Squillace (; ; ) is an ancient town and in the Province of Catanzaro, part of

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 Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. Squillace is situated near the east coast of Calabria, facing the shores of the eponymous Gulf of Squillace (), which indents the coast of Calabria on the east as deeply as that of the Gulf of Saint Euphemia () does on the west, with a comparatively narrow isthmus between them facing the eponymous gulf.

History

Squillace is known today as one of Italy's most important archaeological sites as well as a popular resort. The name derives from the ancient city of Scylletium, the principal ruins of which are located in the nearby comune of Borgia. The Roman statesman and writer

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...

founded a monastery called Vivarium on his family estates on the shores of the Ionian Sea in the 6th century AD. This monastery was on the site of the modern Santa Maria de Vetere near Squillace.

Medieval and early modern history

The modern town was founded as a

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 ...

fortress during the Byzantine reconquest of Italy (6th–8th century). During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

it was subject to frequent raids by

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 ...

, who made it for a short time a strong military base. After this brief Arab rule the city fell under the hegemony of 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 ...

, who in 1044 built a castle and transformed the settlement into a county. During the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

, with the lordship of

Roger of Lauria Roger of Lauria (''c''. 1245 – 17 January 1305), was a Calabrian knight who served the Crown of Aragon as admiral of the Aragonese navy during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and talented naval tacticia ...

, Squillace passed first to Robert of Anjou and to the counts of Monfort, then for one hundred and fifty years the city was ruled by the Marzano family. In 1445, it reverted to the Aragonese Kings of Naples but passed by marriage to the infamous

House of Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a Toponymic surname, toponymic from ...

, who ruled the city as Princes of Squillace from 1494 to 1735. The Borgias themselves lived either in Naples or in Spain, being represented in Squillace by governors.

Gioffre Borgia Gioffre Borgia (1481 – January 1517), also known as Goffredo Borgia (Italian language, Italian) or Jofré Borja (Valencian language, Valencian), was the youngest illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei, and a member of ...

(1482–1516), son of

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

and younger brother of Cesare Borgia and

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

, married Sancia (Sancha) of Aragon, daughter of

Alfonso II of Naples Alfonso II (4 November 1448 – 18 December 1495) was Duke of Calabria and ruled as King of Naples from 25 January 1494 to 23 January 1495. He was a soldier and a patron of Renaissance architecture and the arts. Heir to his father Fe ...

. Gioffre thereby obtained both the Principality of Squillace (1494) and the Duchy of Alvito (1497) as his wife's dowry. He lost Alvito after the death of Sancia in 1506, but managed to retain Squillace. Subsequently he married Maria de Mila, and their son Francesco Borgia inherited the Principality. Three more Borgias ruled Squillace after Francesco: Giovanni, Pietro and, finally, Anna, after whose death the Principality passed to Francisco de Borja y Aragón and thence to his brother Fernando de Borja y Aragón. Under the Bourbons, Squillace was downgraded to a Marquisate and granted in 1755 to the Marquis Leopoldo de Gregorio, a nobleman from Messina who was to be the last feudal lord of Squillace.

Ceramics

Production of highly prized

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

has been an important part the local economy for centuries;

makes several mentions of it in his writings. Squillace is the home of the ''pignatari'' style of ceramic artistry. The name is derived from the Italian word ''pignata'', an earthenware container used for cooking beans over an open fire.

Notable people

* Florestano Pepe * Guglielmo Pepe

References

External links

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Calabria Cities and towns in Calabria