Africo ( Calabrian: ; ) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Reggio Calabria The Province of Reggio Calabria ( it, Provincia di 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 ...

, in the Southern Italian region of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

located from

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

. Africo consists of two main centers. The first, Africo Vecchio (Old Africo), is located some in the mainland at the feet of the

Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, southern Italy). The literal translation of the name means "rough mountain". But for others the name more likely is related to the Greek word Aspros ( Ά� ...

. The old town was destroyed by disastrous floods and landslides in October 1951 and abandoned. The second, Africo Nuovo (New Africo), was reconstructed around away, on the Ionian coast near

Bianco Bianco is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Reggio Calabria, in southern Italy. It is a seaside town and a popular tourist resort. The main attractions are the remainings of an old abbey and the ruins of a Roman house. See also *Calabri ...

. The remnants of the old town are situated in the

Aspromonte National Park Aspromonte National Park is situated in the southern section of the Apennines, in Calabria, Italy. The park lies near the sea and includes mountain summits with altitudes close to 2000 meters ( Montalto is 1,955 m). The park's territory, cros ...

.Ricerche Storiche
Africo.net (''Retrieved January 17, 2010'')

History

The origin of the name is unclear. According to some scholars, the name may have derived from the Latin name ' (airy and sunny) which is from the Greek '. Others believe it comes from the Latin ''africus'' (''ventus''), winds from Africa. Άφρικο (Aphriko) in Greek means deriving from Africa, possibly meaning the South-Westernly wind coming to the region from the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates t ...

. The village of Africo was inhabitted by

Griko people The Griko people ( el, Γκρίκο), also known as Grecanici in Calabria, are an ethnic Greek community of Southern Italy. They are found principally in regions of Calabria and Apulia (peninsula of Salento). The Griko are believed to be remnants ...

, known as Grecanici in Calabria. The Grecanici are a Greek ethnic and linguistic minority in the Calabria region of Italy, remnants of a population that has resided there since late antiquity. The Grecanic language was lost in Africo during the late 19th century and was replaced by Calabrian. In 1571 Gabriele Barrio writes that in Africo the Sacred Rites were celebrated in Greek and that the population also used Greek in family relationships, together with Italo-Romance languages. At the end of the 18th century the Greek

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

was still observed there. In the 19th century the inhabitants of Africo abandoned the Greek Rite as well as the Greek language. The dialect of Africo is of the neo-Latin type, but with several words of Greek origin: for example the name of the stream Aposcipo derives from the Greek Απόσχεπος (Apòskepos = "not protected"). However, Africo is not currently part of the Grecanic speaking area. Its inhabitants are called Africesi or Africoti.

Africo Vecchio

The old centre was founded around the 9th century by inhabitants from Delia or Deri. In 1195 the town became a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

of the Archbishop of Reggio Calabria granted by the

king of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which occ ...

, Henry VI. It remained so until the end of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

in Calabria in 1806. An earthquake in 1783, partially destroyed the town, killing six people. Earthquakes in 1905 and 1908 again hit the town. Africo has become the symbol of hunger, floods, wandering and the dispersion of the inhabitants of inland Calabria. In 1931 the Calabrian writer

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 succe ...

described a famine which had afflicted Africo. In 1946,

Umberto Zanotti Bianco Umberto Zanotti Bianco (22 January 1889 – 28 August 1963) was an Italian historian social activist. He was once President of the Italian Red Cross. Career In 1920, Umberto Zanotti Bianco founded the Società Magna Grecia. In 1955, he co-foun ...

published a book on the people of Africo, ''Tra la perduta gente'' (Amongst the lost peoples) describing the dire conditions and hunger. At the time the village could only be reached by a 6/7 hour ride on a mule.Africo, emblema della disperazione
by Tommaso Besozzi, L’Europeo Nr. 12, March 1948 In 1948 the journalist

Tommaso Besozzi Tommaso Francesco Besozzi (20 January 1903 – 18 November 1964), also known as Tom, was an Italian journalist and writer. He is considered to be one of the most important post-war journalists of Italy and his writing style earned him the epithet ...

and photographer

Tino Petrelli Valentino Petrelli (August 6, 1922 – September 8, 2001 in Piacenza), better known as Tino, was an Italian photographer, well known for his documentary photography. At the age of 12 he moved to Milan and in 1937 he started to work for Publifoto ...

published a report in the magazine

L’Europeo ''L'Europeo'' was a prominent Italian weekly news magazine launched on 4 November 1945, by the founder-editors Gianni Mazzocchi and Arrigo Benedetti.

, showing the misery and hunger of the people of Africo. The article, entitled ''Africo, symbol of disparity'', and the series of documentary photographs produced an outrage from national public opinion which, at the time, was rediscovering the dramatic situation of the " southern question". The inhabitants of Africo left their village from 1949 onwards and moved to new houses built along the Ionian coast, to New Africo.''Food and Fatness in Calabria'', by Vito Teti, in
Social Aspects of Obesity
edited by I. de Garine and Nancy J. Pollock, Routledge, 1995,

Africo Nuovo

On October 15–18, 1951, floods and landslides destroyed Africo and the nearby hamlet Casalinuovo. People were evacuated to

Bova Marina Bova Marina (Calabrian Greek: , ''Jalò tu Vunà''; Calabrian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about southeast of Reggio Calabr ...

and

Fiumara di Muro Fiumara ( Reggino: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. Fiumara borders the following munici ...

. Africo Nuovo has been constructed around away from the old town, on the Ionian coast, near

. The town is home to the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

, a

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. Several of the criminal clans are sometimes involved in bloody feuds.Africa Nuovo Journal: On the Toe Of Italy, the Shotgun Settles Old Scores
The New York Times, May 5, 1987

Economy

In Africo Vecchio (Old Africo), the economy of the village was mainly sheep farming, also practiced was the breeding of silkworms, reflecting the Greek origin of the village. In Africo Nuovo (New Africo), the economy is based on agriculture and greenhouses for the cultivation of fruits, the production of cement, and forestry. Tourism is, to date, poorly exploited even though it has enormous potential.

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:300 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4000 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 bar:2009 text:2009 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:1346 bar:1871 from: 0 till:1431 bar:1881 from: 0 till:1780 bar:1901 from: 0 till:1812 bar:1911 from: 0 till:1819 bar:1921 from: 0 till:1868 bar:1931 from: 0 till:2008 bar:1936 from: 0 till:2189 bar:1951 from: 0 till:2542 bar:1961 from: 0 till:3304 bar:1971 from: 0 till:3518 bar:1981 from: 0 till:3543 bar:1991 from: 0 till:3223 bar:2001 from: 0 till:3465 bar:2009 from: 0 till:3339 PlotData= bar:1861 at:1346 fontsize:XS text: 1346 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:1431 fontsize:XS text: 1431 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:1780 fontsize:XS text: 1780 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:1812 fontsize:XS text: 1812 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:1819 fontsize:XS text: 1819 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:1868 fontsize:XS text: 1868 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:2008 fontsize:XS text: 2008 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:2189 fontsize:XS text: 2189 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:2542 fontsize:XS text: 2542 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:3304 fontsize:XS text: 3304 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:3518 fontsize:XS text: 3518 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:3543 fontsize:XS text: 3543 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:3223 fontsize:XS text: 3223 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:3465 fontsize:XS text: 3465 shift:(-8,5) bar:2009 at:3339 fontsize:XS text: 3339 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Notable people

Giuseppe Morabito Giuseppe Morabito (; born August 15, 1934), nicknamed ("the straightshooter"), is an Italian criminal and a historical boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in the region of Calabria (Italy). He hails from Africo in the Locride. He wa ...

(born 1934), a notorious 'Ndrangheta boss * Rocco Morabito (born 1966), a notorious Italian mobster and the boss of

in Africo

References

External links

Africo, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
- Civil Records 1866 to 1910.
Nella tana del brigante Musolino in mezzo ai picchi dell’Aspromonte
by

Paolo Rumiz Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian language, Italian form of the name Paul (name), Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1 ...

, La Repubblica / L'Espresso, August 6, 2011 {{Authority control Cities and towns in Calabria Articles which contain graphical timelines