Cinquefrondi - Cinquefrondi

Cinquefrondi is a city of Calabria.

To know

Background

According to Michele Sarconi, the name derives from the 5 towers that surrounded the defensive fortification.

The origins of the site are described only by sources of oral tradition and mostly legendary, which would seem to indicate that before the urban settlement, at the time of Magna Graecia, two pagan temples were born, while the town would have risen later, already in she was Christian. One of the temples was dedicated to the Muses, on the remains of the other the current church of SS. Rosary.

The temple of the Muses also gave its name, for a certain period, to the town, in fact called Templum Musarum in Latin.

Around the 4th century a monastery of Basilian monks was erected which, abandoned in the 7th century, was subsequently reused episodically until 1783 when the earthquake destroyed it, razing the city to the ground. The monastery must have probably been dedicated to San Filippo d'Argirò, the name by which it is known today and to which other buildings similar to Pellaro it's at Gerace and Fiore reports that in 1436 it would have been restored by Franca d'Anoja [...] with brief of Pope Eugene IV. The same source adds that it assumed the new title of San Filippo and San Giacomo, passing to the Reformed in 1596.

In the fourteenth century Cinquefrondi was part of the fiefdom of Anoia including the neighbors Grotteria, Maropoati, Tritanti, Galatro and Plaesano, and assigned to the Caracciolo family. In the 17th century the use of the title of Marquis of Cinquefrondi is attested, which at that time belonged to the Pescara family. The Giffone family, who obtained the title of Marquis of Cinquefrondi in 1611, in 1580 had founded (with the faculty of Pope Gregory XIII) the monastery of the Franciscan Observant Fathers and in 1695 the church of Santa Maria del Soccorso.

In 1703 a historical publication was published which collected information on the city starting from its origins.

In 1783 the town was destroyed by the earthquake. Several sources tell us that the Giffuni farmhouse perished and the Giffuni stream disappeared, while a small lake appeared.

In the 19th century the city was part of the diocese of Miletus.

In 1899 the anarchist Giuseppe Condò left the country, who emigrated for theArgentina where he took the name of Josè Martine; here, in 1903, he took part in the riots linked to the proclamation of the state of siege and in this circumstance he had to stab a policeman. He was recognized insane and sent to a criminal asylum, from which he fled to repatriate to Calabria. He returned to Argentina shortly after, but in 1911 he was accused of manufacturing explosive materials, tried, found innocent, but expelled. Back in Cinquefrondi again, in 1913 he left clandestinely (having no passport) this time in the direction of New York, where anarchist militancy resumed.

In 1921 the archaeologist Vincenzo De Cristo (originally from Novigrad), perhaps on the recommendation of Paolo Orsi (who had suggested his appointment as honorary royal inspector of Excavations and Monuments), undertook excavation operations.

How to orient yourself

How to get

By plane

The nearest airports are those of Reggio Calabria is Lamezia Terme, from there you will have to continue with other means.

By car

Cinquefrondi is crossed by the state road 682 (two junctions for the town) and by the provincial road 4.

On the train

Currently it is not possible to reach the town by train, as the only line that crosses it (that of the Ferrovie della Calabria towards Gioia Tauro) has been suspended since 2011.

How to get around

What see

Events and parties

• Patronal feast of St. Michael the Archangel. It is the feast of the patron saint of Cinquefrondi and is held together with a fair that lasts three days and occupies the city center. The religious part of the festival includes the procession following the statue of the Archangel Michael's Victory over Satan, the work of Vincenzo Scrivo. 
• Feast of San Rocco. The anniversary falls on the second Sunday of September, and is preceded by a novena. During the novena the children go begging with decorated trays with icons of the saint, to solicit offers with which the fireworks show is financed. Traditionally, the so-called "deserts" are created on the sidewalks and in the spaces in front of the houses, consisting of a sort of shelter of boards and poles that have an internal lining made of reeds intertwined with river plants; in the "deserts", that is, within the spaces thus delimited, some important stages in the life of St. Rocco are depicted (the retreat in a cave, the miraculous spring, the treatment of the plague victims, the prison, the church). Sometimes children appear dressed as prisoners or sick people. There is also a procession in which some of the participants have their heads covered by "pajjaredi" (or "barbed"), which consist of bells of thorns in the shape of a haystack; these faithful follow the path barefoot. 

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Where stay

Safety

How to keep in touch

Post office

• 38.41898216.0932551 Post Office, Via Canada, 1 / A, ☎ 39 0966 939549, fax: 39 0966 941992. Mon-Fri 8: 20-13: 35, Sat 8: 20-12: 35. Equipped with locker. 
• 38.41705316.0892 Tobacconist n. 6, Via Vittorio Veneto, 179, ☎ 39 0966473279. Mon-Sat 6-13, 14: 30-20: 30; Sun 6-13. Punto poste services: purchase of boxes to send with Poste Deliverybox Express, sending e-commerce returns, parcel collection, shipping of pre-franked and prepaid parcels and printing of labels to send returns and paid online. 
• 38.41253516.0852023 Tobacconist n. 2, Viale Sandro Pertini, 129, ☎ 39 0966 473110. 6-13, 14:30-20. Post point services: purchase of boxes to send with Poste Deliverybox Express, sending e-commerce returns, parcel collection, shipping of pre-franked and prepaid parcels, printing labels to send returns and paid online 

Around

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Cinquefrondi
• Commons contains images or other files on Cinquefrondi

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