Cittanova 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 ...

'' (municipality) in the

Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria ( it, Città metropolitana di Reggio Calabria) is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Calabria region of the Republic of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Reggi ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region

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

, located about southwest of

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...

and about northeast of

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 ...

. Located on the slopes of

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� ...

and facing the

Gioia Tauro Gioia Tauro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Italy), on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in t ...

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

, it is characterized by the presence of numerous churches and a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

which extends for 2.65

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

(6.55 ac).

Geography

The town is located at the foot of the

, on alluvial

quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

soils, consisting of incoherent sands and gravels that cover the large terraces sloping down towards the Gulf of Gioia. Cittanova dominates the

from the highest terrace, the one bordering the massif of the

Serre Calabresi The Serre Calabresi or ''Calabrian Serre'' ( Calabrian dialect: ''Serra'') are a mountain and hill area of Calabria, southern Italy, characterized by large extents of woods. The name could be derived by the Jewish ''Ser'', meaning "mountains", ...

, almost in contact between the two lithological formations: alluvial and crystalline. This geological conformation favors the propagation of

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

, as the incoherence of the alluvial cover is increased during earthquakes by the contiguous and underlying crystalline formation. The territory of Cittanova is crossed by the homonymous fault which is part of the Serre-Aspromonte fault system, 30 kilometers long and still active. The altitude referring to the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

building is 400 meters

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, in the municipal area the minimum altitude reaches 77 m above mean sea level while the maximum reaches 996 meters. The surface is 61.98 km² (about 65% in flat land planted with olive trees and 35% in mountainous wooded land and natural pastures). The main water courses are the torrents ''Serra'' and ''Vacale''. Main peaks: ''Melìa'' plateau (m. 1,000), ''Zomaro'' (m. 920) and ''Mount Cuculo'' (m. 725). Zomaro is located on the Melìa plateau, inside 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 ...

. The flora that characterizes it is mainly composed of

beeches Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

holm oaks ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen t ...

firs Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...

and

brooms A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

. Also present is

Woodwardia radicans ''Woodwardia radicans'', the chain fern, European chain fern or rooting chainfern, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, mainly found in Macaronesia and southwestern Europe, but is also found in southern Italy and Crete. Growing to tal ...

, an ancient giant

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

which survived the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

. The fauna has numerous

wild boars The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...

as well as

squirrels Squirrels are members of the family (biology), family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flyi ...

badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vi ...

and black kites. The plateau is also rich in spring waters. Cittanova borders the following municipalities:

Antonimina Antonimina 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. Antonimina borders the following municipalities: ...

Canolo Canolo 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. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 901 an ...

Ciminà Ciminà () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 652 and an ...

Gerace Gerace (; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Gerace is located some inland from Locri, yet the latter town and the sea can be seen from Gerace's perch atop a vertical rock. T ...

Melicucco Melicucco () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,024 and ...

Molochio Molochio () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,700 and ...

Polistena Polistena (, or ''Polysthénē'') 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. Polistena borders the fo ...

Rizziconi Rizziconi (; scn, label= Calabrian, Rizzìcuni) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 200 ...

Rosarno Rosarno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region of Calabria. It is about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. Rosarno stands on a natural terrace cloaked in olive ...

San Giorgio Morgeto San Giorgio Morgeto ( Calabrian: or simply ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 200 ...

and

Taurianova Taurianova is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the southern Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1 ...

Climate

The climate is

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. The plain of Gioia, open to the sea but sheltered from the winds, increases the humidity, making the land particularly fertile.

History

Cittanova (Italian for "New City") was born in 1618, in the wake of the disastrous earthquake of 1616, as the ''Nuovo Casale di Curtuladi'' ("New Hamlet of Curtuladi"), then ''Casalnuovo'' upgraded to city status as ''Cittanova''. The city was all but demolished in the great earthquake of 1783 that damaged

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

.On-line history of Cittanova
/ref>

Demographics

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:350 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:19000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 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:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:11022 bar:1871 from: 0 till:12030 bar:1881 from: 0 till:11547 bar:1901 from: 0 till:11575 bar:1911 from: 0 till:14879 bar:1921 from: 0 till:15842 bar:1931 from: 0 till:18751 bar:1936 from: 0 till:13796 bar:1951 from: 0 till:15777 bar:1961 from: 0 till:12880 bar:1971 from: 0 till:11863 bar:1981 from: 0 till:10926 bar:1991 from: 0 till:10540 bar:2001 from: 0 till:10675 bar:2011 from: 0 till:10344 PlotData= bar:1861 at:11022 fontsize:S text: 11,022 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:12030 fontsize:S text: 12,030 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:11547 fontsize:S text: 11,547 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:11575 fontsize:S text: 11,575 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:14879 fontsize:S text: 14,879 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:15842 fontsize:S text: 15,842 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:18751 fontsize:S text: 18,751 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:13796 fontsize:S text: 13,796 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:15777 fontsize:S text: 15,777 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:12880 fontsize:S text: 12,880 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:11863 fontsize:S text: 11,863 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:10926 fontsize:S text: 10,926 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:10540 fontsize:S text: 10,540 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:10675 fontsize:S text: 10,675 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:10675 fontsize:S text: 10,344 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Twin towns

Ivangorod Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia inte ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''. In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th l ...

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 ...

Vimodrone Vimodrone ( lmo, Vimodron ; historically ''Modrone'' or '' Vico Modrone'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is located about northeast of Milan. Vimodrone borders the followin ...

References

External links

Official website

Cittanova.Com

CittanovaOnLine.It
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1618 Cities and towns in Calabria 1618 establishments in Italy