San Luca 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
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
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 =
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, 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 east 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 ...
. The town is situated on the eastern slopes 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 ...
mountain, in the valley of the
Bonamico river. At about from San Luca up the mountain lies the
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our Lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria, southern Italy. It was founded by Roge ...
.
The Italian author
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 ...
was born in San Luca in 1895. His hand-written notes and other personal belongings are now kept in the house where he was born by the Corrado Alvaro Foundation.
[San Luca: the story and traditions]
, Movimento Donne San Luca e della Locride
History
San Luca was founded on October 18, 1592, by the
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
Sigismund Loffredo Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
and named after the saint of that particular day,
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...
, who became the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of the town. It was populated by refugees from the old town of Potamia, which was destroyed by landslides.
[Storia]
, Fondazione Corrado Alvaro San Luca became a ''comune'' in 1811, and was hit by floods and landslides in 1951, 1953 and December 1972.
Around 1900, at the time the young Corrado Alvaro grew up in San Luca, illiteracy was near 100 percent and the town had no drinking water. The women went to fetch water with the casks on their heads at a well nearby. The town was pretty much isolated; there was no road to the coast and the only way to get there was on foot. Many inhabitants joined the
Italian diaspora
, image = Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg
, image_caption = Map of the Italian diaspora in the world
, population = worldwide
, popplace = Brazil, Argentina, United States, France, Colombia, Canada, P ...
to escape the extreme poverty.
[Il paese di Alvaro]
Fondazione Corrado Alvaro
Stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta
San Luca is considered to be the stronghold of 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. According to a former '' 'ndranghetista'', "almost all the male inhabitants belong to the 'Ndrangheta, and the
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our Lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria, southern Italy. It was founded by Roge ...
has long been the meeting place of the affiliates, known as the
Crimine The crimine is an annual meeting of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. The meeting is held near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in the municipality of San Luca during the September Feast.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 59 ...
."
[Paoli. ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 29] At least since the 1950s, the chiefs of the 'Ndrangheta ''
locali'' have met regularly near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi during the September Feast. In 1969 the police raided a meeting near the sanctuary and captured more than 70 '' 'ndranghetisti'', while others managed to escape.
[Paoli. ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 59]
The historical preeminence of the San Luca family is such that every new group or ''locale'' must obtain its authorization to operate and every group belonging to the 'Ndrangheta "still has to deposit a small percentage of illicit proceeds to the ''principale'' of San Luca in recognition of the latter’s primordial supremacy." San Luca, in the words of a study published in 2005 by Italy's domestic intelligence service, is "the cradle of
he 'Ndranghetaand its epicentre".
[Silence on the streets of Calabria's mafia capital as deadly feud crosses borders]
The Guardian, August 17, 2007
The
San Luca feud The San Luca feud or Vendetta of San Luca is a long-running conflict between two clans of the 'Ndrangheta crime organisation that began in 1991 in Italy's Calabria region in the village of San Luca.
History
The two involved clans, the Strangio-Ni ...
, a war between the two
'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 ...
clans
Pelle-Vottari-Romeo and
Strangio-Nirta from San Luca that had started in 1991 and resulted in several deaths carried into Germany in 2007; six men were shot to death in front of an Italian restaurant in
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...
on 15 August 2007.
Six Italians Killed in Duisburg
''Spiegel Online'', 15 August 2007
Demographic evolution
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Notable people
* 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 ...
(1895–1956), journalist and writer
* Antonio Pelle
Antonio Pelle (; March 1, 1932 – November 4, 2009), also known as Ntoni Gambazza ("Tony Bad Leg"), was a historically significant and charismatic 'Ndrangheta boss from San Luca in Calabria. He was the patriarch of the San Luca '' locale'' and th ...
(1932–2009), also known as Ntoni Gambazza, a historically significant 'Ndrangheta boss
* Antonio Nirta
Antonio Nirta (April 22, 1919 – September 1, 2015) was a boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organization in Calabria, Italy. Together with his brothers Giuseppe, Francesco and Sebastiano, he ruled San Luca, a stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta.
...
(1919–2015), a historically significant 'Ndrangheta boss
References
External links
All In The Famiglia: Cracking omertà in Calabria
by Bruce Livesey,'' The Walrus Magazine'', May 2008.
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Calabria
History of the 'Ndrangheta