Pentedattilo ( Calabrian Greek: Πενταδάκτυλο - Pentadàktilo) is a small village in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

, southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, administratively a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of

Melito di Porto Salvo Melito di Porto Salvo (; or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about southeast of Reggio Calabria; and is also the southernmost m ...

. Until 1811, before the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

, it was a separate commune. It is situated at 250 m above the sea level, on the Monte Calvario, a mountain whose shapes once resembled that of five fingers (whence the name, from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''pente + daktylos '', meaning "five fingers"). Pentedattilo is another ex-Greek speaking village in the isolated Calabrian region. Ιt lost its Greek language during the late 19th century.

History

The town was founded as a colony of the Greek city of

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

, in 640 BC. A flourishing commercial town during the Greater Greece and Roman eras, it declined during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

domination, when it was sacked by the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

and by others. In the 12th century it was conquered by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

, and, together with Capo D'Armi, Condofuri and Montebello Ionico, it became part of a baronial fief under the Abenavoli family. These were succeeded by the Francoperta, from

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...

, and then by the Alberti (until 1760), the Clement and the Ramirez (1823). The town was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1783, which caused the migration of much of the population to the nearby Melito Porto Salvo. The town remained totally uninhabited from the mid-1960s to the 1980s, when it was partially restored and repopulated by volunteers from across Europe. The town, now a ghost town, hosts a yearly film festival.

References

{{authority control Frazioni of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria Former municipalities of Calabria Ghost towns in Italy

History

See also

References