Tauriana or Taureana (Taurianum in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, ''Ταυρανία'' in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

) is an ancient city of the

Bruttii The Bruttians (alternative spelling, Brettii) ( la, Bruttii) were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corresp ...

which was located in the southern part of

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

, in present

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 ...

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 ...

province.

History

Its ruins were located in the territory of Palmi. The city's name derives from the

Italic peoples The Italic peoples were an ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of Italic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. The Italic peoples are descended from the Indo-European speaking peoples who inhabited Italy from at leas ...

who founded it, the ''Tauriani''. The city, which stood on the south bank of the river ''Metauros'' (probably ''Petrace''), marked the border of the territory of

on the Tyrrhenian coast north-west, which began more than that of

Locri Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural centre on the Ionia ...

. Later

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and later

Byzantine 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 ...

Tauriana was destroyed by the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

in the middle of the 10th century. Most of the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

finds today are in the {{ill, Archaeological Park of Tauriani, it, Parco archeologico dei Tauriani. A

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

of the town of Palmi currently bears the name of ''Taureana''.

Ecclesiastical history

From circa 600 (others say the 3rd or 4th century) Taurianum was also the see of a Catholic diocese, in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

. In its territory was born and lived in Saint Fantino the Elder alias the Wonderworker, the oldest saint of

(not be confused with St. Fantinus the Younger). The

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

where his remains were buried, below the 'Temple' of Santo Fantino, is the oldest Catholic

place of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

in the region. In 1040 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Oppido Mamertina. In 1093 it was suppressed, its territory being merged into the

Diocese of Mileto The Diocese of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Calabria, southern Italy, created in 1986. In that year the historical Diocese of Mileto was united with the Diocese of Nicotera-Tropea. The diocese is a suffra ...

Titular see

In 1968 the diocese was nominally restored as Latin

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Taurianum (Italian Tauriano), of the lowest (Episcopal) rank. It has had the following incumbent : * Alessandro Staccioli,

O.M.I. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

(1968.09.26 – ...), Apostolic Vicar of

Luang Prabang Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r) ...

(

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

) (26 September 1968 - resigned 29 November 1975), later Auxiliary Bishop of Siena–Colle di Val d’Elsa–Montalcino (Tuscany, central Italy) (1975.11.29 – retired 1990.12.10)

External links and sources

GCatholic
Palmi Destroyed cities Calabria Pre-Roman cities in Italy Archaeological sites in Calabria Populated coastal places in Italy Former populated places in Italy Roman sites of Calabria Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC Titular sees in Europe