Cittanova is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its ...

and about northeast of

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated pop ...

. Located on the slopes of

Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria ( Calabria, southern Italy). The literal translation of the name means "rough mountain". But for others the name more likely is related to the Greek word Aspros ( � ...

and facing the

Gioia Tauro Gioia Tauro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Italy), on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in ...

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. ...

, it is characterized by the presence of numerous churches and a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to res ...

which extends for 2.65

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

(6.55 ac).

Geography

The town is located at the foot of the

, on alluvial quaternary soils, consisting of incoherent sands and gravels that cover the large terraces sloping down towards the Gulf of Gioia. Cittanova dominates the

from the highest terrace, the one bordering the massif of the Serre Calabresi, almost in contact between the two lithological formations: alluvial and crystalline. This geological conformation favors the propagation of

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

, as the incoherence of the alluvial cover is increased during earthquakes by the contiguous and underlying crystalline formation. The territory of Cittanova is crossed by the homonymous fault which is part of the Serre-Aspromonte fault system, 30 kilometers long and still active. The altitude referring to the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually house ...

building is 400 meters

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the Vertical position, vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric h ...

, in the municipal area the minimum altitude reaches 77 m above mean sea level while the maximum reaches 996 meters. The surface is 61.98 km² (about 65% in flat land planted with olive trees and 35% in mountainous wooded land and natural pastures). The main water courses are the torrents ''Serra'' and ''Vacale''. Main peaks: ''Melìa'' plateau (m. 1,000), ''Zomaro'' (m. 920) and ''Mount Cuculo'' (m. 725). Zomaro is located on the Melìa plateau, inside the Aspromonte National Park. The flora that characterizes it is mainly composed of beeches, holm oaks, firs and

brooms A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. ...

. Also present is Woodwardia radicans, an ancient giant

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except ...

which survived the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

. The fauna has numerous wild boars as well as

squirrels Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...

badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by th ...

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

owls Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers ...

and

black kites Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

. The plateau is also rich in spring waters. Cittanova borders the following municipalities: Antonimina, Canolo, Ciminà, Gerace, Melicucco, Molochio,

Polistena Polistena (, or ''Polysthénē'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. Polistena borders the ...

, Rizziconi, Rosarno, San Giorgio Morgeto and Taurianova.

Climate

The climate is

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

. The plain of Gioia, open to the sea but sheltered from the winds, increases the humidity, making the land particularly fertile.

History

Cittanova (Italian for "New City") was born in 1618, in the wake of the disastrous earthquake of 1616, as the ''Nuovo Casale di Curtuladi'' ("New Hamlet of Curtuladi"), then ''Casalnuovo'' upgraded to city status as ''Cittanova''. The city was all but demolished in the great earthquake of 1783 that damaged

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 in ...

.On-line history of Cittanova
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Demographics

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:350 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:19000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:11022 bar:1871 from: 0 till:12030 bar:1881 from: 0 till:11547 bar:1901 from: 0 till:11575 bar:1911 from: 0 till:14879 bar:1921 from: 0 till:15842 bar:1931 from: 0 till:18751 bar:1936 from: 0 till:13796 bar:1951 from: 0 till:15777 bar:1961 from: 0 till:12880 bar:1971 from: 0 till:11863 bar:1981 from: 0 till:10926 bar:1991 from: 0 till:10540 bar:2001 from: 0 till:10675 bar:2011 from: 0 till:10344 PlotData= bar:1861 at:11022 fontsize:S text: 11,022 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:12030 fontsize:S text: 12,030 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:11547 fontsize:S text: 11,547 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:11575 fontsize:S text: 11,575 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:14879 fontsize:S text: 14,879 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:15842 fontsize:S text: 15,842 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:18751 fontsize:S text: 18,751 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:13796 fontsize:S text: 13,796 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:15777 fontsize:S text: 15,777 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:12880 fontsize:S text: 12,880 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:11863 fontsize:S text: 11,863 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:10926 fontsize:S text: 10,926 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:10540 fontsize:S text: 10,540 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:10675 fontsize:S text: 10,675 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:10675 fontsize:S text: 10,344 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Twin towns

Ivangorod Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia in ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a '' comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''. In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

* Vimodrone,

References

External links

Official website

Cittanova.Com

CittanovaOnLine.It
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1618 Cities and towns in Calabria 1618 establishments in Italy