Serrastretta 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 Catanzaro The province of Catanzaro ( it, provincia di Catanzaro; Catanzarese: ) is a province of the Calabria region of Italy. The city Catanzaro is both capital of the province and capital of the region of Calabria. The province contains a total of 80 ...

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 ...

. The town is bordered by

Amato Amato ( Calabrian: ; ) is an Arbëreshë ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy. History Amato is one of the oldest towns in Calabria. It is mentioned by the Greek philosopher Aristotle and by the Roman P ...

Decollatura Decollatura is a ''comune'' in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It was the birthplace of the Italian poet Michele Pane (1876–1953). Twin cities * Danbury, United States The United States of America ( ...

Feroleto Antico Feroleto Antico ( Calabrian: ) is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is l ...

Lamezia Terme Lamezia Terme (), commonly called Lamezia, is an Italian city and ''comune'' of 70,452 inhabitants (2013), in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region. Geography Lamezia is located on the eastern border of the coastal plain commonly cal ...

Miglierina Miglierina ( Calabrian: ) is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is loc ...

, Pianopoli,

Platania Platania is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the western part of the Calabria region of Italy. Bounding communes * Conflenti * Decollatura * Lamezia Terme Lamezia Terme (), commonly called Lamezia, is an Italian city and ...

and

San Pietro Apostolo San Pietro Apostolo ( Calabrian: ) is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy. It is about northwest of Catanzaro, the provincial capital. It is surrounded by the villages of Decollatura, Gimigliano, ...

History

Serrastretta was founded by

Jewish refugees This article lists expulsions, refugee crises and other forms of displacement that have affected Jews. Timeline The following is a list of Jewish expulsions and events that prompted significant streams of Jewish refugees. Assyrian captivity ; ...

fleeing the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

and was historically home to a notable Jewish community. Several families of

Ukrainian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

were invited into the town in 2022, in hope to help restore the remaining Jewish presence in Serrastretta. The Ner Tamid del Sud

shul A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

is the only operating synagogue in

Economy

Serrastretta is a center of production of furniture, kitchens, door-frames, casings and furnishings of every kind. Above all are the woven-straw chairs, for which Serrastretta is considered to be one of the main Calabrese producers. The chair makers continue to construct chairs as in the past - a frame made of wood, to which the women expertly apply the woven straw seats with a special bush "vuda", coming from the plants in the marshlands. In the territory of Serrastretta also

porcini ''Boletus edulis'' (English: cep, penny bun, porcino or porcini) is a basidiomycete fungus, and the type species of the genus ''Boletus''. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere across Europe, Asia, and North America, it does not occu ...

mushrooms are found, particularly in areas where chestnut trees grow. There is also a museum devoted to the singer

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

, whose parents originally came from Serrastretta.

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Calabria {{Calabria-geo-stub