Amantea

Amantea is a municipality in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria area of ​​Italy with 13,827 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2012). It is located 43 km southwest of Cosenza and 308 km south of Naples.

Geography

The urban area of ​​Amantea extends over a small coastal plain, south of the river Catocastro over 13 km along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, framed by a promontory of the Sila Mountains. The old town is already on a hill advanced. Below stretches the modern city with the very popular beach with tourists.

Districts of Amantea are Acquicella, Camoli, Campora San Giovanni and Coreca.

The neighboring municipalities are Belmonte Calabro, Cleto, Nocera Terinese (CZ ), San Pietro in Amantea and Serra d' Aiello.

History

In the area of Amantea, there were already in the Archaic period a Greek colony, as the discovery of a sanctuary from the 6th century BC proves. At the same time there was a settlement in the nearby mountains of the breeding animal. This place called Clampetia was 204 BC conquered by the Romans and incorporated as a colony Ager Clampetinus into their empire. The name Amantea first appeared in the 7th century AD on.

839 Arabs conquered Amantea and made ​​it the seat of the emirate. However, it was 885 by Nicephorus Phocas for the Byzantine Empire, with the help of residents, recovered. 1094 the bishopric was moved by Roger I of Amantea to Tropea.

1495 Amantea fought successfully against it, that was the place as a fief to Francesco d' Alengre Charles VIII of France. Karl had to withdraw shortly afterwards from Italy ( see: Italian Wars).

1630 Orazio bought Battista Ravaschieri, Prince of Belmonte, for 60,000 ducats the city. However, the residents bought their city back for the same amount and thus were from 1633 re- direct subject of the King of Naples.

1806-1807 was a siege of the French under Joseph Bonaparte withstand half a year the inhabitants of the city under the leadership of Bourbon commander Rodolfo Mirabelli until it destroyed by cannon fire gave up.

During the 19th century, the settlement of the coastal plain below the old town began. Since the 1950s, began the development of tourist infrastructure.

Demographics

Source: ISTAT

Policy

Francesco Sperti ( civil list ) was selected in August 2008 to the mayor.

Attractions

• The city is overlooked by the ruins of the castle.
• The church of San Bernardino da Siena ( 1436 ), originally the church of the Franciscan monastery, is an outstanding example of late Gothic architecture in Calabria.

Others

In 1990 the ship Jolly Rosso is stranded on the coast near Antamea. The charge was never identified, but probably buried illegally in the vicinity of the church. After the cancer cases accumulated in subsequent years in the region, technicians found near the alleged shipment and found there increased radioactivity and a warming of the earth by six degrees proof.

Sons and daughters

• Mario Pirillo ( born 1945 ), Italian politician