Reggio Calabria (officially Reggio di Calabria, Rìggiu in Calabrian dialect, Righi in Greek-Calabrian), is the largest and the oldest city in Calabria, Italy, dating back to the 8th century BCE (see history below). Located on the toe of the Italian boot, it's the capital of the province of Reggio Calabria and the headquarters of the Regional Council of Calabria. The city proper has about 200,000 inhabitants, but the population of the urban area is more.

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 3 Main sights 4 Culture 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Geography

Reggio di Calabria is located on the boot toe of Italy, across from the island of Sicily. The area has been subjected to several earthquakes and tsunami waves, over the centuries.

[edit] History

Founded as Rhegion by Greek settlers in the 8th century BCE, the city was devastated by several major earthquakes and associated tsunami. During the Roman Empire it was called Rhegium Julium as a noble Roman city. Later Reggio di Calabria became a Byzantine city, and in the 12th century, it became part of the Kingdom of Sicily, and then in the 13th century, it became part of the Kingdom of Naples.

Reggio Calabria is known as the location of the first dated Hebrew book, a Rashi commentary on the Pentateuch, printed in 1475; <ref name=LOChebraic>

    "The Books of the People of the Book - Hebraic Collections" (Hebrew book with date),
    Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2003-11-06, webpage:
    LibraryCongress-Hebraic.

</ref> however, scholars consider Rome as the city where Hebrew printing began.<ref name=LOChebraic/>

For Reggio di Calabria, the worst earthquakes came in 1783 and on December 28, 1908.

[edit] Main sights

[edit] Culture

Reggio Calabria was the hometown of Gianni Versace, where his family were tailors.

[edit] See also

• University of Reggio Calabria
• List of mayors of Reggio Calabria
• Reggio Calabria Airport

[edit] Notes