Santa Severina () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and ''

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 ...

'' in the

province of Crotone The province of Crotone () is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. It was formed in 1992 out of a section of the province of Catanzaro. The provincial capital is the city of Crotone. It borders the provinces of Cosenza, Catanzaro, and als ...

, in the

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 ...

region of 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 ...

. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

Name

The name derives from ancient Siberine (῾Αγία Σεβερίνη, Σεβεριάνη). There is no saint named Severina in the Greek or Roman calendar of saints.Oxford
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History

It is the birthplace of

Pope Zachary Pope Zachary (; 679 – March 752) was the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death in March 752. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of sla ...

and also of

Henry Aristippus Henry Aristippus of Calabria (born in Santa Severina in 1105–10; died in Palermo in 1162), sometimes known as Enericus or Henricus Aristippus, was a religious scholar and the archdeacon of Catania (from c. 1155) and later chief '' familiaris'' ...

, who was a religious scholar and writer at the court of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily.

Ecclesiastical History

The bishopric -established around 400 AD- and -since around 100 AD- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Severina (v.) was suppressed on 30 September 1986, its title and territory being merged into the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Crotone–Santa Severina.

Geography

The town is bordered by Belvedere di Spinello, Caccuri, Castelsilano, Rocca di Neto, Roccabernarda, San Mauro Marchesato and Scandale.

Culture

There is a cultural festival which is held each year in August in Santa Severina, focusing on traditional Italian music.

Twin towns

Mangalia Mangalia (, ), ancient Callatis (; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The municipality of Mangalia als ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

External links

Summer festival in Santa Severina

Official Homepage of Santa Severina

Notes and references

Cities and towns in Calabria Borghi più belli d'Italia {{Calabria-geo-stub