San Ferdinando (Italy) - San Ferdinando (Italia)

San Ferdinando is a city of Calabria; together with Gioia Tauro it hosts the port having the name of the latter.

To know

Geographical notes

San Ferdinando overlooks the Gulf of Gioia Tauro on the Tyrrhenian coast in a completely flat area, the maximum height above sea level is 44 meters. Its territory is completely included in the Plain of Gioia Tauro.

When to go

The presence of the beach invites to a typically summer tourism (between May and October).

Background

In ancient times the territory of today's San Ferdinando was part of the county of Borrello, governed by the Pignatelli family, and you followed its events.

The area around San Ferdinando is within the boundaries of the historic city of Rosarno, which is the site of the Greek city of Medma. Rosarno and its surroundings arose during the Byzantine era and appeared for the first time in history in a document in 1037. The rule of Rosarno has been very controversial, due to its strategic importance in giving a takeover of the fertile valley of the Mesima river and was controlled by various feudal lords, including the Ruffo and the Pignatelli families. Located along the sea, San Ferdinando was a community planned to support a major 19th-century public works project to transform the Malarial Mesima Valley into a commercial agricultural town. Following a strong earthquake in 1783 the valley of the Mesima river the plain of Rosarno was said to have sank nearly a meter creating significant changes in water flow and the creation of lakes and marshes. This change in the geology and ecology of the area predicted an environment for malaria to reproduce. This resulted in deaths which halved the population by the early 19th century. This cataclysm left viable roads and the destruction of most of the buildings in the area.

In response to these calamities the government decided to rebuild to alleviate the unemployment, poverty and backwardness that reigned in the southern provinces. This included a plan for better access if roads and bridges and the reclamation of unhealthy swamps and lakes. In 1818, King Ferdinand I authorized a funded government project for the reclamation of wetlands in Rosarno, as proposed by General Vito Nunziante. The general was familiar with local farmers who were experts in the cultivation of hemp, grain, flax and silkworm breeding and proposed the development of an agricultural country employing the latest agricultural best practices. After the wetlands were drained and suitable for cultivation, a plan for small houses and a church was created and families from the Tropea area and surrounding villages settled there.

In 1823, 35-year-old woman Pasquale Barbalace came from nearby Carciadi, the first settler, with his wife and five children - Antonia (nee Punturiero), Francesco, Pietro, Carlo, Giacomo and Antonio. After he settled with his family in San Ferdinando, his father has eight more children and was known for his overtime work ethic and dynamism in various community building efforts. The country he is said to have founded was called Romulus, after one of Rome's legendary twin founders who were raised by the she-wolf. After 30 years (in 1853), working hard in San Ferdinando, Mr. Barbalace died at the ripe old age of 96.

Over the next few years (1823-1825) the families that followed Mr. Barbalace were: Pantano and Tavella from S. Nicolò di Ricadi, Loiacono, Celi and Polimeni from S. Nicolò; Morano da Preitoni, Petracca da Lampazone, Rizzo, Taccone, and Naso da Spilinga, Tripodi da Brivadi; Loiacono from Orsigliadi; Punturiero from Carciadi and Falduti from Caroniti. As the financial and social prospects were proving positive in this new venture, subsequent years brought the families of: Pulella da Ricadi, Zungri and Mumoli da Lampazone; Wet by Comerconi and Rombola by Brattirò.

The original six houses, now remembered as the "case of the Prince", were built away from the Mesima river and near the beach in the present area of ​​Via Bologna and Via Como and near a modest building which he general Nunziante built for himself same (Recently the house of the heirs of Pasquale Loiacono). As more and more families came homes were built along Via Bologna, Via Salerno, Via Rosarno, and on the corner of via Magazzini, as well as the Chiesa del Perdono (Chiesa del Perdono). The small one-storey houses, which were organized around a courtyard, including a bedroom, kitchen, pantry and toilet and were made of volcanic stone sent by boat from the island of Lipari by the marquis, Don Francesco Barresi, father of General Nunziante. Some of these are still standing despite the progress of reconstruction in the city center.

As the city grew in size and citizens prospered, the city which was locally known as Casette, due to the typical small and low dwellings, was renamed San Ferdinando in honor of the King, who sponsored the development of the area. With royal decree nº 597 of 28 October 1831 the village of San Ferdinando was erected as a village of the Municipality of Rosarno. While the archive records record houses being built since 1823, the first record of rents paid for farmhouses was in 1840 and a contract dating from 1842 recording the lease of houses of Don Paolo DeLauretis (heir di Nunziante) for a period of two years for the Pantano, Loiacono, and others of the original families of San Ferdinando. The base rate was 4 ducats, with 6 ducats for those with single rooms. In addition to taxes, tenants were forced to clear and improve their property.

Despite the influx of families from the surrounding villages, in 1842 General Nunziante wanted to hire more skilled labor for the construction of more houses to grow the commercial enterprise of the city. He turned to the Bourbon government to enlist the work of men convicted of common crimes, who had demonstrated good behavior and had served less than four years from their sentence. The government agreed and Nunziante paid them a salary, to make sure they were able to be housed and pay the government the penalty associated with their crime. Many men with the intention of rehabilitating themselves rather than staying in prison accepted the offer and worked side by side with the other settlers. This practice of employing petty criminals lasted for a couple of decades until 1862.

Below is a list of these men from the parish registers and court documents during these 20 years: Del Vecchio da Ioppolo; Contartese from Ricadi, Tambaro from Scafati; Naccarato da Cosenza, from Pantano Brivadi; Megna from Coccorino, Russo and Falcone from S. Maria Capua Vetere; Baglivo from Potenza; Bovolo of Torre del Greco; Zavaglia da Polistina; Porretti da Monteleone, and Faggiano, Ferraro, Pignatelli, Cusano and various other parts of the kingdom. Most came from Campagna, Sicily and Basilicata.

In 1891, during the construction of the Gioia Tauro-Nicotera railway section, it was initially planned that the railway would pass through San Ferdinando which would thus have a station; subsequently the project was modified and the station brought to Rosarno.

It remained a fraction of Rosarno until November 28, 1977 when San Ferdinando was declared an autonomous municipality with regional law n. 28.

How to orient yourself

How to get

By plane

The nearest airports are at Reggio Calabria is Lamezia Terme.

By car

San Ferdinando is connected by the SP51 to the Strada Statale 18 Tirrena Inferiore.

On the train

The city has no train stations, so you will have to get to Gioia Tauro or Rosarno and from there continue by other means.

How to get around

What see

Events and parties

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Where stay

Safety

How to keep in touch

Post office

• 38.48433315.9198271 Post Office, Via Rimessa, 15, ☎ 39 0966 765278, fax: 39 0966 766714. Mon-Sat 8: 20-13: 35. Equipped with locker 

Around

Where you want to find other beaches you can move to Palmi or Nicotera, while further away they are Scylla is Tropea.

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning San Ferdinando (Italy)
• Commons contains images or other files on San Ferdinando (Italy)

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