San Sosti (
Calabrian: ; from ) 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 Cosenza, in
Calabria, 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 ...
.
History
A highly decorated bronze
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
-head was discovered near San Sosti in 1846. This
votive offering
A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
was later bought by the collector and goldsmith Alessandro Castellani, from whom it was eventually acquired by the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1884.
On the axe is inscribed an important dedication in the
Achaean dialect of
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
that can be dated to the sixth century BC.
In 1448, people from
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
migrated to San Sosti.
Main sights
*Sanctuary of Madonna del Pettoruto, founded in 1274 by the monks of the Abbey of
Acquaformosa. It was rebuilt after the
1783 Calabrian earthquakes
The 1783 Calabrian earthquakes were a sequence of five strong earthquakes that hit the region of Calabria in southern Italy (then part of the Kingdom of Naples), the first two of which produced significant tsunamis. The epicenters form a clear a ...
. It houses a 17th-century stone sculpture of a ''Madonna with Child''
*The Abbey of San Sozonte (10th-11th centuries)
*The ruins of the Rocca, a 10th-century castle, which according to tradition was used by
Hannibal during the
Punic Wars.
References
External links
Official website
circolocalabrese.org
Cities and towns in Calabria
{{Calabria-geo-stub