San Luca is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Reggio Calabria The province of Reggio Calabria () was a province in the Calabria region of Italy. It was the southernmost province in mainland Italy and is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. The capital was the city of Reggio. It w ...

in Italy, located about southwest of

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), 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 province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

and about east of

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 ...

. The town is situated on the eastern slopes of the

Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, southern Italy). In Italian aspro means "rough" whereas in Greek it means "white" (wikt:άσπρος, Άσπρος), therefore the name literally translat ...

mountains and in the valley of the Bonamico river. The village has long been known as a stronghold of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...

, a

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

-type criminal organisation based in Calabria, with an ongoing clan based power struggle dubbed the

San Luca feud The San Luca feud or Vendetta of San Luca is a long-running conflict between two clans of the 'Ndrangheta crime organisation that began in 1991 in Italy's Calabria region in the village of San Luca. History The two involved clans, the Strangio-N ...

. The

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our Lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria, southern Italy. It was founded by Rog ...

is located from San Luca. It has long been the 'Ndrangheta's meeting place.

History

San Luca was founded on October 18, 1592, by Prince Sigismund Loffredo and named after Saint

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

, who became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the town. It was populated by refugees from the old town of Potamia, which was destroyed by landslides.Storia
, Fondazione Corrado Alvaro San Luca became a ''comune'' in 1811, and was hit by floods and landslides in 1951, 1953, and December 1972. Journalist and author

Corrado Alvaro Corrado Alvaro (15 April 1895 – 11 June 1956) was an Italian journalist and writer of novels, short stories, screenplays and plays. He often used the '' verismo'' style to describe the hopeless poverty in his native Calabria. His first suc ...

grew up in San Luca in the early 1900s, a time when illiteracy was near 100 percent and the town had no drinking water. The women went to fetch water with the casks on their heads at a well nearby. The town was fairly isolated; there was no road to the coast and the only way was on foot. Many inhabitants joined the

Italian diaspora The Italian diaspora (, ) is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended ...

to escape the extreme poverty.Il paese di Alvaro
Fondazione Corrado Alvaro

Stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta

San Luca is considered to be the stronghold of the

, a

-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. According to a former '' 'ndranghetista'', "almost all the male inhabitants belong to the 'Ndrangheta, and the

has long been the meeting place of the affiliates, known as the

Crimine The crimine is an annual meeting of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. The meeting is held near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in the municipality of San Luca during the September Feast.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 59 ...

."Paoli. ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 29 At least since the 1950s, the chiefs of the 'Ndrangheta '' locali'' have met regularly near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi during the September Feast. In 1969 the police raided a meeting near the sanctuary and captured more than 70 '' 'ndranghetisti'', while others managed to escape.Paoli. ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 59 The historical preeminence of the San Luca family is such that every new group or ''locale'' must obtain its authorization to operate and every group belonging to the 'Ndrangheta "has to deposit a small percentage of illicit proceeds to the ''principale'' of San Luca in recognition of the latter’s primordial supremacy." San Luca, in the words of a study published in 2005 by Italy's domestic intelligence service, is "the cradle of he 'Ndranghetaand its epicentre". In 1991, the

, a war between the

Pelle Pelle may refer to: * ''Pelle'' (album), a 2000 studio album of the Italian band Punkreas * Pelle (given name) * Pelle (surname) * Pelle Pelle, a fashion brand ** " Pelle Coat", a 2023 song by Lil Durk named after the brand * An enzyme, also kn ...

-Vottari-Romeo and Strangio-Nirta clans began and resulted in several deaths. It carried into Germany in August 2007 when six Italian men were shot to death in front of an Italian restaurant in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

. In May 2023, the Italian police made numerous arrests in San Luca as part of an international razzia against the 'Ndrangheta.

Demographic evolution

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:400 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:5000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 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 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:1536 bar:1871 from: 0 till:1628 bar:1881 from: 0 till:1767 bar:1901 from: 0 till:2029 bar:1911 from: 0 till:2169 bar:1921 from: 0 till:2288 bar:1931 from: 0 till:2657 bar:1936 from: 0 till:2916 bar:1951 from: 0 till:2728 bar:1961 from: 0 till:4072 bar:1971 from: 0 till:4300 bar:1981 from: 0 till:4400 bar:1991 from: 0 till:4413 bar:2001 from: 0 till:4106 PlotData= bar:1861 at: 1536 fontsize:XS text: 1536 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at: 1628 fontsize:XS text: 1628 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at: 1767 fontsize:XS text: 1767 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at: 2029 fontsize:XS text: 2029 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at: 2169 fontsize:XS text: 2169 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at: 2288 fontsize:XS text: 2288 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at: 2657 fontsize:XS text: 2657 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at: 2916 fontsize:XS text: 2916 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at: 2728 fontsize:XS text: 2728 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at: 4072 fontsize:XS text: 4072 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at: 4300 fontsize:XS text: 4300 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at: 4400 fontsize:XS text: 4400 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at: 4413 fontsize:XS text: 4413 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at: 4106 fontsize:XS text: 4106 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Notable people

(1895–1956), journalist and writer, born in San Luca in 1895. His hand-written notes and other personal belongings are now kept in the house where he was born by the Corrado Alvaro Foundation.San Luca: the story and traditions
, Movimento Donne San Luca e della Locride *

Antonio Pelle Antonio Pelle (; March 1, 1932 – November 4, 2009), also known as Ntoni Gambazza ("Tony Bad Leg"), was a historically significant and charismatic 'Ndrangheta boss from San Luca in Calabria. He was the patriarch of the San Luca ''Locale ('Ndrangh ...

(1932–2009), also known as Ntoni Gambazza, a historically significant 'Ndrangheta boss *

Antonio Nirta Antonio Nirta (22 April 1919 – 1 September 2015) was a boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organization, in the Italian region of Calabria. Together with his brothers Giuseppe, Francesco, and Sebastiano, he ruled San Luca, a stronghold of t ...

(1919–2015), a historically significant 'Ndrangheta boss

References

External links

All In The Famiglia: Cracking omertà in Calabria
by Bruce Livesey,'' The Walrus Magazine'', May 2008. * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Calabria History of the 'Ndrangheta