Castrovillari ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''

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 Cosenza The province of Cosenza ( it, provincia di Cosenza) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 ''comuni'', listed at list of communes of the Province of Cosenza ...

in the

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

region of southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Geography

Castrovillari lies in the north of Calabria, close to the border with

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

and within the

Pollino National Park Pollino National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale del Pollino'') is an Italian national park in the southern peninsula, in the provinces of Cosenza, Matera and Potenza. Its named from the homonymous mountain massif Pollino. The park is home ...

. The town is surrounded by mountains including

Pollino The Pollino (Italian: ''Massiccio del Pollino'') is a massif in the southern Apennines, on the border between Basilicata and Calabria, southern Italy. It became part of the Pollino National Park in 1992. The main peaks include Monte Pollino (2,2 ...

(2,248 m) and Dolcedorme (2,273 m), also part of the Pollino National Park. The town borders with the municipalities of

Altomonte Altomonte is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. People * Vincenzo Di Benedetto, classical philologist Twin towns * Vigarano Mainarda Vigarano Mainarda ( Ferrarese: ) is a ''comune'' (munici ...

Lungro Lungro ( aae, Ungra) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of Italy. Lungro is one of the most prominent centers of the Arbëreshë people and the seat of the Eparchy of Lungro. This jurisdiction of the C ...

Cassano allo Ionio Cassano all'Ionio, also named Cassano allo Ionio, is a town and ''comune'' in province of Cosenza of Calabria, southern Italy, known in Roman times as ''Cassanum''. It lies in a fertile region in the concave recess of a steep mountain, 60 km n ...

Cerchiara di Calabria Cerchiara di Calabria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, part of the Calabria region of southern Italy. Located in the Pollino National Park, Cercharia occupies the ancient site of ''Arponium'' in Magna Graecia, later known ...

Chiaromonte Chiaromonte is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Under the pseudonym "Montegrano", it was the case study for Edward C. Banfield's ''The Moral Basis of a Backward Society The ''Moral ...

, Civita,

Frascineto Frascineto ( aae, Frasnita) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. ...

Morano Calabro Morano Calabro ( Moranese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It was the birthplace of mathematician Gaetano Scorza. Geography The municipality borders with Castrovillari (the nea ...

, San Basile,

Saracena Saracena () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The town is bordered by Altomonte, Castrovillari, Firmo, Lungro, Morano Calabro, Mormanno, Orsomarso and San Basile and is home to the ...

San Lorenzo Bellizzi San Lorenzo Bellizzi is a village and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Situated in the Pollino National Park, the village is bordered by Castrovillari, Cerchiara di Calabria, Civita and Terranov ...

San Lorenzo del Vallo San Lorenzo del Vallo ( aae, Sullarënxa) is an Arbëreshë town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a cou ...

and

Terranova di Pollino Terranova di Pollino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Basilicata region of Italy. The town is located in the Pollino National Park Pollino National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale del Pollino'') is an Italian nation ...

History

The name derives probably from the

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

''castrum villarum'', meaning "fortress of the villas". The place is inhabited since prehistoric times. The city was founded, or better fortified, during the medieval wars between the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

; the name comes from a more ancient fortress called "Sassonion" or "Saxonion", so the "Castron" appeared in some documents as "Neon Sassonion", likely the ancient Byzantine name corresponding to the medieval Latin "Castrum Villarum". Officially the city entered the history in 1064 AD when the "Castra" was occupied by

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

warriors led by

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...

. In 1090, during the county of his son

Roger Borsa Roger Borsa (1060/1061 – 22 February 1111) was the Norman Duke of Apulia and Calabria and effective ruler of southern Italy from 1085 until his death. Life Roger was the son of Robert Guiscard and Sikelgaita, a Lombard noblewoman. His ambiti ...

, the sanctuary of "Saint Mary of the Castle" Madonna del Castello was built. During the

House of Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

rule in southern Italy, the town obtained the title of city and was the starting point for the evangelization of Calabria by the Minor Friars Order, founded by St. Francis from Assisi. The first Franciscan Monastery in Calabria ("Protoconvento francescano") was built here in 1220 by Pietro Cathin from Sant'Andrea of the Marca, the first Order's Prior in Calabria. the castle was built in 1490 during the Aragonese rule in southern Italy.

Main sights

*''Castello Aragonese'' *''Ponte della Catena'' (Bridge of the Chain), connecting the two halves of the city *Church of ''San Giuliano'' *Franciscan protoconvent *Church of ''Madonna del Castello''

Transport

The town was served, until 1978, by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the now abandoned

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

line Lagonegro-Lauria-Castrovillari-Spezzano Albanese, owned by the regional company Ferrovie della Calabria. It is crossed by the A2 motorway (

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

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 ...

) and served by two exits: "Castrovillari-Morano Calabro" and "Castrovillari-Frascineto".

Sport

Castrovillari local chess team plays in the second division of the Italian team competition. Regarding

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, the most representative team is the U.S. Castrovillari Calcio, commonly known as Castrovillari. The team played for several seasons in the

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

,Now ''Lega Pro Seconda Divisione'' the fourth highest football league in Italy and the lowest with a professional status. Its home ground is the " Mimmo Rende Stadium".

References

External links

Official website

Castrovillari.info

The diary of Castrovillari
{{authority control Cities and towns in Calabria Castles in Italy