular worship and pilgrimage is the sanctuary of St FRANCIS of PAOLA, erected on the promontory where he prayed. The figure of the saint has inspired narrative songs in which spiritual and biographical traits are here and there distorted by popular imagination.

There are numerous patronal festivals, preceded by novenas: lavish meals are offered to guests, the streets are adorned with garlands and balloons and traversed by bands and *tumbari* (drummers). Wealthy families place before the door of their house a table adorned with the finest carpets; the statue of the saint pauses to bless the family, which scatters flowers and grain and invokes grace. Donations of money are made to the saint and ribbons of red are hung from the statue’s belt. Especially for the Assumption, the game of the ships is played, in which ten young men carry on their shoulders another ten, who thus parade through the town singing (Le-lianova, Cetraro, Cittadella del Capo, etc.). For St JOSEPH, almost all families prepare a meal for three poor people: an old man, a woman, and a child.

In many places there still survive the relics of sacred dramas recalling the Passion and death of Christ during Holy Week: these are called *mortor* or *affacciata* (from the encounter of Jesus with His Mother) or *piggiatà* (from the capture of Jesus). Of the last there exists a script by an unknown author of the 17th century, in blank verse, with about thirty characters besides numerous supernumeraries.

Expressions of enthusiastic religious fervour are found in the companies of *battenti*, who, in the Holy Week procession, continue the ancient custom of flagellants (e.g., the *uffizianti* of Bova). Other popular dramatic forms are provided by carnival farces. Rich too is the heritage of lyric songs (*strambotti*), narrative (*romances*) and sacred (*orations* and *stories*), as well as of fairy-tales and legends. Popular art can boast the fine production of carpets from Longobucco and ceramics from Seminara and other centres.

V. REGIONE CONCILIARE CALABRESE

It is one of the regions into which, by decrees of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation of 15 Feb. and 22 Mar. 1910 and 29 Sept. 1933 (*AAS*, II [1919], pp. 72–74, 176; 25 [1933], p. 466), Italy was divided so that, instead of provincial councils, regional councils might be celebrated.

It comprises the territories of the ecclesiastical provinces of Reggio Calabria and S. Severina, together with the archdioceses of Catanzaro, Cosenza and Rossano, and the dioceses of Lungro, Mileto, S. Marco and Bisignano, Squillace.

In the regional capital (Reggio Calabria) is seated the regional ecclesiastical tribunal for cases of nullity of marriage; appeal against sentences issued by this tribunal is to be made either to the Campanian regional tribunal (Naples) or to the Sacred Roman Rota (cf. Pius XI, *motu proprio* *Qua cura*, 8 Dec. 1938, in *AAS*, 30 [1938], pp. 410–13). — See Pl. XXI. Pio Cipriotti.

CALAHORRA and LA CALZADA, DIOCESE OF. C. is a city in northern Spain in Old Castile, in the province of Logroño and the see of a suffragan diocese of Burgos. Situated between the dioceses of Vitoria to the north, Pamplona to the north-east and east, Tarazona to the east, Osma to the south and Burgos to the west, its territory extends over almost the whole province of Logroño with its capital, and over parts of the provinces of Navarre (21 parishes), Soria (51 parishes) and Burgos (48 parishes), covering an area of 5,114 sq. km. It has a population of about 235,000. It possesses 737 churches and 353 parishes, served by 454 secular priests and 124 regulars (1948). Patrons: SS. Emeterius, Celedonius and Dominic of La Calzada.

It has two cathedrals (Calahorra and La Calzada) and a collegiate church (Logroño). C., the Calagurris of the Romans, situated along the great military road connecting Tarragona with Galicia, was one of the Spanish cities where Christianity arrived early. The martyrdom of SS. Emeterius and Celedonius under Diocletian, later celebrated by Prudentius in his *Peristephanon* (VIII), proves that a Christian community existed in C. at the beginning of the 4th century. When the ecclesiastical hierarchy was established there is unknown, but certainly between the 4th and 5th centuries Tarragona, which already had its metropolitan in 384, under whom C. was dependent, certainly had a bishop named Silvanus in 457, against whom Ascanius of Tarragona protested to Pope Hilary for having irregularly ordained two bishops. After the Muslim invasion of the 8th century the hierarchy of the diocese was dispersed, but in the following century its territory remained outside Muslim rule and was divided between two newly founded dioceses: Nájera (La Rioja) and Álava in the Basque country, which had its see at Armentia. But after the conquest of C. by Navarrese forces (1044), Nájera was absorbed into the ancient see in 1045 after barely a century or so of existence, and the same happened shortly afterwards to Álava (1088). In the 13th century the episcopal see of C. was transferred to La Calzada, which gave rise to serious disputes, settled soon after in 1236 when the bishop returned to C. but also took the title of La Calzada. Following the provisions of the Concordat of 1851, the Basque part of its territory passed to the new diocese of Vitoria, erected by Pius IX in 1862. Originally a suffragan of Tarragona, in 1318 it became part of that of Saragossa and finally in 1574 of Burgos.

The cathedral of C., dedicated to the Assumption, is three-aisled in Gothic style and of questionable architectural value, subjected to radical remodellings in the 15th century; that of La Calzada is in Romanesque style, begun in 1168. Notable is the collegiate church of Logroño, three-aisled in Gothic style, 15th century, with a Latin-cross plan, distinguished by its eight piers. In it the main entrance does not harmonise with the genre of church architecture; it was in fact built in the 18th century, while the spherical niche serving as entrance to its two slender towers produces a good effect. The side doors are Renaissance; the apsidal chapels are 17th century; the choir dates from the late 16th; the high altar from the late 17th.