Lamezia Terme

"Sambiase" redirects here. For the Italian wine grape also known as Sambiase, see Greco (grape).
Lamezia Terme
Comune
Città di Lamezia Terme

Coat of arms
Lamezia Terme

Location of Lamezia Terme in Italy

Coordinates: 38°58′N 16°18′E / 38.967°N 16.300°E / 38.967; 16.300
Country Italy
Region Calabria
Province Catanzaro (CZ)
Frazioni Acquadauzano, Acquafredda, Annunziata, Bucolia, Cantarelle, Caronte, Crozzano, Fronti, Gabella, Miglierina, Mitoio, Piano Luppino, San Minà, San Pietro Lametino, Sant'Eufemia Vetere, Santa Maria, Serra, Serra Castagna, Telara, Vallericciardo, Vonio, Zangarona
Government
  Mayor Paolo Mascaro (since (16 June 2015)
Area
  Total 162.43 km2 (62.71 sq mi)
Elevation 216 m (709 ft)
Population (31-12-2013[1])
  Total 70,452
  Density 430/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Demonym(s) 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 29 June
Website Official website

Lamezia Terme [laˈmetsja ˈtɛrme], commonly called Lamezia, is an Italian city of 70,452 inhabitants (2013)[1] in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region.

Geography

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 borders with Conflenti, Curinga, Falerna, Feroleto Antico, Gizzeria, Maida, Martirano Lombardo, Nocera Terinese, Platania, San Pietro a Maida and Serrastretta.

History

The municipality of Lamezia Terme was formally created on 4 January 1968. Its territory includes those of the former municipalities of Nicastro, Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia Lamezia.

Nicastro

Main article: Nicastro

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 the Second World War.

Sambiase

The baths of Sambiase were in a famous Roman itinerary Tabula Peutingeriana, making the village an important destination at the time. An evidence of this can be found in a library edition of the map which is kept at the Lamezia Terme Town Library in Lamezia Terme in its historical and specialistic section, the Casa del Libro Antico (House of the Ancient Book). The thermal baths of Sambase were great and famous place of comfort and rest for wayfarers, soldiers, messengers, in the ancient times they were 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 the farmers to read and write 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, grapes, 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. Constantine etc. important centres of culture comparable to the great European courts. In the 10th century 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 an important and famous Norman university among the preferred places of the Norman sovereigns as the Guiscard, Roger, Frederick II and Manfredi, they also strengthened the power of some abbeys of Sambiase such as St. Constantine. 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 place for the Spanish and Italian economy. Main point was the strictness and the share of Sambiase to the Italian wars of independence. Giovanni Nicotera was an important personality of Sambiase as Freancesco Fiorentino, Franco Costabile etc.

Sant'Eufemia Lamezia

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.

Main sights

District San Teodoro with Norman-Swabian castle
The Bastion of Malta in Lamezia (1550)

People related to Lamezia Terme

Transport

The central location of Lamezia Terme in Calabria has made it the main transport 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.

See also

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lamezia Terme.
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